Hargreaves Services shares up after swinging from loss to profit
Shares in logistics group Hargreaves Services rose 8 percent on Tuesday, after swinging from a loss to £4 million profit.
The company’s performance was aided by a significant reduction in exceptional costs, to £470,000 from £12.4 million the year before. The group reported a pretax profit of £4.4 million, an impressive improvement on a loss of £12.4 million the year before.
The company, who are a logistics for for the solid fuel supply and bulk material industries, said annual revenue for the year hit £342.9 million. The company saw the biggest progress in its german operations, which generated a £25.5 million of inflow, after contracting new assets.
“These results demonstrate the excellent progress made by the group over the last year. The achievement of our group profit target was a positive step forward, which we believe marks a real turning point for the group,” Chairman David Morgan said.
“The independent property valuation exercise provides further confidence about the longer term value that we aim to create from our property portfolio. Whilst challenges remain to be overcome in some of our businesses, we are on track to achieve or over-acheive the three key strategic goals we set ourselves in 2016. We will continue to be careful in managing capital allocation and risk as we move forward”.
Shares in the company are currently up 7.59 percent at 376.57 (1238GMT).
Pets at Home shares bounce on strong revenue and sales
Shares in pet store group Pets at Home (LON:PETS) rose over 7 percent in early trading on Tuesday, after reporting strong growth in both revenue and sales.
Like-for-like sales for the 16 weeks to 1 April grew 2.7 per cent, with sales in the services division by by 18.8 percent. Total revenue came to £256.5 million, with £216.4 million of that from merchandise.
Ian Kellet, Pets at Home’s group chief executive, said he was “pleased with our positive start to the year”, and that the group had delivered another period of strong growth.
“We have continued our everyday lower price repositioning and reduced the reliance on short-term promotional discounts. We remain encouraged by the overall response to our pricing changes and by the number of both new customers and those we have welcomed back”, Kellet said.
Shares in Pets at Home are currently trading up 6.74 percent at 183.91 (1214GMT).
Housebuilder shares sink as government reviews help-to-buy programme
Shares in major UK housebuilders traded down over 5 percent on Friday, after a report suggesting that the government was reviewing its Help to Buy scheme.
An article in Property Week on Friday said: “The government has embarked on a review of the Help to Buy housing scheme, which could result in it being wound down or replaced before its scheduled end in April 2021.”
Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW), Persimmon (LON:PSN) and Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV) all saw their share price drop by around 5 percent on the news, with the Help to Buy scheme being one of the biggest initiatives to support an increase in housebuilding in the UK.
The scheme was launched in 2013 and was designed to make it easier and more affordable for first-time buyers to obtain a home. However, its effectiveness was questioned by a recent government report that said that 57 percent of those who signed up to it said they could have afforded to buy without access to the scheme.
UK car sales drop in the face of Brexit uncertainty
Sales of new cars in the UK fell by nearly 10 percent in July, marking the industry’s fourth month of decline in a row.
New car registrations fell by 9.3 percent last month, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The SMMT said the market was increasingly hit by “growing uncertainty” over the plans for Brexit. New regulations on exporting vehicles that may come into force after Britain leaves the EU is likely to have a severe effect on carmakers in the UK. Just under 162,000 vehicles were sold last month. So far this year, 1.56 million cars have been sold, down 2.2 percent from a year earlier. Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “The fall in consumer and business confidence is having a knock on effect on demand in the new car market and government must act quickly to provide concrete plans regarding Brexit. “While it’s encouraging to see record achievements for alternatively fuelled vehicles, consumers considering other fuel types will have undoubtedly been affected by the uncertainty surrounding the government’s clean air plans.”DFS shares jump on Sofology takeover deal
Shares in sofa retailer DFS (LON:DFS) jumped at market open on Thursday, after it announced the takeover of smaller rival Sofology.
The deal is initially expected to be worth £25 million, with DFS saying the acquisition would add another “strong distinctive brand” to its business.
The news comes after DFS issued a profit warning last month, causing shares to plunge by 22 percent last month. The company hopes that adding specialist retailer Sofology to the group will allow DFS to compete better in the market, adding another network of 37 stores in the UK and a strong web presence to the group’s portfolio.
Ian Filby, DFS chief executive, said: “While the UK furniture retail market continues to be very challenging, we remain focused on making strategic progress to strengthen our position in living room furniture.”
Shares in DFS are currently up 1.71 percent at 223.50 (1129GMT).
Tesla shares rise as revenue doubles in Q2
Shares in electric carmaker Tesla (NSADAQ:TSLA) rose over 8 percent in after-hours trading, after the company’s revenue almost doubled in the second quarter.
The company reported revenue of almost $2.8 billion, up from $1.3 billion during the same period last year. About $2.3 billion of the revenue during the quarter came from the firm’s automotive unit, the company’s best known business, a 93 percent increase on the same period in 2016.
