Yesterday saw the latest FTSE Russell quarterly index review, resulting in significant changes to the composition of both the FTSE 100 large-cap index and the FTSE 250 mid-cap index. Four stocks left the FTSE 100 – cruise ship operator Carnival (CCL), utility group Centrica (CNA), low-cost airline EasyJet (EZJ) and aerospace firm Meggitt (MGGT). Travel related stocks bore the brunt of the ...

Shares in specialty chemicals company Elementis (ELM) soared a staggering 177% to 50.8p on Thursday after it revealed it had barely been affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The FTSE 250 firm said in a trading update it had experienced a 'solid' start to the year with limited impact on production and demand from the pandemic. It added that all of its sites around the world remained ...

Chemicals company Elementis (ELM) was the biggest faller in the FTSE 350 this morning after it warned on profits and stalled on progress towards paying off its debts. Shares in the FTSE 250 firm plunged almost 15% to 140p after it said in an update that trading in the final quarter of 2019 was ‘somewhat subdued’ thanks to weakness in its chromium and energy divisions in particular. While ...

UK stocks opened slightly lower today with the FTSE 100 off 0.17% at 7,600.4 while the FTSE 250 index was flat at 21,720. Gambling stocks were on the back foot following the banning of credit cards which comes into effect on April 14. GVC (GVC) was trading off 0.24%, William Hill (WHM) was 2% lower while Flutter Entertainment (FLTR) shares were 0.8% softer. Online fashion retailer Boohoo ...

Sentiment towards UK stocks has dramatically improved since the December general election vote result, as evidenced by widespread gains among UK-focused funds and investment trusts. FE Fundinfo data mined by Shares shows the most obvious open-ended fund beneficiaries of the ‘Boris Bounce’ from across the IA UK Equity Income, IA UK All Companies and IA UK Smaller Companies sectors have been ...

One of the largest and most liquid UK smaller company trusts, yet trading at a 10.2% discount to net asset value (NAV) that suggests value abounds, Henderson Smaller Companies (HSL) has been successfully managed by trained accountant Neil Hermon since 2002. Hermon has established a formidably strong long-term track record by constructing a diversified portfolio with a focus on growth at a ...

UK stocks get off to a weak start on Thursday following declines in Asia and falls in US index futures as US Treasury yields topped 3.2% for the first time since 2011. Stronger-than-expected US payroll data yesterday and high oil prices are stoking fears of higher interest rates ahead. An increase in the Treasury yield, commonly seen as the ‘risk-free’ rate for investing, tends to be ...

London's FTSE 100 softens by 2.9 points to 7,505 and the FTSE 250 weakens 32.8 points to 20,428 in a muted start for UK and European markets on Wednesday, although online fashion purveyor Boohoo (BOO:AIM) puts smiles on investors’ faces with a 9% share price gain to 208.7p as it raises full year sales guidance. Boohoo is drawing confidence from a record first half to August for sales and ...

Chemicals giant Elementis (ELM) has struck revised terms for its proposed takeover of Mondo Minerals. The new deal will see the UK chemicals company pay $500m for the business on a cash/debt neutral basis instead of the $600m initially agreed at the end of June. Mondo Minerals is a producer of industrial talc additives and operator of four talc mines in Finland. The new deal will also ...

The FTSE 100 is down 0.3% to 7,257.55 as sterling strengthens against the dollar, impacting the 70% of the index’s constituents that earn their revenue overseas. Equipment rental company Ashtead (AHT) ticks up 4.3% to £23.77 after releasing its first quarter results. For the three months ending 31 July, underlying rental revenue is up 19% to 961m while pre-tax profits improve 23% to ...

UK insurer Esure (ESUR), the firm behind the Sheila’s Wheels brand, has agreed to be bought out by Bain Capital Private Equity in a £1.21bn deal. This is confirmation after news of talks broke late morning on Monday, sending the stock soaring more than 30%. That caps interest in financial figures, also out on Tuesday, which show a hefty fall in pre-tax profit for the six months to 30 ...

Chemicals specialist Elementis (ELM) has enjoyed a strong year, driven by impressive growth in its Personal Care division, which is now the largest contributor to profitability. The shares are flat on the news at 281.4p. Sales in Personal Care soared 186% to $179.3m with existing business growth rising 23% in the year to 31 December 2017. Adjusted operating profit is up 32% at ...

Elementis’ (ELM) full year results on 27 February will show just over nine months’ contribution from SummitReheis whose acquisition completed on 24 March 2017. The chemicals group paid $360m to acquire ingredients manufacturer SummitReheis to bolster its existing personal care arm. At the time of the deal Elementis said the acquisition would deliver material earnings accretion and ...

Special dividends can put a smile on the faces of investors. They are typically generous cash gifts which are sometimes greater in value than normal dividends paid by a company. We calculate that 120 companies currently in the FTSE 350 index have paid one or more special dividends over the past 25 years, with a noticeable increase in companies making payments over the past five ...

Specialty chemicals business Elementis (ELM) is set to grow operating profit across the board despite unplanned production outages in its chromium division and raw material cost inflation. Earlier this year, we were impressed by Elementis’ $360m acquisition of antiperspirant ingredients manufacturer SummitReheis. In the last 12 months Elementis has rallied 20%, partially driven by the ...

Elementis (ELM) 312.7p Gain to date: 33% Original entry point: Buy at 234.5p, 10 November 2016 Broker N+1 Singer has upgraded Elementis’ (ELM) 2017 profit and earnings per share forecast by 5% as the $360m acquisition of SummitReheis has completed three months earlier than expected. Analyst James Tetley is confident the company will return to earnings growth after a slump in ...

Chemicals business Elementis (ELM) saw profits and earnings slump in 2016. The strong dollar and low oil prices have combined to put the squeeze to its two largest divisions; Speciality Products and Chromium. Investors have also been mildly spooked by management talk of uncertainty over the economic environment, although that sort of tone has become de rigueur for many UK-based international ...

Steel-to-mining giant Evraz (EVR), the largest coking coal producer in Russia, rises 5% to 241.9p on strong full year results, reflecting a surge in the coking coal price as well as cost-cutting initiatives. CEO Alexander Frolov remains ‘cautiously optimistic about the market environment’ and believes Evraz will generate resilient free cash flow and further decrease leverage during ...

Major events in 2017 have fuelled our running ‘Great Ideas’ stock selections, as well as our ‘10 for 2017’ annual share portfolio. Acquisitions have certainly been on the agenda for many of our preferred stocks. Other catalysts have been trading updates and broker commentary. FTSE 250 chemicals group Elementis (ELM) is to boost the size of its personal care business with the $360m ...

Chemicals group Elementis (ELM) intends to boost the size of its personal care business with the $360m acquisition of SummitReheis. The company says that the deal will offer a strong position in the antiperspirant market with Elementis expecting to materially deliver profit and free cash flow in the current financial year. That's got the share price jumping more than 8% to 297.4p, although ...