Kier Group (KIE)

Having opened lower, London’s FTSE 100 edged 15.1 points higher to 7,329.1 on Thursday as tension mounted ahead of the Bank of England’s latest interest rate decision and after last night’s rate cut by the US Federal Reserve left investors confused. While the cut was widely expected, the market doesn’t know what to make of split views in the Fed as policymakers in the committee failed to ...

Invest in what you know is the golden rule for first time investors. This advice has stood the test of time and is a great way for people to get to know what investing is all about. Fortunately, there are many companies on the FTSE 350 which are household names. But when you get more comfortable with investing and how the stock markets generally work, there’s a whole host of companies less ...

If you are new to stock market investing you may still have heard of the FTSE 100. It frequently appears on TV news bulletins and in the papers, its relative direction up or down giving viewers/readers a steer as to how the UK economy is going and how optimistic, or not, investors feel about the nation’s prospects. By contrast, the FTSE 350 the has a very low profile and seldom gets a mention ...

UK markets were weaker on Thursday with the FTSE 100 down 0.5% to 7,545 despite a much-anticipated cut in US interest rates overnight. The major US stock indices lost more than 1% after the chairman of the US Federal Reserve said that the 0.25% rate cut did not mark the beginning of a lengthy easing cycle. The Hong Kong central bank cut rates by 0.25% in line with the Federal ...

A disappointing trading update from building materials firm SIG (SHI) on 5 July was the latest bit of bad news from the UK construction sector. It follows a series of negative data points and gloomy commentary from construction companies. In this article we look at some of the larger businesses in the construction and building materials space and consider how diversified they are ...

The FTSE 100 is off to a steady start in early trading, up 0.2% to 7,419.26 buoyed by oil stocks. Due to concerns over oil supply disruptions thanks to the increasingly tense standoff between the US and Iran, two of the world’s biggest oil exporters, prices of the most-traded futures in crude oil have been pushed higher. That spells good news for the likes of Shell (RDSB) and BP ...

We often talk about incoming chief executives throwing the kitchen sink at company’s accounts when they come in – i.e. getting all the bad news out there in one go – well Kier’s (KIE) Andrew Davies looks like he’s thrown the whole kitchen at it. The shares are down 10% to 118p as he announces the suspension of dividends, 1,200 job cuts and the sale of non-core businesses, including ...

UK investors begin the week with takeover talk to digest after defence contractor Babcock (BAB) admits it turned down approaches of a tie-up from outsourcing peer Serco (SRP). There is also a strategy overhaul reported by troubled construction firm Kier (KIE) and a profit warning from German airline Lufthansa to mull, the latter hurting UK listed airlines that have been struggling with rising ...

The latest quarterly shuffling of the deck in the FTSE 100 list of blue-chip companies and the FTSE 250 index of mid-cap stocks sees a significant amount of change. To qualify for inclusion in the FTSE 100 index a stock needs to meet certain liquidity requirements and have a sufficiently large market capitalisation to rank in the top 100 companies. Stocks which fail to meet these criteria ...

Increasingly accident-prone outsourcing firm Kier (KIE) drops 38% to 172.3p as it warns on profit, citing ongoing volume pressures within its highways, utilities and housing maintenance businesses. The company has endured a torrid 12 months, punctuated by the departure of its CEO in the wake of a botched rights issue and its market value is now around a tenth of what it was five years ...

London’s FTSE 100 weakens a further 73 points to 7,089 on Monday as the exchange of trade threats between Washington and Beijing stirs fears of a recession and German chipmaker Infineon’s deal to buy US peer Cypress Semiconductors weighs on the technology sector. Construction and infrastructure firm Kier (KIE) crumbles 29.4% to 196.4p on a warning full year 2019 underlying operating profit ...

Increasing hopes that the US and China will finally put their long-running trade dispute behind them gives investors a welcome lift as we begin a new trading week, but the ongoing lack of corporate news continues to act as a brake on hubris in the UK. In early deals the FTSE 100 remains largely directionless, drifting six points lower to 7,431.01, although FTSE 250 mid-caps are doing better, up ...

Shares in infrastructure firm Kier Group (KIE) fall 6% to 454p in early trade after the company delivers a sub-optimal set of first half results and promises a better second half. Revenue for the six months to 31 December is up just 2% to £2.2bn as income from the Infrastructure Services and Building divisions offset a 19% slump in Development & Housing revenue. READ MORE ABOUT KIER GROUP ...

London’s FTSE 100 cheapens 3.6 points to 7,320.4 early on, ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s latest policy decision and amid chatter that top US trade officials will head to China next week for new trade talks. Home improvement giant Kingfisher (KGF) cheapens 1.3% to 242.1p on the news chief executive officer (CEO) Véronique Laury is downing tools having struggled to turn around the DIY ...

The markets seem to be taking the latest Brexit chaos in their stride, familiarity breeding contempt perhaps, with sterling settling after yesterday’s volatility and the FTSE 100 advancing 0.4% to 7,329.01. Online grocery retailer Ocado (OCDO) gains 2.9%, despite confirming that a fire at its Andover robotic warehouse in Hampshire last month had slowed revenue growth to 11.2% in its fiscal ...

The board of struggling fashion brand Superdry (SDRY) came out fighting with a scathing statement rebutting claims made by charismatic co-founder Julian Dunkerton as he bids to return to the business. Currently led by chief executive Euan Sutherland, the board said its strategy was working and argued Dunkerton’s return ‘in any capacity’ would be ‘extremely damaging to the ...

Construction outsourcing group Kier (KIE) can ill afford the kind of accounting error which the company is owning up to this morning. With memories of the collapse of its peer Carillion in 2018 still fresh, announcing net debt as at 31 December was materially higher than previously flagged is not likely to inspire confidence. It is therefore no surprise to see the shares dive 16.5% to ...

London shares open on a subdued note in early trade on Thursday as investors await the latest EU-wide interest rate decision from the European Central Bank at midday. While little is anticipated to have changed in terms of guidance market watchers are hopeful that the language used will be of an increasingly optimistic hue, with economic risk moving a little more to the downside. But this ...

The FTSE 100 index of leading UK stocks is down 0.3% in early trade at 6,950 points, in line with the softer tone in European markets. Weighing on the index are the banks, metal and mining stocks and oil & gas producers. In company news, retailer Dixons Carphone (DC.) delivers a Christmas trading update which doesn’t contain any nasty surprises for a change. Group like-for-like ...

It appears investors in construction firm Kier (KIE) are losing faith in the business as its heavily-discounted £264m rights issue secured only 37.6% support, prompting a 3.5% fall in the shares to 371.6p. Kier has long been under pressure, more so since the collapse of rival outsourcer Carillion earlier this year. ‘While Kier still gets the full amount of money because the rights issue ...