FTSE opened on the front foot on Tuesday with a gain of almost 3% to 5,129 points as the UK joined global stock markets higher following more stimulus from the US Federal Reserve and strong trading in Asia. Oil and mining shares led the market advance with defensive sectors such as utilities and consumer staples taking a back seat . Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was up 7.7% and China’s SSE ...

Shares held by directors at some of the biggest companies in the FTSE 100 changed hands over the past week in a number of noteworthy transactions. However the biggest deal came from AIM-listed law firm Gateley (GTLY:AIM), with directors and employees cashing in £11m worth of shares, representing 4.1% of the company’s issued share capital, in a placing to meet demand from institutional ...

UK stock markets continue to drift sideways in early trade on Friday with little direction provided by corporate news on a typically quiet last day of the week’s trading. Banks are popular with both Lloyds (LLOY) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) up more than 2% a piece, while private hospitals firm NMC Healthcare (NMC) and housebuilder Taylor Wimpey TW.) both sit at the head of the FTSE 100 ...

Legal and professional services firm Gateley (GTLY:AIM) delivers a strong set of results for the year to 30 April, as outlined in its pre-close trading update, and reports a solid start to the new financial year. Revenues were up 20% to £103.5m, a new record, while profit before tax grew by 9% to £15.9m. Fully diluted earnings per share (EPS) were 13.15p, up 17.8%, while dividends for the ...

Newly-listed legal firm DWF (DWF) releases a confident trading update for the year to 30 April with a forecast of ‘not less than 15%’ revenue growth and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in line with its forecasts at the time of floating. Shares add 1.7% to 120.5p, bucking the weakness in the broader market and taking them back to just below the March ...

Legal services firm DWF has confirmed plans to join the London stock market in what could be the largest legal services flotation. The firm first announced last June that it was interested in an IPO (initial public offering). Media reports speculate DWF will be valued at around £700m or 15 times 2018 profits but some observers expect it to push for a higher rating. While its quoted rivals ...

When Gateley (GTLY:AIM) listed in London in June 2015, it became only the second law firm in the world to join a public stock exchange. Only Australian firm Slater & Gordon had made the move before, back in 2007. Now there are four legal ‘companies’ on the AIM market and while all feature lawyers as their main employees, they are all very different businesses. Keystone Law ...

Birmingham-based law company Gateley’s (GTLY:AIM) release of a strong set of pre-close results has pleased the market, driving up its share price by 5.3% to 169.5p. The firm has announced its third acquisition since listing in 2015, buying land and property experts GCL Solicitors. The deal will cost £4.15m, its biggest yet and one that will be immediately earnings accretive. The deal is ...

While much focus is on the large cap mega deals, the Kraft-Heinz $46bn merger in 2015 for example, we think it is worth looking at a company involved in smaller deals, of which there are currently plenty. We give you advisory firm K3 Capital (K3C:AIM), a fantastic little gem that has already topped Thomson Reuters’ small cap advisory league table. It’s the market leader in UK small cap ...

Keystone Law is set to be the UK’s third listed law firm following Gateley (GTLY:AIM) in June 2015 and Gordon Dadds (GOR:AIM) in August 2017. Keystone’s model has been described as disruptive compared to more traditional law firms in the UK, although it is hardly revolutionary. The company is dubbed a ‘virtual law firm’; it uses a bespoke IT system called ‘Keyed-in’ which ...

Investing in the only law firm listed in London, Gateley (GTLY:AIM), may not appear a sound decision. These companies are ‘people’ businesses, their tangible assets are their lawyers who make money through client instructions. Others in the legal market have seen their companies decimated by high profile (high billing) partners leaving for pastures new and in some cases taking their clients ...

Fevertree goes for the double Analysts have once again upgraded earnings forecasts for Fevertree Drinks (FEVR) following another bullish trading update. Investec lifts its 2016 pre-tax profit estimate by 9% to £26.5 million. That is essentially twice the amount it originally forecast Fevertree to make this year (£13.9 million) when initiating coverage on the stock in January ...

The UK’s first law firm to float on the stock market has outperformed the FTSE All-Share index since joining AIM in June 2015, but are investors being blindsided by the lure of a 6%-plus dividend yield and ignoring big risks with Gateley (GTLY:AIM)? The £110 million cap has limited earnings visibility. It is rarely allowed to talk about specific projects, so shareholders lack information on ...