A food chain to get your teeth into August 8, 2019 | City Talk By Rodney Hobson from interactive investor. McDonald’s is spending money on developing personalised apps after upgrading its burger beef. It made its name by being cheap and cheerful but food chain McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) has long had a keen eye for innovation and for enhancing the quality of its ingredients, both of which generate welcome publicity. The successful formula is still [...]
High-yielding Aviva rewards investor patience August 7, 2019 | City Talk Aviva is rewarding investors who stayed the course while the insurer streamlined its operations. Having previously gone through a streamlining operation which left Aviva (LSE:AV.) fitter, the focus is now turning to a strategy review to ensure the company maintains its relevance. Perhaps not surprisingly, this has resulted in mixed fortunes as the business transforms. There has been [...]
Lessons in investing from England’s Cricket World Cup victory August 7, 2019 | City Talk It may not have felt like it at times during the final but England started the Cricket World Cup as clear favourites to win the tournament. Forget the weight of money that tends to distort domestic teams’ odds ahead of a major sporting event. Independent data had England ranked as the top one-day cricket side [...]
Over 5m savers at risk from pension scams August 7, 2019 More than 5m pension savers across the UK are at risk from common scamming tactics, underlining current concerns over fraudsters targeting people’s retirement cash pots. A new report from two of Britain’s top financial bodies has found that 42 per cent of pension savers, which equates to over 5m people, could be in danger of [...]
No respite for BT investors as shares sink again August 6, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. BT shares continue to fall after first quarter results do little to dispel fears over its dividend. After a torrid year for followers of Britain’s best-known stocks, first quarter results from BT Group (LSE:BT.A) have done little to ease their fears that the telecom group’s dividend is next for the chop. While last week’s figures [...]
HSBC worries mount after CEO exit August 5, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. Ousting CEO John Flint after 18 months highlights the pressures on HSBC, despite robust H1 results today. As if the current geopolitical and monetary policy concerns were not bad enough, HSBC (LSE:HSBA) investors now have succession risk to worry about after the bank’s surprise decision to part company with John Flint only 18 months [...]
Why has the weaker pound failed to turbocharge the economy? August 5, 2019 | City Talk The sharp fall in the pound in the wake of the 2016 Brexit referendum would help “rebalance the UK economy”, in the words of Mervyn King, former governor of the Bank of England. But since then, the UK has struggled to improve its trade position and has certainly not seen any boost to GDP growth. [...]
Why the RBS dividend joy is short-lived August 2, 2019 | City Talk While there’s much to like in the Royal Bank of Scotland interims, it’s still far from plain sailing. After years in the investment wilderness, RBS (LSE:RBS) is finally making its way back into the fold. A strong second quarter has helped to inflate the half-year numbers, with total income rising by 20 per cent and the earnings [...]
Losses widen at Seedrs as deal sizes continue to grow August 2, 2019 Equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs has reported a record operating loss as it focuses on expansion, but saw a significant increase in average deal size over the past year. 2018 saw Seedrs’ net operating losses climb to £4.33m, a 12 per cent increase on the previous year. This marks a return to increasing losses after the [...]
ii view: Lloyds Bank friendless on results day August 1, 2019 | City Talk by Keith Bowman from interactive investor. Lloyds continues to bear down on costs to offset tough market conditions, but shares have slumped. Half-year results to 30 June 2019 Net income down 2% to £8.82 billion Pre-tax profit down 7% to £2.89 billion Earnings per share down 7% to 2.7p Interim dividend up 5% to 1.12p per share Chief [...]