EasyJet CFO Kenton Jarvis to become CEOJarvis joined EasyJet in February 2021Outgoing CEO Johan Lundgren to leave early 2025Shares in EasyJet (EZJ) were down more than 5% to 498p as investors reacted to the announcement that the low-budget airline?s CEO Johan Lundgren is stepping down after seven years in the role.Kenton Jarvis, board member and chief financial officer will takeover from Lundgren

Shares leap on trading updateSales improve in final quarterChief executive expresses optimismWatches of Switzerland?s (WOSG) shares surged 11% to 374.5p on a reassuring fourth-quarter update in which chief executive Brian Duffy said the high-end watch and jewellery retailer entered the new financial year with ?cautious optimism?.This followed a strong finish to the year to 28 April 2024, with four

Organic revenue up 6.5% in Q1Advanced wound care outlook cutFull-year outlook maintainedShares in Convatec (CTEC) fell 4% to 255.7p after the medical products maker flagged short-term uncertainty in Advanced Wound Care leading to a softer outlook for the division.The news took the shine off a strong start to the year with first-quarter organic revenue up 6.5% which was slightly ahead of market for

The FTSE 100 started poorly on Thursday, despite Wednesday?s record closes across the pond, as Sage Group and easyJet offset a boost from BT.The FTSE 100 index opened down 31.09 points, 0.4%, at 8,414.71. The FTSE 250 was up 34.30 points, 0.2%, at 20,809.93, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.2 of a point at 791.81.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.3% at 840.90, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.3% at 18,152.47, and

Retail bellwether Marks & Spencer (MKS) may need to deliver a modest ?beat? to the £679.8 million consensus pre-tax profit estimate, along with a reasonably confident outlook statement, when it serves up full-year results (22 May) if the foods-to-fashion giant is to sustain recent positive share price momentum.Led by CEO Stuart Machin, the FTSE 100 company?s turnaround is gaining traction and Mar

Discounts and premiums to NAV (net asset value), which is the value of all the investments an investment trust holds minus any debt or loans, are among the trust universe?s unique quirks and can confuse novice investors. At the moment the vast majority of trusts trade at a discount.Annabel Brodie-Smith, the AIC?s (Association of Investment Companies) communications director, says: ?Only around 20

This is the first in a series of articles focused on the fundamentals of investing. Don?t worry if you are relatively new to investing because the series starts at the very beginning and explains what investing is, how it works and is intended to provide a useful framework for thinking about investing.The series is not exclusively for beginners and later on it will include more advanced features s

One of the factors undoubtedly helping lift the UK stock market to new highs this year is an upturn in M&A (merger and acquisition) activity.According to Dealogic, the value of UK takeovers so far in 2024 is more than $78 billion, the highest level since 2018, as overseas buyers in particular home in on the undervaluation of the market.?The UK has become structurally very attractive for M&A. There

Caledonia Investments (CLDN)Price: £35.18Market cap: £1.92 billionAmid all the talk of the UK market being full of ?hidden gems?, we think Caledonia Investments (CLDN) could be one of the best examples of ?hidden value? in the mid-cap FTSE 250 index.The global multi-asset investment company tends not to get much air-time, but Shares caught up with chief executive Mat Masters and finance director

3i Infrastructure (3IN) 342.5pGain to date: 8.7% When we recommended buying into private equity firm 3i Infrastructure (3IN) last summer at 315p we flagged the undervaluation of its portfolio, as shown by the sale of Dutch waste treatment and recycling firm Attero for more than 30% above its most recent valuation and 2.7 times the purchase price.We stuck with our call even when the shares dipped t

Companies tend to list on the stock market when conditions look ripe for a healthy reception from investors so as to get a deal away at the best price.After a fallow period for IPOs (initial public offerings) in 2022/23, activity appears to be gathering pace buoyed by the FTSE 100 and FTSE All-Share notching up new all-time highs in recent weeks.In an unusual turn of events, London could benefit f

Copper is already one of the most important materials underpinning human civilisation, and the energy transition is only likely to see demand for the industrial metal build in the years to come.Limits and pressures on supply and this growing demand profile are already seeing copper prices mount a charge and recent M&A activity ? with BHP?s (BHP) unsuccessful (for now) attempt to take over Anglo Am

It was the best performing stock in the ranks of the FTSE 350 by some distance in 2023, and aircraft engine-maker Rolls-Royce?s (RR.) share price has started 2024 in fine fettle to trade above pre-pandemic levels.There is no doubt Tufan Erginbilgiç has brought real seriousness to the business of turning around a company which had been struggling for years even before Covid grounded planes a

If we took a straw poll of readers and asked which country has the world?s biggest sovereign wealth fund, the chances are Saudi Arabia and Singapore would come high up the list if not at the top.In fact, the largest is Norway?s Government Pension Fund Global which has a value of more than $1.6 trillion.When the country discovered large offshore oil fields at the end of the 1960s, the government de

The cost of going to university has ballooned, and it means the average graduate leaves university with around £50,000 worth of debt. That?s a large sum to pay off, and the way the student loan system has changed means that many people will have this debt for 40 years before it?s wiped out.The debt doesn?t work like typical debt, as you only repay it once you earn more than a set threshold ? mean

Have US equity expectations run ahead of themselves? Certainly, for some companies, the answer seems to be yes. One of the features of second-quarter earnings season has been the number of companies that have met or ever beaten revenue and earnings expectations yet have cost share prices and investors dearly.High-growth companies including ARM (ARM:NASDAQ), Airbnb (ABNB:NASDAQ) and Shopify (SHOP:N

This year has been a struggle for Intel (INTC:NASDAQ) ? investors don?t seem to be buying the optimism the chip firm has spun around its PC and data centre business, while it has thus far failed miserably when it comes to convincing the market it hasn?t missed the AI (artificial intelligence) boat.Data from Sharepad shows Intel is the second-worst performer on the S&P 500 in 2024, down nearly 40%

Kainos (KNOS) £10.16Market cap: £1.28 billionWe believe that market sentiment towards Kainos (KNOS) is on the cusp of a reversal, and that creates a buying opportunity for investors. Shares in the Belfast-based digital services expert are now trading at a 30% discount to 12-month highs and are barely half all-time peaks of more than £20.This is largely because of what analysts have called a cyc

The American financial markets writer and publisher Jim Grant once observed that: ?Successful investing is having everyone agree with you ?. Later.? This makes perfect sense, as it distils the concept of going against the crowd to buy cheaply and then sell expensively to lock in the gain and the initial thesis is now the consensus view and thus reflected in the valuation.However, this column does

As Dinah Washington used to sing, what a difference a day makes, although its relevance to central bank meetings and stock markets was probably the last thing on the great jazz musician's mind.While there was no change in official UK interest rates at the latest Bank of England MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) meeting, there was plenty of chatter around governor Andrew Bailey's distinction between