Convatec (CTEC) 225.6p Gain to date 10.2% Original entry point: Buy at 204.6p on 23 December 2020 Shares in medical products company Convatec (CTEC) have dropped approximately 13% since reporting stronger than expected first half growth and lifting guidance for full year organic revenue growth. The share price reaction can be attributed to adjusted operating margin guidance being ...

UK stocks finished the month flat despite a strong corporate  earnings season as concerns over Chinese regulation of technology stocks and disappointing US results weighed on sentiment. Overnight, Asian stocks sank as fears re-surfaced that Beijing could extend its intervention to more parts of the Chinese economy, while in the US shares in e-commerce giant Amazon.com fell 7% after the ...

UK stocks traded lower at lunchtime on Friday after continued weak trading in Asia and as e-commerce giant Amazon missed quarterly sales forecasts for the first time since 2018, sending its shares down 7% in after-hours trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index sank 1.8% while China’s SE Composite gave up 0.4% as concerns increased over the tighter regulation of Chinese companies. Brent Crude ...

Shares in medical products company ConvaTec (CTEC) fell 5.9% to 244.6p on Friday despite reported stronger than expected first half growth after it warned of notably higher expected cost inflation in the second half. Constant currency full year adjusted operating margins are now expected to be between 18% and 19%, from the previously guided 18% to 19.5%, excluding currency movements. The ...

UK stocks opened lower on Friday after continued weak trading in Asia and as e-commerce giant Amazon missed quarterly sales forecasts for the first time since 2018, sending its shares down 7% in after-hours trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index sank 1.8% while China’s SE Composite gave up 0.4%. Brent Crude prices fell 0.5% to $73.2 per barrel and Gold was flat at $1,829 per ounce. At 9am ...

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 ...

Every December Shares selects a group of stocks to own for the year ahead. The selection for 2021 have performed well with an average share price gain of 15.2% over the past six months compared with a return of 11.9% for the FTSE-All Share index. Although the list isn’t intended to be a portfolio, to calculate the return we have assumed that each holding has an equal weighting. The ...

ConvaTec (CTEC) 223.8p Gain to date: 9.3% Original entry point: Buy at 204.6p, 23 December 2020 Shares in medical products firm Convatec (CTEC) are finally picking up, having been a laggard earlier this year thanks to a mix of sentiment shifting in favour of value stocks and concerns around pandemic-related disruption to the business. Its latest update (29 Apr) seems to have won ...

Investors spent 2020 worrying about Covid-19 but as vaccines rollout and economies begin to gradually reopen, equity markets are getting increasingly jumpy about a new threat - inflation. Investors should not treat these warnings lightly. The most obvious response to rising inflation for central banks (the Bank of England  in our case) is to reverse  ‘lower for longer’ interest rate ...

At the end of a tumultuous first quarter for global markets our top picks for 2021 have handily outperformed the market, chalking up a 9.5% gain versus 6.3% from UK shares in general, as measured by the FTSE All-Share. Four of the 12 stocks have underperformed, having been victims of shifting market sentiment as much as any individual failings at a        company-level. BUMPER ...

Shares in medical products company ConvaTec (CTEC) gained 3% to 195p on Friday after reporting a resilient full year performance and providing a better than expected outlook. The company, which has seen demand pressure as elective procedures were delayed because of Covid, said it expected to deliver organic revenue growth of between 3% to 4.5% and a constant currency adjusted EBIT margin ...

UK stocks headed into the weekend on a decidedly down note after US markets fell for a third day on Thursday. The Nasdaq 100 index is already down on the year and back to November levels while S&P 500 is barely in positive territory. The FTSE 100 index dropped by 60 points or 0.8% to 6,590 in the first half hour of trading with financial stocks and miners bearing the brunt of the ...

After recently upgrading (28 October) full-year revenue growth to the top of its 2% to 3.5% target range, medical products company ConvaTec (CTEC) looks well placed going into 2021 as several tailwinds form. A faster than anticipated recovery in US elective surgeries is providing a boost for its wound care business and new product launches position the company for renewed ...

Alibaba China offers huge growth potential in 2021 and beyond and Alibaba (BABA:NYSE) is arguably the best way to play this theme. The country’s answer to Amazon, Alibaba owns the largest online marketplaces in China while Alibaba Cloud is the region’s leading cloud platform. The company went public six years ago, and its share price has since risen nearly 300%. Ambitious ...

UK stocks hit their lowest level since late April as investors reacted to another surge in coronavirus cases in Europe and there was increasing concern over the outcome of next week's US presidential election. At midday the FTSE 100 index was down 94 points or 1.7% to 5,635 points with mining, metal and house-building shares at the bottom of the pile and just half a dozen stocks making ...

Shares in wound care specialist Convatec (CTEC) climbed 4.4% to 193p on Wednesday despite the broader UK market falling 2.5% after the company upped expectations for full-year revenues and profits ended 31 December 2020. Today’s announcement was unscheduled and reflected a stronger than expected trading performance in the third-quarter with constant currency revenue growth of 5.6% to $493 ...

UK stocks hit six-month lows on Wednesday as growing fears of further lockdowns and investors started to factor in the likely economic impact. The FTSE 100 dropped 2.3% to 5,597 points with cyclical shares seeing the brunt of the fall. According to Bloomberg reports, Germany will announce today that it is moving to a one month closure of bars and restaurants while urging people to keep contact ...

In a rare bit of positive news for the retail sector, discounter B&M European Value Retail (BME) has been promoted to the FTSE 100 index in the latest quarterly reshuffle, global index provider FTSE Russell has confirmed. In a rebalance that sees just one change to the FTSE 100, broadcaster ITV (ITV) suffered relegation to the FTSE 250, losing its place in the elite index after a spell ...

Income is a big motivating factor for people to invest in the markets. The idea of securing a regular stream of cash which can be used to pay the bills or reinvested to help boost capital returns is an attractive one. However, this income is not guaranteed and the last two months or so of dividend cuts, suspensions and deferrals have seen billions of pounds worth of payouts from UK stocks taken ...

Oil producer Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) was meant to be the company that never disappoints when it comes to dividends. Sadly its decision to slash its payment by two thirds means other stocks effectively now have free rein to do the same. The drastic actions by companies to preserve cash have now seen 309 London-listed stocks either cut, suspend or delay dividends, including 41 in the FTSE ...