British American Tobacco (BATS)

The defensive attractions of the tobacco sector, traditionally owned for its earnings resilience and rising dividends, appear to be wafting away amid increasing political and regulatory concerns over vaping. The promise of tighter rules on the vaping sector is bad news for the tobacco giants which have bet big on vaping and other smokeless alternatives replacing shrinking cigarette profit ...

You can use exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to access many different types of shares, grouped according to whatever criteria you like. For example, you can use screening tools to narrow down the ETF universe to those funds which only invest in quality stocks. But what are quality stocks and why would you want to hold them? Broadly, quality companies are those which use their capital to generate ...

Amid all the Brexit drama and the high profile bid action around London Stock Exchange (LSEG) it would be easy to miss some of the other significant recent announcements. Supermarket Morrisons (MRW) impressed the market, managing a near 5% gain above the 200p mark, as it unveiled a big bump in its first half dividend and announced an extension to its wholesale supply partnership with online ...

The UK’s largest listed cigarettes manufacturer British American Tobacco (BATS) saw its share price rally 1.5% to £30.87 after unveiling plans to simply the business and boost growth in its portfolio of new categories, such as vapour, tobacco heating products and oral tobacco. The streamlining programme will also see around 2,300 workers laid-off in a move that will cut more than a fifth of ...

Last year was a vintage one for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) with deals totalling more than $4trn, the highest figure since 2007 and the onset of the global financial crisis. This year is shaping up to also be a historic period for takeovers and we believe UK-listed companies are prime targets for foreign companies. In 2018 mega deals worth $10bn or more grabbed the headlines. According ...

Shares in cigarette giants British American Tobacco (BATS) and Imperial Brands (IMB) cheapened 1% to £28.05 and 1.7% to £20.27 respectively on Wednesday, as the market digested the implications of a tobacco industry mega-merger across the pond. Marlboro-makers Philip Morris International and Altria have kick-started talks over a US$210bn combination that would help them market each other’s ...

UK stocks get off to a weak start on Wednesday with the FTSE 100 index down 0.4% at 7,063 after US markets reversed their gains towards the end of yesterday’s trading session. The Oil sector is one of the few bright spots as crude prices continue their recovery. As Brent futures nudge back above $60 shares in BP (BP.) add 1.3% to 495p while Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) shares hold firm at ...

UK markets were weaker on Thursday with the FTSE 100 down 0.5% to 7,545 despite a much-anticipated cut in US interest rates overnight. The major US stock indices lost more than 1% after the chairman of the US Federal Reserve said that the 0.25% rate cut did not mark the beginning of a lengthy easing cycle. The Hong Kong central bank cut rates by 0.25% in line with the Federal ...

Does a fund with more than 25% of its holdings in cash tell you the managers are fearful? In the case of JO Hambro Capital Management UK Opportunities Fund (B95HP81) it is a mixture of the managers believing the market is over-valued and to also have the capacity to pounce on any sudden opportunities. Many investors may come to the conclusion that such a large cash position would be a drag on ...

Tobacco firm British American Tobacco (BATS) slips 4% to £29.47 as weak cigarette sales obscure more positive news on so-called next generation products. In a first half trading update, the company says it expects global industry volumes to fall 3.5% against previous guidance for a 3% decline. Investors appear to be sceptical on the ability of sales of vaping products to come to the ...

UK stocks opened lower on Wednesday as protests in Hong Kong against a controversial China extraditions bill intensified, while US-China trade tensions lingered. The benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 27.02 points, or 0.4%, at 7.371.43. British American Tobacco (BATS) fell 2.8% to £29.84 as it guided for revenue growth in its new category business, which includes vaping, at 'around the ...

Which blue-chip stocks have the fastest earnings growth? By using market screening tools and comparing growth with valuation we have come up with some useful insights which could provide the basis for further research. RELIABLE GROWTH OR DANGER AHEAD? Employing data from Stockopedia we measured earnings growth for FTSE 100 constituents over two periods, five years and 10 years. Using ...

Mark Barnett-managed investment trust Perpetual Income & Growth (PLI) has become the latest addition to the Association of Investment Companies’ (AIC) closely followed cohort of so-called ‘dividend heroes’, a list published by the investment trust industry trade body that reveals those investment companies that have upped their dividends each year for 20 years or more. READ MORE ABOUT ...

The market seems to be fed up with many of the classic high yield stocks on the London market. Once-popular income plays like Centrica (CNA), Imperial Brands (IMB) and Royal Mail (RMG) continue to fall in value despite offering very attractive dividend yields. There used to be an argument that high yields from large cap companies would create a theoretical floor for the share price. Put ...

Bristol-headquartered tobacco titan Imperial Brands’ (IMB) first half earnings beat consensus estimates thanks to a better than expected showing in Europe and a boost from growth in its e-cigarettes business. The half year results demonstrate the resilience of the tobacco business and reassuringly, Imperial leaves its full year sales, earnings and cash generation expectations unchanged, also ...

The 10.2% year-to-date rise in the FTSE 100 is a great result but the UK stock market’s flagship index is still being comfortably outpaced by its international counterparts. And seen on a longer-term view the FTSE has definitely underperformed relative to other global benchmarks. In this article we explain why this has happened, which super sectors have contributed to the relative ...

Are you looking for undervalued and high quality companies that have the right characteristics to potentially fend off even the fiercest of rivals for at least 20 years? If so, analysis from financial services firm Morningstar may be able to point you in the right direction. Morningstar uses five sources of long term competitive advantage which, where present, may indicate a company has ...

While the performance of the FTSE 100, FTSE 250 and FTSE All-Share tends to dominate the headlines, it can be useful to take a more nuanced approach and focus on the performance of individual sectors within these headline indices. The tables show the five best and five worst performing sectors in the FTSE 350 index (a composite of the large cap FTSE 100 and mid cap FTSE 250) so far this ...

Investors of a certain vintage will recall the stock-market adage, ‘Sell in May and go away, don’t come back until St Leger Day’. The saying is based on the belief that returns during the summer months are negative so you should ‘time’ the market by selling out completely at the beginning of May and reinvesting in September in time for the horse racing meeting on St Leger Day. Once ...

Having enjoyed a strong finish on Thursday amid a big slide in sterling, the FTSE 100 softens 54.3 points to 7,301 on Friday as news that the immediate cliff edge for Brexit is being postponed drives a recovery rally in the currency. This is hurting companies deriving a significant chunk of their sales in dollars such as Unilever (ULVR) and British American Tobacco (BATS). Pharmaceuticals ...