Constituents of the UK chemicals sector span both a wide range of market capitalisations and end markets. These include aerospace, automotive, coatings, semiconductors, sports and leisure and the global flavour and fragrance industries. The largest company in the UK chemicals sector, Croda (CRDA) has a market capitalization of £12.6 billion, this contrasts with AIM-quoted Biome Technologies ...

Interestingly, the biggest insider deals of the past fortnight have all been sales rather than purchases, which may or may not be telling us something about the mood in the market. The chairman and chief executive of Potters Bar-based social care housing specialist Caretech (CTH:AIM) each sold 750,000 shares at 620p at the start of August, netting £9.3 million between them. The sale, which ...

Croda (CRDA) 338.9p Gain to date: 30% Original entry point: Buy at £63.84, 1 April 2021 Our confidence in chemicals firm Croda’s (CRDA) new strategy is already being rewarded in spades with its first half results (27 Jul) revealing strong trading and prompting a material upgrade to full year guidance. Pre-tax profit increased by 41% to £204.1 million, driven by a 39% jump in ...

Global specialty chemical manufacturer Croda International (CRDA) impressed the market with its half-year results and says full year profits will be significantly ahead of market expectations. Pre-tax profit increased by 41% to £204.1 million, driven by a 39% jump in sales to £934 million. It has proposed to increase the dividend by 43.5p. This good news helped to drive the share price ...

The UK’s major stocks fell sharply on Tuesday following a sharp sell-off in Asia overnight as investors worry about the intensifying crackdown on technology companies by Chinese authorities. The benchmark FTSE 100 lost 1.15% at 6,944.5 with leisure, food and miners dragging on the market mood while poorly received updates from Reckitt Benckiser (RB.) and online greeting cards seller Moonpig ...

Investors should buy SkinBio Therapeutics (SBTX:AIM) as it prepares to launch a new product which could generate tens of millions of pounds in fresh revenue for the business. The company has developed a proprietary technology platform which harnesses the human microbiome to improve skin health and access the growing market for probiotic products. On 26 May the company reported impressive ...

It’s been a quieter week for director deals given the Bank Holiday weekend, but a number of company bosses and non-executive directors have still been busy dealing in their companies’ shares. The most notable transaction comes from FTSE 100 chemicals company Croda International (CRDA), whose chief financial officer Jez Maiden sold around 10,600 shares this week at a price of £63.82 each in ...

UK stocks shrugged off concerns over the country’s vaccine programme to continue their upward march so far this week. Medicines regulator the MHRA this afternoon stated under-30s should be offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca (AZN) jab where possible due to concerns over the link between the vaccine and blood clots. While this is better than an outright ban on use of the vaccine for ...

London’s FTSE 100 continued its strong momentum this week with a 0.8% gain to 6,877.86 by Wednesday lunchtime, following on from yesterday’s 1.3% increase, as reopening optimism grows among investors. With the UK’s lockdown set for another round of easing next Monday, businesses are gearing up for a resumption of trading that saw a flash PMI reading surge last month. The latest IHS ...

The UK’s major stocks started strongly on Wednesday as the nation starts its Moderna vaccine rollout, the third approved for Brits, reigniting reopening optimism among investors. With the UK’s lockdown set for another round of easing next Monday, businesses are gearing up for a resumption of trading that saw a flash PMI reading surge last month. Later today investors will get an idea of the ...

Investors should buy chemicals firm Croda - a highly exciting stock which should provide substantial multi-year returns for investors. What’s firing our excitement is the new-found expertise in its healthcare division in so-called lipid nanoparticles or LNPs, which are fatty molecules used in drugs and vaccines to encase and protect the stuff in the drugs and vaccines that help ...

FTSE 250 chemicals firm Elementis (ELM) ticks all the boxes for an investor looking for an overlooked and undervalued stock set to benefit from the reopening of society and the economy. Elementis has the right mix of sales divisions to benefit from both economic activity picking up again and society reopening, and at a bargain price-to-book value of just 1.2 times, compared to a much higher ...

UK stocks ended Thursday lower as a stalemate over a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union and rising Covid-19 infections fuelled fears of more damage to an already faltering domestic economic recovery. Even the modestly positive start to trading on Wall Street failed to turn the tide, leaving the benchmark FTSE 100 0.8% off at 6,334.35 despite positive vaccine updates. Automotive, Oil ...

The FTSE 100 remained in positive territory on Wednesday afternoon as a positive coronavirus vaccine update from US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer lifted markets across Europe and the US. Having started the day in the red, the UK’s benchmark index closed 0.31% higher to 6,385.24, mirroring gains seen in other markets with Germany’s DAX closing 0.52% higher and the S&P 500 in the US ...

The FTSE 100 moved back into positive territory by midday on Wednesday as it emerged the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine is more effective than previously thought. The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech has now been revealed to be 95% effective, and appears to protect 94% of adults over 65 years old. More data released from their ongoing phase three trial suggests it works just as ...

FTSE 100 chemicals giant Croda International (CRDA) has launched a £600 million placing and a retail offer to help it fund the acquisition of a Spanish flavours and fragrances company. Shares in Croda gained 2.1% to £62.12 after it said it has agreed to acquire Fragrance Spanish Topco, trading as Iberchem, from private equity company Eurazeo for €820 million. The company plans to fund ...

The UK Government’s wage subsidy scheme is due to end in October, a deadline that could spark a fresh wave of corporate redundancies and financial stress. For investors, this means taking action to ensure their stock portfolios are culled of potential financial basket cases and focused on quality companies that are stable, robust, and most likely to sustain shareholder returns through future ...

UK markets finished in the red on Thursday as a batch of blue-chip firms traded ex-dividend and investors fretted over resurgent Brexit fears and an October end to the furlough scheme. Coming off a strong run, the pause for breath occurred despite an impressive jobless claims report out of the US, with initial jobless claims dropping below one million for the first time since March. The FTSE ...

UK markets were lower on Thursday as a batch of blue-chip firms traded ex-dividend, while National Express (NEX) slumped after reporting a pre-tax loss for the first half of the year. Elsewhere in the world, the number of coronavirus deaths in India has topped 47,000, making it the fourth worst country globally, while New Zealand has recorded another 13 new infections, forcing Auckland into ...

The 100 FTSE fell 0.9% to 6,222.52 in early trading on Thursday as investors weighed up the impact of weak economic data seen yesterday and today’s corporate updates. A number of stocks going ex-dividend, as always happens on a Thursday, was also a big contributor to the fall, with the likes of pharma giants AstraZeneca (AZN) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and oil majors BP (BP.) and Royal Dutch ...