Not good news for UK housebuilders today, if the AGM trading update of brick and tile maker Ibstock is anything to go by. The latter’s shares trade 6% lower on news that an extended Winter made for a slow start to the year. Volumes have begun to recover, but it still expects performance to be…
Babcock International shares were +3.5% after company reported FY underlying pre-tax profit and revenues just shy of expectations and although net debt fell 5%, so too did the order book (-5.3% to £18B). The defence and engineering contractor’s bid pipeline nonetheless grew to £13B (+23.8%), for a total of £31B in visible future revenue, indicating…
Shares in Inmarsat trade 13% lower, back around April’s 7.5yr lows, on overnight news that, as of 2020, it will no longer have the global monopoly on international onboard maritime distress communication, mandatory for ships exceeding 300 gross tonnage. This comes after the UN’s IMO (International Maritime Organization) finally signed off on Iridium Communications’ own…
The strongest factors influencing the direction and momentum of Foreign Exchange (FX) rates are changes in the key interest rates, themselves highly sensitive to macroeconomic data such as inflation and economic growth. Higher interest rates tend to render the currency more attractive (and vice versa) which in turn can result in it strengthening versus other currencies….
Shares in low-cost carrier Ryanair are +2.5% in spite of an uncharacteristically downbeat surprise profits warning. Or was it? After a strong 2018, with profits +10%, the worse outlook is being pinned on rising staff costs, now that it is recognising unions, and falling air fares amid fierce price competition, both likely to eat into…
The UK Index has been rallying hard, flirting with fresh record highs, on the combined benefit of high oil prices and a weaker GBP, lifting the spirits (and investment accounts) of many bullishly-minded investors Have we gone too fast, too far? Does anyone out there honestly think that the current market rally is unstoppable and that we…