A significant number of FTSE 100 companies could face shareholder rebellion over the coming weeks as investors increasingly put pressure on boards over key issues. There is a long list of topics which could dominate this year’s annual shareholder meeting season, which gets into full swing at the end of April. These include environmental policy and climate change action, boardroom and ...

Shares in education group Pearson (PSON) jumped over 8% to 652p following the publication of results for the 12 months to the end of December. The figures confirmed the encouraging precedent set with January’s trading update when the firm raised its full year operating profit guidance to £385 million versus a consensus forecast of £375 million. Underlying revenue increased by 8% to ...

For most companies on the UK stock market, annual shareholder meetings are not the big glamourous affairs one might assume them to be. Over the years, giants like BP (BP.) might have packed out a conference centre, but for most companies these AGM events are sparsely attended. Shares has heard stories such as a certain listed fast-food company who had laid out more pizzas for people to eat than ...

Two years ago, global stock markets experienced a significant sell-off as the pandemic caused mayhem. For some investors it was a time of stress and panic, but for many professional investors it provided a rare opportunity to pick up shares in good companies for a fraction of their value pre-Covid. Fund managers continued to talk about this fortuitous moment well into 2021, saying it paid to ...

The FTSE 100 finished the final trading session of January broadly flat, off 0.02% at 7,464.37 points in fact, while the FTSE 250 edged up 1.3% to 21,926.62, as many investors and traders sat on their hands ahead of the Bank of England’s Monetary policy Committee meeting on Thursday and awaited earnings from Alphabet and Amazon across the pond. In the FTSE 100, investment trust Scottish ...

London’s FTSE 100 ticked up 0.1% to 7.472.9 points on Monday with investors awaiting the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Thursday. UK telecoms titan Vodafone (VOD) was the top performer on the blue chip benchmark, bid up 3.6% after it was targeted by activist investor Cevian. Oil leviathan Shell (RDSA) is now trading without its dual listing. The consolidation ...

The major UK equity indices started Monday’s trading session on an upbeat note. The blue chip FTSE 100 index and the mid-cap 250 index were ahead by 0.28% at 7,486.59, and 0.96% at 21,850.78 respectively in early trading. Oil leviathan Shell (RDSA) is now trading without its dual listing. The consolidation into a single line took place over the weekend. Whilst the oil majors will benefit ...

Major UK stocks reversed earlier declines at lunchtime on Wednesday as positive company updates outweigh the jump in the cost of living. At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE 100 is trading 0.4% higher at 7,596.10, with the ongoing sell-off of risk assets, and growth stocks in particular, being offset by strength in housebuilders, retailers and oil producers on the FTSE 100, and optimism generated by ...

Shares in education group Pearson (PSON) jumped 5.7% to 668p after the firm upgraded its full year annual profits guidance. Pearson expects sales for the full year to rise by 8%, and adjusted operating profit of £385 million against a consensus forecast of £375 million. ON-LINE LEARNING DRIVING UPGRADES Many workers have started to re-assess their priorities in an increasingly tight ...

London’s FTSE 100 traded broadly flat on Wednesday, largely shrugging off a higher than expected local inflation reading which stoked rate rise concerns and offset some of the optimism generated by profit upgrades from Burberry (BRBY) and Pearson (PSON). The latest inflation data from the Office for National Statistics showed an annual rise in the UK consumer price index (CPI) of 5.4% in ...

With a boost from mining and energy stocks, London’s FTSE 100 finished Friday’s trading session 0.37% to the good at 7,234.03 points, pulling back from an intra-day pandemic-era peak despite a strong open on Wall Street. In the face of a barrage of media coverage surrounding price hikes and supply logjams, the more domestically focused FTSE 250 index still managed to end the week on a ...

London’s FTSE 100 index hit a new high for the year of 7,242 points in early trading on Friday, leaving the UK market at a higher level than at any of its closing prices year to date. Just before noon, those gains had eased back a bit, but the blue chip benchmark still traded 0.3% ahead at 7,228.84. The strong finish to the week followed a positive overnight performance in the US, and in ...

After a strong start opening on the back of gains in Asian markets and bid stories, the FTSE 100 index trod water for most of the day to close 21 points or 0.3% higher at 7,109 points. Gains in consumer and mining stocks were offset by losses for healthcare and utility names. One stock which managed to extend its morning gains was supermarket group Sainsbury (SBRY), which finished up 15% to ...

After a strong start to the week on the back of gains in Asian market, the FTSE 100 index ebbed back on Monday lunchtime to sit 20 points or 0.3% higher at 7,109 points. Gains in consumer and mining stocks were offset by losses for healthcare and utility names. One stock consolidating on its morning gains was supermarket group Sainsbury (SBRY), which gained 15% to 340p having opened up around ...

Major UK stock made a strong start to the new trading week, taking its cue from Asia’s main markets. At 8:50 UK time, the benchmark FTSE 100 was trading higher by 0.3% at 7,108.45. The midcap FTSE 250 was 0.2% higher at 23,798.23. Top riser early on was Sainsbury (SBRY), jumping more than 10% to 325p after weekend reports it is in the cross-hairs of private equity. This as the battle ...

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 ...

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 ...

London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.23% at 7,141.32 by noon on Friday, the blue chip benchmark nudging higher with miners and pharmaceutical stocks leading the way, although traders keeping their powder dry ahead of the latest US employment data. Yet concerns over a recent jump in coronavirus infections outweighed reopening optimism and kept the index on course for a muted weekly ...

The UK’s leading shares had made decent gains after a slow start in relatively quiet trading on Friday with traders keeping their powder dry ahead of the latest US employment data. But concerns over a recent jump in coronavirus infections outweighed reopening optimism and kept the index on course for a muted weekly showing. At 9am, the benchmark FTSE 100 had moved 0.46% higher to 7,158.11 ...