BT Group (BT.A)

If you are new to stock market investing you may still have heard of the FTSE 100. It frequently appears on TV news bulletins and in the papers, its relative direction up or down giving viewers/readers a steer as to how the UK economy is going and how optimistic, or not, investors feel about the nation’s prospects. By contrast, the FTSE 350 the has a very low profile and seldom gets a mention ...

UK telecoms giant BT (BT.A) has reported first quarter to 30 June results showing widespread declines in profit and cash flow and inevitable hikes in capital expenditure (capex). Revenue eased marginally from £5.72bn to £5.63bn (about 1.4% down) while adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell similarly to £1.96bn, having reported £1.98bn this time ...

UK telecoms giant BT (BT.A) appears to be softening up investors to a future cut to its £1.5bn a year dividend as it balances rising fibre roll-out investment. BT’s management estimate that it will cost an extra £400m to £600m a year to accelerate the roll-out of its fibre-to-the-premises network. There are several potential levers to pull to free up additional funding, including ...

Britain’s new prime minister will be announced on 23 July. Boris Johnson is widely considered to be the favourite and Jeremy Hunt the underdog. Whichever candidate wins they face a baptism of fire as the 31 October Brexit deadline looms large on the horizon. Johnson has made bold statements to the effect of Brexit or bust come Halloween. Hunt has been more circumspect, albeit playing to ...

UK stock markets opened higher on Friday morning as the G20 summit of the world’s most influential leaders kicks off in Japan. A softer tone from US president Donald Trump on his spats with China and Iran has helped to slightly ease market worries, and it’s hoped both Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping can come to an agreement to end their trade war. The FTSE 100 opened marginally ...

Mobile network Airtel Africa is hoping to raise around £595m from new investors as part of a London stock market flotation later this month in what could be an interesting emerging market opportunity for investors. Airtel Africa is the second largest mobile operator in the continent, providing services to 98.9m subscribers in 14 nations. Owned by India’s Bharti Airtel and a handful of ...

Last week we looked at which stocks in the FTSE 100 index had the fastest earnings growth over five and 10 years and what price investors were prepared to pay for them. This week we’ve delved into the murky waters of the stocks with the worst record of growing earnings. We have used the same metrics, looking at five and 10 years of data, supplied by SharePad. Again, the question boils down ...

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 ...

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 ...

FTSE 100 telecoms group Vodafone (VOD) has pulled a massive U-turn and slashed its dividend by more than 40%, despite having committed six months earlier to maintaining the payment at the same level as the previous financial year. The shares are now trading on a prospective yield of 6.1% versus 10% before the announcement. For the year to 31 March 2018, the €0.1507 per share dividend cost ...

Weeks of will it, won’t it stock market chatter about BT (BT.A) and its potential to cut its dividend might seem to have been put to bed once and for all. Today the £21.5bn telecoms colossus reported annual results to 31 March that kept the 15.4p per share full year payout in place. Talk had been swirling that a cut to the payout might be on the cards ever since the half year dividend was ...

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 ...

Low cost, instant to trade and easy to understand – it’s no wonder that exchange-traded funds are becoming increasingly popular with investors. Also known as ETFs or trackers, these low-cost investments are designed to mimic the performance of a given stock market or sector. But as ETFs have grown in popularity and assets under management have swelled, so too has the array of different ...

You may find it odd to celebrate the start of the new tax year as 6 April often brings rising taxes and falling benefits. However, the one thing in investors’ favour is that the ISA allowance clock is reset. It means you can invest up to £20,000 over the coming tax year and not pay any tax or capital gains on investments inside the wrapper. The start of the new tax is often one of the ...

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 ...

UK water industry stocks are rallying in early trade on Thursday after the three UK listed firms – Severn Trent (SVT), United Utilities (UU.) and Pennon (PNN) – see their business plans win watchdog approval. That sends sector share prices rallying having removed a hefty unknown for investors, led by the 1.5% rise at United Utilities to 832p, the UK’s largest water company. The ...

New dad Aaron has a clear plan which he hopes will result in a comfortable life for his family. He wants to buy a house in around five years’ time, retire aged 60 and have sufficient money invested so that, based on projections, he and his partner won’t have to contribute any more cash into long-term savings by the time they are 50. Engaged to be married and recently celebrating the ...

The origins of the share ownership in the UK can tell us a plenty about how the stock market operates today and what exactly a ‘share’ is. The trade of stocks and shares in London began at the end of the 17th century with the need to finance two great voyages – the Muscovy Company’s attempt to reach China via the White Sea north of Russia and the East India company’s exploration of ...

UK telecoms group BT (BT.A) soars to the top of the FTSE 100 leader board in early trade on Thursday after unveiling a big rise in profits. Pre-tax profits at BT jumped 24% to £1.34bn in the half year to 30 September despite revenue slipping 2% to £11.6bn. Higher profits were driven by customers opting for more expensive smartphones at mobile network EE and restructuring-related cost ...

Imagine starting a new job and being told you are expected to invest 300% of your basic salary in company shares. That’s exactly what’s happened with the new chief executive (CEO) of BT (BT.A), Philip Jansen. He has already committed to investing £2m of his own money by late November, plus he is being granted nearly £1m of BT shares as compensation for having to forfeit stock on leaving ...