However, the company’s costs, including for research and development and sales, rose 15 percent over the quarter causing overall losses to rise. Losses increased to $336 million, compared with $293 million last year.
Despite the mixed results, Tesla told shareholders it expects revenue to grow “significantly” in the second half of the year.
The firm have become increasingly well-known for their electric cars, delivering more than 47,000 of its earlier high-end Model S and Model X cars in the first half of 2017.
Shares in Tesla are currently up 1.98 percent at 325.89 (1111GMT).
UK construction sector slows sharply in July
The UK construction industry grew at a far weaker rate than expected in July, according to the latest IHS Markit figures.
The Markit/CIPS construction PMI number fell to 51.9 in July, a significant fall from 54.8 in June. However, anything above 50 signals growth.
Economists polled by Reuters predicted a much smaller dip in the headline number to 54.5.
Tim Moore from IHS Markit commented on the figure:
“July data reveals a growth slowdown in the UK construction sector, mainly driven by lower volumes of commercial development and a loss of momentum for house building.
“Worries about the economic outlook and heightened political uncertainty were key factors contributing to subdued demand.
“Construction firms reported that clients were more reluctant to spend and had opted to take longer in committing to new projects.”
The sector was dragged down by a sharp slowdown in commercial building, but boosted by an acceleration in the civil engineering sector.
Standard Chartered share price falls, despite 82pc increase in profits
Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) shares fell nearly 5 percent in early morning trading, despite reporting an 82 per cent rise in profits in the first half of the year.
Revenues rose 3 per cent at $7.2 billion, with loan impairments halved to $655 million. The group reported an 82 per cent rise in first-half profits to $1.8 billion, despite a 7 percent growth in operating expenses.
The bank saw a 5 per cent growth in its loan book, driven by growth in corporate finance, trade finance and mortgages.
Bill Winters, chief executive, said:
“We have had an encouraging start to 2017, making steady progress against our strategic objectives…we are stronger, leaner and becoming more efficient. We go into the second half of the year confident in our resilience and in our ability to generate better value for our clients and shareholders.”
However, shares fell 5 percent as investors express frustration at how long the bank’s turnaround it taking. Standard Chartered has suffered significantly over the last couple of years, after being hit by US fines in 2012.
Shares in the bank are currently down 4.51 percent at 808.50 (1028GMT).
Financial Management on Retirement: Making Your Pension Last
Calculating Minimum Budget
Calculating Ideal Budget
Allowing for margin of error and inflation
Plotting the course of retirement
How much income can your pension provider without the pot’s value being depleted?
There are all sorts of pension calculators available, provided via Government-run online resources, pension providers and investment-focused websites, that help gives a good approximation of the size of pension pot required to provide the desired retirement income.
They also helpfully tell us how much we have to start squirrelling away in a pension plan every month to achieve the size of final pot that will be required to achieve that income level. That’s often the slightly, to very, shocking part, especially for those who have nonchalantly strolled deep into their thirties or beyond before giving it much thought.
Download guide now:
Terms, Risk Warning & Disclaimer:
Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this publication was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. Investments can go up in value as well as down, so you could get less than you invested. This information does not constitute personal advice and you should speak to your financial advisor before committing to any pension product. Information in this document is for reference use only and its accuracy cannot be guaranteed and is subject to change.
UK Investor Magazine does not endorse any of the products or services that appear on it or are linked to it and are not liable for any action that you may take as a result of the content of this guide, or losses or damage you may incur doing so.
There is no obligation to purchase anything but, if you decide to do so, you are strongly advised to consult a professional adviser before making any investment decisions. Not all companies or products mentioned in this guide are necessarily regulated by the Financial Ombudsman Service and, as such, you may not have access to statutory or regulatory protections such as the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Please remember that financial investments may rise or fall and past performance does not guarantee future performance in respect of income or capital growth; you may not get back the amount you invested.
By submitting your details, you are agreeing with our privacy policy. In addition to this and to facilitate the delivery of your book/guide or report, your details will be passed to the sponsor of this free offer. By requesting a book and agreeing to our privacy policy, you are agreeing to be contacted by the book sponsor. The book is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It should not be construed as giving investment advice and you should not rely on any content within this book in making or refraining from making any investment decisions.
Eurozone growth hits 0.6 percent in second quarter
The eurozone grew at a rate of 0.6 percent in the second quarter, just ahead of the revised figure for the previous three months.
According to the official figures from Eurostat, released on Tuesday, annual growth in the 19-country bloc stands at 2.1 percent higher than a year ago.
The second quarter growth figure is slightly above that of the first quarter growth, which was revised down from 0.6 percent to 0.5 percent. The figure comes just after those on Monday showed unemployment in the zone was at its lowest since 2009, adding to the increasing pile of evidence showing an improvement in the health of the Eurozone. On Friday, figures showed Spain’s economy, one of the worst-hit by the financial crisis, grew by 0.9 percent in the second quarter.