Another  choppy week in stock markets has again seen a wave of directors buying shares in their companies. Two of the biggest buyers this week involve directors at FTSE 100 companies Micro Focus (MCRO) and Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (CCH). NEW MICRO FOCUS CHAIR BUYS MORE SHARES Greg Lock, non-executive chairman of software giant Micro Focus, and his wife Rosemary, snapped up buy ...

Shares in Coca-Cola bottling colossus Coca-Cola HBC (CCH) fizzed 5% higher to £29.21 after the soft drinks giant served up strong full year results and said it recorded its highest ever volumes in 2019. Growth accelerated to 7.4% through the fourth quarter, partially clawing back a weather-impacted summer, and Coca-Cola HBC expects the pace of volume growth to quicken this ...

China reported an increase in the number of deaths from and cases of coronavirus, while the first patient has been diagnosed in London, news that gave investors the jitters on Thursday. The FTSE 100 traded down 0.9% at 7,468.37, with its heavy weighting towards commodity stocks, which are particularly sensitive to events in China, contributing to the weakness. Barclays (BARC) cheapened 2.8% to ...

New Woodford Income Focus managers Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) have given a glimpse of what the revamped portfolio will look like, with only two of the top 10 holdings left over from the Woodford days. Renamed the ASI Income Focus, the new fund will reopen tomorrow under the management of ASI fund managers Charles Luke and Thomas Moore. Investors are able to place trades from midday ...

UK blue chip shares have tumbled this morning as investors end the year on a cautious note. It mirrors last night’s moves on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 closed 0.6% down and the Nasdaq Composite 0.7% down. Not helping London’s leading basket of stocks, which is exporter-heavy, is a strengthening of the pound against the dollar to $1.3132. At around 8.50am, the benchmark FTSE ...

Here’s a quick mental exercise. Think of the globe’s best known, most iconic brands and one name will stand out, namely Coca-Cola or ‘Coke’, the world’s most recognised soft drink. Everyone knows it, but can you make money from it as an investor? We’ll take a look at the multiple ways you can get exposure and we reveal our top picks in this article. SECRET RECIPE Coca-Cola ...

UK stocks regain their poise on Thursday after a quiet session overnight in the US and Asia and early gains in Europe. The FTSE 100 rises 18 points or 0.25% to 7,216 with most sectors in the black. Leading the charge are aerospace, healthcare, industrials, oil services and software. In corporate news, insurance giant Aviva (AV.) delivers what by its own admission is a mixed half year earnings ...

The FTSE 100 starts the week on the back foot although it is still holding on to a position north of 7,200, down 0.37% at 7,210.16 in early trading. An uptick in the pound contributing to the weaker open. Consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser (RB.) reports a 65% drop in annual profit owing to one-off gains and expenses but underlying earnings are up as the company hit the top end of its sales ...

Following a palate-pleasing run, some of the fizz has dissipated from Coca-Cola HBC (CCH) on Thursday, the shares off 4.6% to £25.69 despite the soft drinks colossus reporting strong revenue growth and margin expansion for the 2018 calendar year. Forward-looking investors appear spooked by the FTSE 100 firm’s warning that slowing economic growth across a range of emerging and developed markets ...

Risk-averse investors unnerved by the return of volatility, not to mention slowing global economic growth and European political uncertainties, might view share price weakness at the Henderson High Income Trust (HHI) as a compelling entry point. We believe the outlook for income from this highly diversified portfolio is robust. Moreover, the historic dividend yield of 5.8% is attractive ...

Emerging markets haven’t been good to investors in 2018. Their meltdown has reflected a mounting trade war between the world’s two biggest economies, America and China, higher US interest rates and a strengthening of the dollar. Compounding the situation have been the currency crises and economic problems that have befallen Turkey and Argentina. However, where there is a problem, there can ...

Package holidays firm TUI (TUI) is firmly on the back foot in early trade on Thursday after the company warned of a €35m hit to profits this year as foreign currencies move against it. The news comes alongside third quarters figures showing a 7.5% fall in underlying earnings, sending the stock sliding close on 10% to £14.33. That makes TUI the biggest loser across a fairly weak FTSE 100, the ...

Fears have arisen over a shortage of carbon dioxide production in Europe, which could have trading implications for a number of stock market-listed food and beverage names, whose beer, fizzy drink and barbecue-related sales could end up falling flat over the summer. A shortage of CO2 among some of the largest suppliers in north-western Europe has emerged, endangering an expected boost to beer ...

Banking group Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has agreed to pay a $4.9bn fine to resolve a US probe into its past sale of mortgage-backed securities. This is a far smaller penalty than many investors feared the bank would have to pay, with some estimates predicting up to $12bn in fines. This sends shares in RBS jumping more than 5% to 290.6p in early trade on Thursday, one of the FTSE 100’s ...

Soft drinks colossus Coca-Cola HBC (CCH) fizzes 3.4% higher to £23.11 as the leading Coke bottler (rather immodestly) lauds an ‘exceptional’ set of full year results. Sales and profits for the 2017 calendar year are ahead of market expectations thanks to a combination of broad based growth, rising emerging markets profitability, operational leverage and a focus on costs. ‘Economic ...

European markets are off to a strong start on Valentine’s Day, the FTSE 100 continuing to show resilience in the face of yesterday’s high inflation figure and trading 42.2 points up at 7,210.2 early on. Distinctly unloved however is housebuilder-to-construction firm Galliford Try (GFRD), which slumps 14.8% lower to 841.5p despite posting robust half year results with its Linden Homes arm in ...

London’s blue-chip benchmark marks time at 7,436.5 points early on, failing to match the strong gains on Wall Street overnight and in Asia this morning. However, heating and plumbing products distributor Ferguson (FERG) firms 3.1% to £50.15 on strong results for the year to July with good trading momentum continuing in the fourth quarter. Enjoying a tailwind in the US, where residential and ...

The FTSE 100 opens down by over 20 points to 7,274.85 as North Korea’s latest missile test spooks investors. Cheap and cheerful pub operator JD Wetherspoon (JDW) ticks up 7% to £11.17 as its pre-tax profit before exceptional items hit £102.8m in the 53 weeks to 30 July, a 27.5% increase on 2016’s figure. Like-for-like sales increased by 4%. Toys and games maker and distributer ...

Despite headwinds from rising input costs and a €23m adverse foreign exchange movement, Coca-Cola HBC (CCH) reports ‘excellent’ first half results helped by an acceleration of sales growth in the second quarter. Management believes that ‘good volume trends will continue in the second half’ and guides towards a better 2017 sales and margin performance than expected at the start of the ...

Sales of big ticket furniture are not going well for retailer DFS (DFS) which has cut its earnings guidance towards the lower end of forecasts. The news is a hefty blow coming after orders declined in April, May and June, reflecting an uncertain economic environment, an unexpected national election and warm weather. Investors are spooked, marking the share price down by more than 7% in early trade ...