UK stocks started the week strongly after further signs of progress towards a coronavirus vaccine. Pharma giant AstraZeneca (AZN) has resumed phase three of its vaccine trial, while investor sentiment was also boosted by comments from Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla, who believes a vaccine could be ready for approval as soon as next month, and for distribution by the end of the year. In ...

UK stock markets lost their modest early gains on Monday as investors continued to mull the damage the coronavirus pandemic is having on the global economy and company earnings. While the benchmark FTSE 100 nudged 0.5% higher in early deals, that positive momentum proved short-lived, with the UK's leading index falling 0.9% into the red at 5,737.31. The more domestic facing FTSE 250 saw a ...

Life science research tools supplier Abcam (ABC) reported a 22.8% fall in pre-tax profit for the half-year ended 31 December 2019 to £26m as it stepped up investments in line with its five-year strategy. The shares fell 9% to £11.5 on a tough day which saw the FTSE down 6.5%. Chief executive Alan Hirzel commented: ‘In China, we are starting to see a return to normal operations, and we will ...

The FTSE 100 has recorded one of its biggest ever one-day drops after plunging a staggering 9% shortly after the market open on Monday. The UK's benchmark index fell a whopping 600 points to 5,919, after oil plunged an incredible 30%. After Saudi Arabia launched a price war over the weekend, following the collapse of its oil-cutting alliance with Russia, the price of crude has dropped to ...

A ‘rockstar’ biotech entrepreneur, the first company boss in a decade to sell shares and a trio of directors cashing in were all involved in the biggest director deals of the past week. The three biggest deals involve biotech company Abcam (ABC:AIM), ventilation product supplier Volution (FAN) and office real estate company Workspace (WKP). The biggest of these comes from Abcam founder ...

UK markets opened on the front foot after new all-time highs were registered in the US overnight as relative calm returned following US-Iranian tensions last week. By 9.15am the FTSE 100 index was 0.4% higher at 7,360 points while the mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 0.25% at 21,696 points. Airlines and travel stocks continued to benefit from lower oil prices as IAG Group (IAG) and Easy Jet ...

Controversial Brexiteer hedge fund manager Crispin Odey is fond of saying that cycles never die, or what goes up inevitably comes back down. What this means is that investors can sometimes mistake structural growth for cyclical growth. This can be applied to a company’s valuation too, which expands and contracts in ‘cycles’ depending how a company’s earnings are progressing compared to ...

Shares in life science research tools supplier Abcam (ABC:AIM) have slumped by 16% to £11.25 after first-half sales growth missed expectations and it says there will be no improvement in sales growth in the second half of the year. Sales for the six months to 31 December 2018 grew by 10%. Analysts had forecast 11% growth. The company is also downbeat on its outlook as it warns of continued ...

Markets start the week on a positive note on signs that the US and China are close to agreeing a tariff deal which could put an end to the trade war. Asian stocks climb with China’s Shanghai Composite and Japan Nikkei index both gaining 1% while oil prices also gain ground and the US Dollar slips. In the UK the FTSE 100 index gains 0.3% to 7,127 points with most sectors trading higher bar ...

It is fair to say that 2018 is shaping up to be a difficult year for investors. Stocks are volatile, and the market is in very unforgiving mood with even the hint of bad news prompting big falls in company share prices. Already this year funerals provider Dignity (DTY) announced a complete change to its business model which sparked an immediate halving of its share price while technology firms ...

Abcam (ABC:AIM) is on track to hit its full year 10% sales growth target, delivering 11% growth in the six months to 31 December 2017. The shares tick up 1.4% to £10.41 on the reassuring news. Abcam supplies protein research tools to life scientists, including antibodies and tissue imaging tools. The company’s strong trading is particularly evident in China with sales growth of over ...

Blue-chips are trading at record highs in early dealings, the fabulous FTSE 100 up 12.9 points at 7,709, despite fairly little in the way of UK corporate news to give direction and with all eyes on US non-farm payrolls later on. Nevertheless, global geotechnical contractor Keller (KLR) climbs 28p or 3% higher to 987p on news the passing of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act in the US will benefit its ...

There’s a neat trick investors can use to gain exposure to international earnings without buying a single overseas-listed stock. The US, Europe, China, India plus emerging markets in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East are all accessible from the relative comfort of the London stock market. Companies in the FTSE 100 collectively earn far more from overseas markets than they do ...

It is possible to shelter part of your wealth from the taxman by investing in certain AIM-quoted stocks. Your estate won’t have to pay the 40% inheritance tax (IHT) charge upon your death for any investments in AIM stocks that qualify for business property relief (BPR), subject to certain conditions. Frustratingly the taxman, HMRC, refuses to publish a list of qualifying stocks because a ...

Largest shareholder and deputy chairman Jonathan Miller selling 1.3 million shares in Abcam (ABC:AIM) on 21 September is a useful cue to the fact the company is overvalued, in our opinion. Panmure Gordon’s 22.9p earnings per share (EPS) forecast puts the scientific research tools provider on a prospective 37.1 times earnings multiple. The broker believes that this premium is ...

Life sciences tools and services provider Abcam (ABC:AIM) is to continue the scale-boosting investment programme that helped sales jump by 19% to £171.7 million in the year to 30 June. Investors like the optimism, marking the share price more than 9% higher in today's trading to an all-time 799.5p high. Abcam is focused on developing infrastructure and expanding its online catalogue of ...

Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Trust (SLS) 355.75p Gain to date: 3.9% Original entry price: Buy at 342.5p, 24 Sep 2015 We’re staying bullish on Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Trust (SLS), despite only making a small 3.9% profit so far. Small caps should form a portion of investors’ portfolios since they are often able to grow no matter what the wider economic ...

Brexit may have a minimal impact on the pharmaceutical industry. What should be factored into investment decisions in this market is the volatility resulting from the UK’s decision to leave the European Union (EU). GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), AstraZeneca (AZN) and Shire (SHP) are commercial phase companies generating substantial cash flows. A weaker pound makes these companies more attractive with ...

Smashing full-year revenue expectations by the interim stage sends life sciences research tools and services provider Abcam (ABC:AIM) 7% higher to 644p. The £1.3 billion cap expects to report 16.7% revenue growth in the six months to 31 December 2015, ahead of the 11.5% full-year gain that the market expected. The picks and shovels business supporting innovation in biotechnology saw ...

London equities reverse initial progress to shift modestly lower in early trade on Monday, with Barclays (BARC), BT (BT.A) and BP (BP.) among big-ticket fallers. This after gains on Wall Street overnight Friday, and in Asia this morning. The FTSE 100 index is roughly 13 points lower at 5,888. There was further pain in the oil and gas sector as oil prices reversed Friday’s big gains with BP down ...