The FTSE 100 was in a sunnier mood on Wednesday, up 0.9% to 7,333.25 amid hopes of a move towards resolution of the US-China trade war. Mike Ashley steered retailer Sports Direct (SPD) was up 1.4% ahead of a crunch AGM at 11am. Home builder Galliford Try (GFRD) gained 0.6% to 668p, even as it booked a fall in first-half profit, which came as little surprise to the market amid a slump in ...

Wound care products and surgical dressings company Advanced Medical Solutions (AMS:AIM) has spooked investors after warning of slowing stock demand. Customers had previously stockpiled  extra quantities of LiquiBand, a pre-assembled skin adhesive used to stick dressings on wounds or to directly stick together skin damage. This was in reaction to worries over access to products ahead of ...

The FTSE 100 ends the week by opening down by 44 points to 7,697.7. The index seems to be following US and Asian markets with US sanctions on Russia impacting investor sentiment. All eyes will be on the UK’s second quarter GDP figures which are due out shortly. In a quiet day for corporate news on the main market, deep fat fryer franchise company Filta (FLTA:AIM) rises 9.1% to 229p on ...

Here’s a fact you may not have heard before. Of the 5.6m companies in the UK, 22,470 – less than 1% – create 22% of economic growth. That’s one of the findings from the Octopus High Growth Small Business Report published this week. Here’s another: this same group of companies creates one-in-five new jobs in the UK. Taken as a whole, these high growth small businesses (HGSBs) are ...

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 ...

Leeds-based Surgical Innovations (SUN:AIM) is in an interesting phase of its development as it continues to move forward from a series of profit warnings last year. Keyhole solutions The company designs and manufactures solutions for minimally invasive surgery, also known as keyhole surgery. These procedures can reduce scarring and decrease recovery times in hospital. The instrumentation ...

With a rise of 19.9%, the best performing UK equity market during 2015 was the FTSE AIM 50 Index, which is comprised of the 50 largest UK companies quoted on the AIM market. London Stock Exchange (LSE) launched AIM in 1995 as a platform for small growth companies to gain access to capital. A number of those early fledgling companies have grown up over the last two decades, so today the FTSE AIM ...

We’ve had a few requests to revisit the rules around how you can qualify for inheritance tax (IHT) relief by owning certain AIM shares. If you invest money in AIM shares that meet certain criteria set by the taxman for at least two years, that money can be passed on to third parties such as your husband or wife upon your death without that windfall being taxed. Making sure you’ve picked the ...

UK shares remain largely flat in early trade on Tuesday as investors await a report that is expected to show a slowdown in UK construction activity growth. The Markit/CIPS UK construction purchasing mangers’ index is estimated to fall to 58.8 in October, from 59.9 a month earlier. The benchmark FTSE 100 index is largely unchanged from yesterday's close at 6,359, while London midcaps and smaller ...

Wound care specialist Advanced Medical Solutions (AMS:AIM) is looking to expand its product range and boost margins through a market share grabbing acquisition spree. The Cheshire-based company, known for its innovative glue that seals and helps heal cuts, is looking to buy companies with the more than £60 million at its disposal. One of the goals of its acquisition strategy is to expand its ...

The stock market’s smallest and riskiest companies have always held fascination for private investors. On the premise that ‘elephants don’t gallop, but fleas leap,’ to borrow Jim Slater’s often quoted phrase, it’s easier for a tiny company to double its size, and investor’s money, than for a big one. Let’s face it, a blue chip company worth £1 billion will find it much harder to ...

Wound and surgical dressings maker Advanced Medical Solutions (AMS:AIM) advances 4.1% to 121.75p as strong first half figures stoke earnings upgrades. Pre-tax profit improved 18% to £7.1 million in the six months ended 30 June, while AMS' net cash has nearly doubled to £10.2 million since December, giving it the firepower to acquire or in-license assets. Demand for the Winsford-based £243 ...

Europe's biggest home improvement retailer Kingfisher (KGF) clips ahead 3.3% to 317.3p on well-received succession news and marginally better-than-expected interim results. Long-serving CEO Sir Ian Cheshire is to step down before the end of the current fiscal year after nearly seven years in charge, handing over the reins to Veronique Laury, boss of Castorama's French business. The ...

Mark Slater, co-founder, chairman and chief investment officer (CIO) of City-based Slater Investments, is lauded for his pedigree in delivering ‘risk adjusted alpha’ and consistently outperforming benchmarks and both bull and bear markets. He is a generalist who seeks out inexpensive growth shares offering a considerable margin of safety, in the belief this approach offers clients the best ...

Warrington-based water provider United Utilities (UU.) may be the North West’s largest public company by some distance but the area has a fine tradition of innovation, not least because it presented the world with so many of the inventions which made the industrial revolution possible. An entrepreneurial spirit continues to run through the 73 listed firms in the region and we believe ...

Advanced Medical Solutions (AMS:AIM) BUY  88p TARGET  128p STOP LOSS  77p Market value: £180.6 million Prospective PE 2014: 15.5 Prospective PE 2015: 14.6 1-month price change: 9.4% 12-month price change: 27.7% Dividend yield 2014: 0.7% After a significant pause, the healing process seems set to continue for the share price of wound care and dressings ...

SELL WOUND CARE technology specialist Advanced Medical Solutions (AMS:AIM) as earnings could continue to disappoint. Last week’s trading update (13 Dec) flagged how pre-tax profit for the year to March 2013 was expected to be at the lower end of a range between £11.9 million and £12.8 million, compared to the market consensus expectation of £12.5 million. Several of Advanced Medical’s ...