What a year. At the start of 2020 it was all about the political certainty in the UK delivered by the 2019 General Election but within a couple of months attention had turned to a nasty new virus emerging from China. In the circumstances the 4.8% total return from our picks was a solid effort, given they were selected for a reality which was entirely overturned by the ...

Investors seem to be warming to the idea of an eleventh-hour Brexit deal if the performance of domestically focused stocks and a strong pound prove to be a good guide to future events. Shares in Housebuilders Vistry (VTY) and Redrow (RDW) and Crest Nicholson (CRST) gained 4.5%, 3.5% and 5% respectively while home improvements company Travis Perkins (TPK) was also perky on Wednesday, gaining ...

We’re pleased to welcome back Malcolm from Edinburgh who is sharing his experience as someone in retirement taking charge of their investments for the first time. Having explained out how he set up his first portfolio Malcolm turns to how he is managing his investments. In an earlier column I explained my attempts at managing new investments in a SIPP and ISA pension fund. I detailed ...

A reassuring trading update ahead of today’s AGM helped shares in housebuilder Redrow (RDW) to gain 2.8% to 453.2p. The company continues to expect to reinstate dividend payments at the half year stage and to be cash positive for the remainder of the financial year, according to the statement covering the 18-week period ending 30 October. HUGE CASH PILE The update, which will be ...

UK stocks erased their early gains to end lower on Wednesday as investors awaited an update from the US Federal Reserve due after the market close regarding the outlook for the US economy. At 4.35pm the benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 7 points at 6,078, led lower by supermarket groups Sainsbury (SBRY) and Tesco (TSCO) and engineers Melrose (MRO) and Roll-Royce (RR.). The FTSE 250 mid-cap ...

Shares in housebuilder Redrow (RDW) fell 1.8% to 448.2p as its results revealed a Covid-19 impact on margins and impairments linked to a reorganisation of its London business. Pre-tax profit for the year to 30 June dropped to £140 million from £406 million as revenue fell 37% to £1.34 billion. The company swung from a net cash balance of £124 million to a net debt position of £126 ...

UK stocks tracked sideways in early trading on Wednesday as investors awaited an update from the Federal Reserve about the outlook for the US economy. At 8.39, the FTSE 100 was ever so slightly lower, off 0.15% at 6,096.30 points. E-commerce company The Hut (THG), the Manchester-based owner of the Lookfantastic website, surged 27% higher to 635p, having priced its IPO at 500p, as conditional ...

Shares in housebuilder Persimmon (PSN) rallied 5.1% to £27.46 after it boosted recovery hopes in the sector, restoring its dividend following an ‘excellent start’ to the second half of the year. The FTSE 100 stalwart said better than expected demand for its homes had allowed it to reinstate the payout it had suspended in late March, with investors set to receive 40p per share. House ...

The decision by chancellor Rishi Sunak to temporarily waive stamp duty on the purchase of homes up to the value of £500,000 in England and Northern Ireland until the end of March 2021 has reignited the housing market after months of hibernation caused by the coronavirus. Since the announcement on 8 July, shares in the housebuilders have mostly beaten the FTSE All-Share index with gains of ...

Chancellor’s Rishi Sunak’s Summer Statement – described as a mini-budget in some quarters – delivered more or less what had been expected. In the absence of any big surprises the FTSE 100 delivered a bit of a shrug to the announcement, remaining subdued down 0.4% at 6,167.61, and sterling was unchanged against the dollar. Following a wave of job losses being announced across ...

In the previous part of this series we defined what a share was, how you can generate a return by investing in them and how this return can be made up both of dividends and capital gains. In this article we turn to the menu from which you can pick shares. After all, shares come in different sizes, shapes and flavours just like the dishes you choose in a restaurant or from a takeaway ...

Redrow (RDW) 439.7p Loss to date: -39.7% Original entry point: Buy at 729.54p, 19 December 2019 Our confidence in housebuilder Redrow (RDW) as a winning stock for 2020, originally buoyed by greater certainty on the UK’s political situation, has been badly undermined by the coronavirus crisis. The latest update from the company (30 Jun) laid bare the impact that the pandemic has ...

Shares in Deeside-based housebuilder Redrow (RDW) shed 5% to 441p on higher than average volume in early trading after the firm warned that profits for the year to 28 June would be ‘substantially’ below last year. As well as the obvious impact of the pandemic on sales and completions, the builder is scaling back its London operations and focusing on its higher-margin regional businesses ...

London’s FTSE fell 30.5 points or 0.49% to 6,195.3 on Tuesday as fears of a resurgence of COVID-19 cases were reinforced by new lockdown measures, notably in the UK city of Leicester. Also weighing on sentiment was the news that the UK’s first quarter GDP reading has been revised lower. In corporate news, Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) slipped 1.8% to £12.48 as the oil giant warned that it ...

The housing market is emerging from hibernation but as investors in directly related sectors like housebuilders and estate agents count the cost of lockdown they have seen a significant divergence in share price performance. There are a number of factors behind these disparities. A look at the table of year-to-date performance suggests that financial strength has been a clear dividing line but ...

The equity markets have just endured a difficult period but over the long term they remain an excellent vehicle for growing your cash and, in turn, helping to fund a comfortable retirement. In this article, and with the help of the head of active portfolios at AJ Bell Ryan Hughes, we have identified four compelling fund picks for a retirement portfolio. These products look to capture a range of ...

UK were firmer at the open on Monday, taking their cue from positive grey market trading on Wall Street and strong Asian gains, after the Bank of Japan expanded its monetary stimulus again. The benchmark FTSE 100 rallied a fraction off 100 point, or 1.7%, to 5,851.95, while the mid cap FTSE 250 charged 2% higher at 15,996.93. Asia markets have got off to a positive start as a raft of ...

UK stock markets lost their modest early gains on Monday as investors continued to mull the damage the coronavirus pandemic is having on the global economy and company earnings. While the benchmark FTSE 100 nudged 0.5% higher in early deals, that positive momentum proved short-lived, with the UK's leading index falling 0.9% into the red at 5,737.31. The more domestic facing FTSE 250 saw a ...

UK markets regathered momentum to accelerate gains in afternoon trading after a firm start on Wall Street. Both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 rose more than 1.5% early in the Thursday session, although the tech heavy Nasdaq made more modest progress. Earlier in the day the UK government extended its Bank of England overdraft so it can borrow billions of pounds and bypass the bond market. The ...

Housebuilder Redrow (RDW) gained 6.7% to 432p as it lined up fresh funding to see it through a period of effective hibernation for the housing market. The company has secured access to a £300m Covid Corporate Financing Facility and confirmed it had furloughed 80% of its workforce under the Government's job retention scheme. CREDIT TALKS Redrow announced it has been confirmed as an ...