Rotork (ROR)

The FTSE 100 starts Friday in a subdued state amid mixed corporate news and ahead of the release of US GDP data later. In early trading the index is down 23.68 points at 7,410.45. Lender Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) slumps 4.5% as it books a fall in first-quarter profit and delivers a soft warning on its annual guidance, a day after announcing chief executive Ross McEwan was leaving. Food ...

Engineering firm Rotork (ROR) sinks 8.4% to 271.3p as it warns revenue growth will slow in 2019 (after a strong showing in 2018) thanks to macroeconomic uncertainty. The Bath-headquartered company designs and makes industrial flow control equipment. Because they share a West Country base and a reputation as quality operators in the metal bashing space, Rotork is often paired with Spirax-Sarco ...

Markets start the week on a positive note on signs that the US and China are close to agreeing a tariff deal which could put an end to the trade war. Asian stocks climb with China’s Shanghai Composite and Japan Nikkei index both gaining 1% while oil prices also gain ground and the US Dollar slips. In the UK the FTSE 100 index gains 0.3% to 7,127 points with most sectors trading higher bar ...

We think the generous and growing income on offer from Murray Income Trust (MUT) coupled with its focus on quality companies at an attractive price will prove a winner with investors. The investment trust offers a dividend yield of 4.3% and has grown its dividend in every one of the last 45 years. Like all closed-end funds, Murray can hold back cash to act as a buffer if its underlying ...

UK stocks give up yesterday’s gains with the FTSE 100 down 47 points or 0.7% to 7,003 as Engineering, Mining, Oil Services and Utilities stocks weigh on the market. The Centrica (CNA) trading update reads well with cash-flow in line, the dividend maintained and cost savings above the £200m target set out at the half year stage. However tucked away at the end is a note that changes to the ...

The FTSE 100 starts the week on the front foot, up 37.5 points to 7,701. This follows positive trading in Asia. Mining giant Glencore (GLEN) also aided the index with a 1.7% rise. The prospect of a no deal exit from the EU looming has plunged the pound to an 11 month low against the dollar, aiding those FTSE 100 companies earning their revenue overseas. Asset manager Standard Life Aberdeen ...

All economies experience recurring and fluctuating levels of economic activity over time, with the five main stages of the business cycle running as follows: growth, peak, recession, trough and recovery. The business cycle is usually replicated in the stock market with the market going up when the economy is growing and going down when it is contracting. Different types of stocks tend to perform ...

Investors in UK engineering firms have enjoyed a highly positive spell over the last 12 months or so and FTSE 250 Rotork (ROR) is the latest to leave shareholders in chipper mood. The £2.82bn company, which makes actuators and flow controls, told investors on Monday that it expects full year revenue to grow by mid-to-high single digits this year to 31 December 2018, with profits margins ...

The FTSE 100 gets off to a solid start on Monday – a smidge higher at 7,368.98 – after hitting its highest levels since February at the end of last week. Support services firm Capita (CPI) gains 13% to 180.75p as the market demonstrates relief the company is addressing its financial problems with a £701m fully underwritten rights issue. Impairments saw 2017 pre-tax profit widen to £513.1m ...

Support services and engineering sectors stand out from the recent corporate earnings season with a large number of companies beating forecasts. UBS says more than half of stocks in its European support services coverage beat earnings expectations. It says on average the stocks beating expectations went up by 1.3% and those missing expectations fell by 6.4%. Its most preferred UK-listed ...

London’s FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 open in negative territory on Thursday, off 28.7 points to 7,390 and trading 26.8 points lower at 19,987 respectively, weighed down by a cut in UK growth forecasts, volatile oil prices and weaker overnight trading on Wall Street and in Asia. Among the blue chips, British Gas owner Centrica (CNA) crashes 16% lower to 137.1p on a full year profit warning. In its ...

Investment bank UBS says now is the time to buy engineer Rotork (ROR). Analyst Mark Fielding says: ‘A return to 25%-plus operating margins by 2021 supports a 12% per year earnings per share compound annual growth rate and can catalyse a return to a sector premium rating’. The company has struggled thanks to weakness in the oil and gas market and currently trades at 253p. UBS has a 295p ...

Following yesterday’s great results for Lloyds Bank (LLOY), another recipient of state intervention, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), is one of the top risers in early trading. The banks share price rises by just under 4% to 264p as it finally returns to profit, turning a £968m loss this time last year to a profit of £259m in the first quarter of the year. The bank is 72% owned by the ...

Markets are driven by sentiment and identifying when sentiment is shifting can help you spot investment opportunities. For the last 10 months four key interlinked factors have held sway: Brexit, sterling weakness, Donald Trump becoming US president and the return of inflation. The surprise news of a UK general election on 8 June changes the story. We believe there is now the start of a big ...

Millions of pounds will be wiped off insurers’ profits after the Government announced significant changes to way compensation payments are calculated. The Ministry of Justice has moved the discount rate from 2.5% to -0.75%, being an assumption on how much interest any money paid out would earn when it is invested. The lower the rate, the higher the lump sum required. The new figure is much ...

Investors on the lookout for bombed out opportunities should check out industrial distributor Essentra (ESNT) after a mild profit warning triggered a 20% share price slump. Essentra’s share price tumbled on Monday 21 November as operating profit guidance was reduced by around £20m to between £137m and £142m, taking year-to-date share price losses to more than 50%. While we have been bullish ...

Rotork (ROR) 221p Gain to date: 40.8% Original entry point:  Buy at 157p, 11 February 2016 Engineer Rotork (ROR) has been energised by a bullish trading update (22 Nov) which guides for 2016 results at the top end of market expectations despite challenging markets. Reuters has revenue expectations running the gamut from £527.3m to £587m. A currency tailwind is providing significant ...

Profitability in the engineering sector was propped up by beneficial currency movements and contributions from recent acquisitions in a tough first half for the sector. Earnings have been under pressure since late 2014 when activity in the oil and gas market began to slow, an industry to which many engineers supply products. Overall profitability across engineering companies tracked by ...

London stock markets open in a cautionary mood in early trade on Tuesday as investors continue to react to yesterday's PMI figures for July, the UK's first real post-Brexit confidence indicator, which showed manufacturing declining at its fastest pace in three years. Today's macroeconomics come in the form of the Markit Construction PMI, while the Eurozone releases PPI data and later US personal ...

After a consistent period of outperforming the market our portfolio of best ideas is now lagging behind after taking a big Brexit-related hit. Like the market itself many of our Plays of the Week were positioned towards a ‘Remain’ vote heading into the referendum result. In hindsight it was obviously a mistake to have such a bias ahead of a binary outcome and we should have been more active ...