Full-year earnings at top end Dividend hiked 2.5% Focused on delivering financial targets UK engineering firm Renishaw (RSW) was one of the top mid-cap gainers on Thursday (18 Sep) with the shares rising 7.6% to £32, after the company revealed full-year profit at the top end of the guided range. The rally in the shares takes them back into the green for the year by 3%, just shy of the FTSE...

Full-year profit seen high end Finance director to step down Shares lead FTSE 250 British engineering firm Renishaw (RSW) said it expected annual profit to be at the upper end of market forecasts, sending the shares up 8% and topping the mid-cap gainers. The shares are down 4% year-to-date compared with a 6% gain in the FTSE 250 index and have struggled since German industrial giant Siemens...

This feature looks at the increasing trend for companies to present adjusted financial figures and/or APM (alternative performance measures) and asks whether it may say something about the companies themselves. For example, do companies which provide unadjusted numbers make better long-term investments? Fund manager David Beggs at Sanford DeLand believes that may be the case, telling Shares:...

SDI (SDI:AIM) 58pMarket cap: £60.6 millionThe past couple of years have seen many a growth grenade tossed at SDI (SDI:AIM) yet the company has stuck to its largely successful knitting and we expect its fortunes to significantly improve through 2025. A casual glance at the share price chart might put a quick end to investors' research into this small cap business, but that's a mistake, in our...

Siemens confirms it will not make offerShares fall 4% and remain 35% below highsRenishaw remains a takeover targetWith so many UK firms being picked-off by foreign buyers and private equity, it is refreshing to see German industrial giant Siemens (SIE:ETR) walk away from making an offer for engineering group Renishaw (RSW).That said, investors were not best pleased with the shares falling 4%...

London?s FTSE 100 ended higher on Tuesday, registering its first daily gain since hawkish words from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell last week all but ensured there would be no March rate cut from the Federal Reserve.His words echoed around markets on Thursday, and there was a red-hot US jobs report on Friday, the final nail in the coffin for March rate cut hopes. Markets still digested...

European equities were largely higher early on Tuesday afternoon, while the dollar?s progress took a breather, despite US interest rate worries still keeping a lid on enthusiasm.The FTSE 100 index was up 32.62 points, 0.4%, at 7,645.48. London?s large-cap index is on a four-day losing streak.The FTSE 250 was down 15.49 points, 0.1%, at 19,003.06, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.24 of a point at...

UK precision engineer jumps 20%Tops FTSE 350 leaderboardCEO confident of much improved second halfUK engineer Renishaw (RSW) was the day?s standout performance among FTSE 350 companies after surging nearly 20% to £41.06 following first half results. The next best FTSE 350 performer was oil group BP (BP.), up around 6%.Grabbing the market?s attention were comments from chief executive William...

Retiring as a millionaire has been the dream of many people for years. In the fanciful world of 'what if' chats over a pint, it didn't matter how you did it, the endgame is what mattered, not the journey. Buying that Ferrari, taking luxurious cruises around the Caribbean, or owning that stately pile in the country was the dream of millions of us, and we played the pools or bought National...

Weakness in the pound will only serve to heighten the likelihood of foreign companies buying UK businesses.We saw this happen when the pound slumped after the EU referendum on Brexit in 2016, including takeovers for chip giant Arm and broadcasting group Sky.UK stocks have been cheap on a relative basis to many other geographies since then, and now they've got even cheaper due to political,...

With engineering software company Aveva (AVV) poised to exit the stock market thanks to a takeover, it will mean losing the UK's largest 'tech' firm by market value, at £9.15 billion.Aveva has been majority owned by French industrial group Schneider Electric (SU:EPA) since 2017 and this shareholder now wants the whole business.That's a slightly different bid situation to most of the other...

UK engineering firm Renishaw (RSW) cut its annual profit forecast after warning of potential disruption to its business from the latest Covid lockdowns in key market China.Shares in the FTSE 250 company initially fell sharply before recovering as morning trading progressed, marking a 0.5% decline by 9.30am on Tuesday (10 May 2022) to £41.67. The stock had fallen around 15% this year.The...

Major shares in London opened higher on Thursday, albeit modestly, lifted by earnings from energy and consumer companies as investors braced for an expected second consecutive rate hike by the Bank of England.At 9am, the benchmark FTSE 100 is 0.1% up at 7,590.86, led by Compass (CPG), while BT (BT.A) checked further progress. Mid-caps remain under pressure, the FTSE 250 losing 0.25% at...

Both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 continued to trade in positive territory by midday during a relatively quiet day, with the US markets are closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.The CBI (Confederation of British Industry) monthly retail sales balance increased to a three month high of +39 from +30 and is anticipated to rise again in December. This has in part been due to consumers starting their...

Leading UK stocks were pulled down by mining and bank stocks in early trade on Thursday, while Unilever (ULVR), which supplies all sorts of everyday goods we all use, like butter and tea, warned that inflation pressure could last far longer than many anticipate.The consumer brands firm saw its share price rise nearly 2% to £38.905 early on as its third quarter numbers proved to be resilient,...

The latest service sector data, covering everything from pubs and restaurants to industrial and business companies, has shown healthy readings in the UK and US, but problems associated with inflation are brewing.5 October saw the latest survey results from research firm IHS Markit for purchasing managers in the service sector around the world. Typically, a reading over 50 suggests rising...

City of London Investment Trust (CTY) has been a popular choice for investors over the years, but a period of underperformance versus the UK Equity Income investment trust sector average on a three and five-year basis is a worry.Typically investing in FTSE 100 companies, City of London has been a hit with certain types of investors, particularly those approaching retirement or already in it....

A key theme in the UK market in 2021 has been a spate of takeovers, mergers and strategic deals involving British businesses as buyers, often from overseas, have been attracted by lowly valuations relative to other international equities.By the reckoning of stockbroker Peel Hunt, nearly £25 billion worth of bids for more than 20 companies have been pitched in the last six months and...

FTSE 250 electronics engineer Renishaw (RSW) has ended its formal sale process after unanimously concluding that none of the potential deals on offer would meet the board's strict objectives.Renishaw is a global champion when it comes to metrology equipment, or kit that can measures stuff down to the nth degree. This is vital in the world's high-tech industries which increasingly operate at...

London's FTSE 100 finished Wednesday's trading session 0.3% to the good at 6,963.67 points, albeit off intra-day highs, as investors awaited the latest meeting of the US Federal Reserve as well as updates from Apple and Facebook.Across the pond in the US, the benchmark S&P 500 traded slightly higher at 4,190.46 points by 4.30pm UK time.The UK's blue chip benchmark was buoyed by positive...