A key theme in the UK market in 2021 has been a spate of takeovers, mergers and strategic deals involving British businesses as buyers, often from overseas, have been attracted by lowly valuations relative to other international equities. By the reckoning of stockbroker Peel Hunt, nearly £25 billion worth of bids for more than 20 companies have been pitched in the last six months and ...

Bloomsbury (BMY) 350p Gain to date: 23.3% Original entry point: Buy at 283.84p, 4 February 2021 When we added publishing group Bloomsbury (BMY) to our Great Ideas list in February the company had already enjoyed a strong share price run. Our view that the lockdown-inspired boom in reading would continue has been borne out. Results for the 12 months to February 2021 were ahead of ...

London’s FTSE 100 finished Wednesday’s trading session 0.4% higher at 7,108 points as inflation worries eased and the blue chip benchmark was boosted by a decent start on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 up 0.3% to 4,216.2 by 4.30pm UK time. As in the US, the absence of earnings from big-name companies left the FTSE 100 lacking a bit of inspiration, with the index outshone by the FTSE ...

London’s FTSE 100 had retreated modestly from its morning highs by lunchtime as housebuilders slipped back on mixed mortgage data. By 12.20, the blue chip benchmark was 0.2% higher at 7,092.37 points, while the more domestically-focused FTSE 250 was 0.1% easier at 22,854.5. BLOOMSBURY REPORTS RECORD YEAR Publisher Bloomsbury (BMY) jumped 8.7% to 336p after it reported a record financial ...

Shares in Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury (BMY) jumped 6.5% to 329p after it posted forecast-beating full-year results as reading enjoyed a renaissance during pandemic lockdowns. One of Shares’ recent Great Ideas selections, Bloomsbury also noted a strong start to the new financial year to February 2022 and expects revenue will be ‘ahead’ and profit ‘comfortably ahead’ of market ...

UK stocks continued their momentum on Wednesday with more solid gains as investors remained upbeat on the global economic recovery. Defying expectations of a flat opening, the UK’s benchmark FTSE 100 index moved 0.56% higher to 7,120 while the midcap FTSE 250 index, currently sitting at all-time highs, gained 0.33% to 22,951. It comes after a flat session overnight on Wall Street, where ...

Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) 298p Gain to date: 5% Original entry point: Buy at 283.84p, 4 February 2021 Our positive call on publishing group Bloomsbury (BMY) is off to a solid start thanks to a bullish trading update on 24 March. The company said it expected annual revenue and profit to be ‘significantly ahead’ of upgraded market expectations on exceptional sales performance in ...

A rebound in oil prices after a container ship blocked the Suez Canal helped the FTSE 100 finish in positive territory on Wednesday following a jittery start. By the close, the blue chip benchmark was 0.2% higher at 6,712.89 with oil majors Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) and BP (BP.) both catching a bid, gaining 1.4% to £13.87 and 2% to 301.6p respectively. BALLY’S BETS ON GAMESYS In ...

A rebound in oil prices after a container ship blocked the Suez Canal helped lift the blue chip benchmark off its lows on Wednesday. By lunchtime, the FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 6,681.10 having earlier traded as low as 6,681 points after inflation surprisingly fell in February, defying expectations of a rise, with the weak data stoking concerns that persistent lockdowns are weighing on global ...

UK stocks opened lower on Wednesday after inflation surprisingly fell in February, defying expectations of a rise, with the weak data stoking concerns that persistent lockdowns are weighing on global growth. The UK’s inflation rate unexpectedly fell to 0.4% last month, down from 0.7% in January and well below the 0.8% the market was expecting, with the cost of clothing notably ...

It seems we rediscovered the joy of a good book in lockdown and this has helped propel shares in publishing firm Bloomsbury (BMY) to the heights it last enjoyed in the mid-noughties when the Harry Potter craze was at its height. The stock looks inexpensive, meaning there is still time to buy the shares and hopefully see them go up further in value. Bloomsbury is now a more diversified and ...

London’s FTSE 100 finished Friday’s session 1.8% lower at 6,407.5 points after the worst week for markets since October. Wall Street opened in the red, the US market extending its run of losses as the GameStop saga continued. Investors have been rattled by traders on Reddit buying stocks such as GameStop in coordinated attacks against short sellers, while concerns over vaccine ...

By lunchtime on Friday, London’s FTSE 100 was 0.8% lower at 6,474 points with recession fears, problems with the vaccine rollout and ‘message-board led volatility’ from the so-called ‘Reddit revolution’ all weighing on investor sentiment. The dispute between the EU and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (AZN) over its coronavirus vaccine looks no closer to being resolved, something that ...

Upgrades from book publisher Bloomsbury (BMY) helped lift the shares 11.3% to 316p and within sight of the mid-noughties highs it reached at the height of the initial Harry Potter craze. The company lifted its annual profit and revenue expectations thanks to strong performance in its consumer division amid a surge in reading during the Covid-19 lockdowns. For the 12 months ending 28 February ...

The FTSE 100 plunged 1.4% to 6,402.40 in early trading on Friday with investors nervous over recession fears and problems with the vaccine rollout, while ‘message-board led volatility’ from the so-called ‘Reddit revolution’ also hit sentiment. The dispute between the EU and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (AZN) over its coronavirus vaccine looks no closer to being resolved, something ...

In the second part of our two-part feature we get another fascinating range of responses on what did and didn’t work out for top fund managers during a tumultuous 2020 and which stocks they are most excited about now. Interestingly computer games firm Codemasters (CDM:AIM) features as both a success story in the eyes of one manager and a disappointment in the eyes of another. Read on to ...

Investors retained their optimism following the agreement of an EU stimulus package with the FTSE 100 index rising 0.5%  to 6,291.48 by lunchtime. US futures markets suggested the strength would extend to Wall Street as investors await the latest announcements from the second quarter earnings season. Gambling firm GVC (GVC) fell 9.3% to 790.8p as it said it was 'surprised' that the UK tax ...

UK stocks opened higher on Tuesday after European leaders agreed to a massive regional stimulus deal, sending the FTSE 100 up 0.45% to 6,289.75. Mining titan BHP (BHP) fell 1.2% to £17.76 despite meeting full year production guidance for iron ore, metallurgical coal and copper, as petroleum production fell marginally below guidance following the impact of COVID-19 in the June 2020 ...

The pressure on dividends from UK stocks continues to build amid the coronavirus crisis – at our last count 274 London-listed companies have cut, deferred or cancelled payouts totalling some £20.5bn. This includes 34 FTSE 100 firms. On the other side of the ledger, 82 firms have retained £4.4bn worth of dividends encompassing eight constituents of the FTSE 100. Plumbing products firm ...

The Bank of England and the Treasury managed a one-two punch on 11 March as interest rates were cut by 50 basis points to a record low of 0.25% and hundreds of billions of pounds of new spending was announced. This did little to boost sentiment in the wider market as ongoing coronavirus fears and a sell-off in the US overshadowed the news, despite the provision of £30bn for coronavirus relief in ...