Founder and chief executive of household appliance seller AO World (AO.), John Roberts, has upped his stake in the FTSE 250 firm after buying another £1.5 million worth of shares. Roberts, who set up AO in 2000, bought around 882,000 shares earlier this week at an average price of 168.9p each, and now holds a 22.8% stake. It comes after a strong period for the online retailer, which has ...

The FTSE 100 was 1% higher at 5,703 points as global stock markets took a breather after the wild swings in sentiment following the crash in oil prices earlier this week. Stocks in Asia were mixed as investors continued to worry about the pace at which global economies could open. The SEE composite closed up 0.6% while the Nikkei 225 was 0.7% lower. Brent crude traded 6% lower at $20.5 while ...

The shares of the UK’s leading attractions operator Merlin Entertainments (MERL) plunge more than 7% in early trade on Tuesday after revealing lacklustre trading at its Midway Attractions business. Midway Attractions runs some of Merlin's biggest brands, including Madame Tussauds, The London Eye, Sea Life and The Dungeons businesses. But like-for-like sales at Midway have declined 0.7% so far ...

Fancy mixer drinks supplier Fevertree Drinks (FEVR:AIM) storms more than 10% higher in early trade on Tuesday after indicating it will beat full year forecasts. Shares in the AIM favourite fizz 355p up to £38.10 on word that full year results will be ‘comfortably ahead’ of expectations, as the premium drinks maker reported a 35% jump in first half core earnings on the back of strong sales ...

More than three decades after founding the company Aidan Heavey is stepping down as chairman of oil business Tullow Oil (TLW). In July Heavey, 65, will hand over to former Drax (DRX) chief executive Dorothy Thompson. Heavey conceived the business in the mid-1980s in a town called Tullow within an hour’s drive of Dublin. He was discussing with a friend the existence of smaller oil fields in ...

On a busy day for corporate news the FTSE 100 climbs 0.3% to 7,309.63, boosted by strong trading on Wall Street overnight. Pay-TV firm Sky (SKY) gains 18.3% to £13.07 as it is subject to a £22.1bn cash bid from US media conglomerate Comcast, an offer which trumps the existing bid from Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox. The £12.50 per share offer also pits Comcast against Disney which is ...

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has given the all-clear for Tesco's (TSCO) takeover of grocery wholesale supplier Booker (BOK) after ruling the pair out as competitors. The CMA says ‘Tesco, as a retailer, and Booker, as a wholesaler, do not compete head-to-head in most of their activities.’ The decision was widely expected but it will leave many Tesco shareholders ...

It is a typical red flag when a company starts talking about second half weighted earnings. It’s basically City speak for ‘things haven’t gone quite as well as we hoped, but don’t panic, we can pick up the slack in the latter half of the year.’ This can leave companies facing a mountain to climb in terms of achieving forecast earnings. Sometimes companies can obtain the ...

Irish building materials firm CRH (CRH) tops the FTSE 100 leader board in early trade on an otherwise quiet Thursday as the group confirms pans to buy US cement maker Ash Grove Cement. The $3.5bn deal to expand CRH’s exposure to the North American market is widely well-received by investors, driving the share price more than 4% higher to £27.67. Read Shares exclusive take on the deal ...

The FTSE 100 is flat at 7,389 in early trading on 19 July with weakness in financial stocks offset by strength in drug and consumer goods firms. Power generation company Drax (DRX) sheds 6.5% to 322.9p as it records an £83m loss before tax for the six months to 30 June. Although the company’s total dividends grew to 4.9p per share compared to 2.1p at the same time last year, its net debt ...

Given the political, economic and regulatory uncertainties at large, it seems pretty reasonable that Telecom Plus (TEP) is picking balance sheet strength over short-term shareholder generosity. Opportunities and threats will likely emerge during the coming months and the multi-utility supplier will want the financial muscle to face them head on, so it has slashed the size of its planned share ...

Using their proprietary equities analysis tool Quest, number crunchers at Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management have identified FTSE 350 stocks which look most vulnerable if the market starts to fall. According to Canaccord, the nine names identified are expensive, both relative to their own historic valuation and in absolute terms, face above average risks and are beginning to face earnings ...

The FTSE 100 is a little lower at 7,290.29 despite US indicies posting new records last night. Defence firm Cobham (COB) slumps 18.9% to 109.8p as it warns on profits for the fifth time in little over a year. In what feels like a kitchen sinking exercise under new management. Trading profit for 2016 is guided at £225m compared with previously trimmed guidance of £245m  given in January ...

Drax (DRX)  Investors have long since put any disappointment from July 2016’s first half numbers behind them. Those results showed a hefty slump in EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), albeit not an unexpected one. But all attention ahead of full year results on 16 February is firmly on Drax’s acquisition of Opus Energy. This move will give the biomass ...

A weak mining and oil sector drags London's FTSE 100 lower on Tuesday, while news Black Friday had the now customary effect of slowing retail sales in the run up to the end-of-November event also weighs on sentiment. While British Retail Consortium statistics showed spending up year-on-year, the like-for-like growth number was almost a third lower than October amid frenzied discounting. In ...

Knowing when to sell a share, fund or exchange-traded product can be one of the most difficult challenges for investors. If the share price has been racing upwards, should you sell now or wait in hope of making even more money? If the price has been falling, do you cut your losses or wait in hope of a rebound? ‘Nobody ever lost money taking a profit’ is a famous phrase by American ...

In some ways, investment styles are a bit like the pick ‘n’ mix section of a well-stocked sweet shop. Cola bottles will suit some tastes, others may prefer cola cubes; pear drops, rhubarb and custard or humbugs could prove the fancy of a completely different group. So it is with investment, every investor must make their own choices based on their own feelings towards risk, time frame and an ...

The UK is on the cusp of a transformation in its energy sector. Energy secretary Amber Rudd says the country’s remaining coal-fired power stations will be shut by 2025 with their use restricted from 2023 onwards. Putting forward the plans (19 Nov) Rudd says gas-fired plants – which are seen as less polluting than coal – will take their place. The viability of this plan is being questioned ...

UK investors react positively to the gains seen overnight on Wall Street after the release of the last set of Fed minutes which appear to point to a shallower path for interest rate increases over the coming year. That sends the FTSE 100 soaring, the index up nearly 70 points, or 1.1%, to 6,348, with mid and small caps also firmly higher. In corporate news, Johnson Matthey (JMAT) jumps 7% to ...

We have spotted an investment trust that could be the antidote to investor sickness towards utility stocks like SSE (SSE) and Centrica (CNA). With a historic dividend of circa 6.8%, excluding additional payments from running down a reserve pot of cash, and outperformance of the FTSE All-World Utilities sector over the past three years, Premier Energy & Water Trust (PEW) has significant appeal ...