London’s small-cap firms fall behind FTSE 100 on diversity targets February 17, 2021 The lack of diversity in boardrooms goes well beyond the FTSE 100 with new research showing just how little progress small-cap firms have made. A staggering 84 per cent of AIM and 78 per cent of Small Cap 100 companies have all white boards, over double the proportion seen in the FTSE 100. Some progress [...]
Rio Tinto to pay record $6.5bn dividend after ‘robust’ year February 17, 2021 Rio Tinto will pay out a record $6.5bn (£4.7bn) dividend to investors as it hailed “robust” results despite the Covid-19 pandemic. The FTSE-listed mining giant said it will pay a final dividend of $3.09 per share and a special dividend of $0.93 per share. Combined with its half-year dividend, this takes the total payout for [...]
UK CPI creeps up during January lockdown February 17, 2021 The UK’s Consumer Prices Index was 0.7 per cent in January, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday. Rising prices for food, transport and household goods helped to drive the increase. January’s figure was up slightly from December’s reading of 0.6 per cent despite a return to national lockdown restrictions. Inflation remains a long [...]
Before the Bell: Reflation concerns prompts yields spike while UK CPI is up next February 17, 2021 Over the past few weeks, it’s been notable that bond markets, both in the UK and in the US are starting to price the risk of higher inflation pressures, as long-term yields move to the upside. Yesterday, US 10-year treasury yields jumped sharply higher to 1.3 per cent, in a move that suggested that markets [...]
Peter Hargreaves to sell £300m worth of shares in Hargreaves Lansdown February 16, 2021 The co-founder of Hargreaves Lansdown, one of the UK’s largest financial services firms, has announced he is selling £300m worth of shares in the company. Peter Hargreaves, the largest shareholder in the firm he set up in 1981, will sell the shares through an accelerated bookbuild offering to institutional investors. Barclays, which is acting as [...]
All eyes on dividends: What to expect from Barclays and Natwest this week February 16, 2021 Barclays and Natwest will be the first of the major high street banks to report full year results this week. It has been a difficult 12 months with Brexit weighing on sentiment in addition to the fallout from the pandemic. All eyes will be on dividend payments after the Prudential Regulation Authority effectively banned payouts [...]
Eurozone GDP fell as lockdown restrictions tightened ahead of Christmas February 16, 2021 Eurozone GDP fell as lockdown restrictions tightened ahead of CHristmas
Copper touches highest levels since 2012 as metals rally continues February 16, 2021 Copper prices hit their highest levels in nearly a decade today as Chinese demand and the global economic recovery extended the red metal’s rally. For the third session in a row London Metal Exchange copper hit fresh multi-year peaks, having rallied by 93 per cent since last March. LME copper pushed up 0.3 per cent to $8,416.50 [...]
Proposals to help self-employed and directors backed by cross-party MPs February 16, 2021 The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) chairman has said the government needs to act to help the businesses that fell through the gaps in business support requirements. In response to the Treasury Committee’s Economic Impact of Coronavirus inquiry update this morning, FSB chairman Mike Cherry said: “The government urgently needs to come forward with a [...]
Maybe analyst recommendations DO add value February 16, 2021 | City Talk This is something all investors know for a fact: following analyst buy or sell recommendations isn’t going to lead to outperformance in the long run. Or is it? A new study may cast some doubt on the conventional wisdom. In “Analyst Recommendations and Anomalies Across the Globe,” Vitor Azevedo and Sebastian Müller, CFA, examine 3.8 million analyst forecasts in [...]