Royal Mail, Hays and Circle Property

“A lengthy list of stocks going ex-dividend weighed heavily on the FTSE100 which tracked falls on Wall Street overnight and in Asia this morning with investors looking to the Bank of England's credit conditions survey due mid-morning,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“Royal Mail’s decision to close its final salary pension scheme will be seen as yet another nail in the coffin of defined benefit provision. The Communication Workers’ Union has threatened strike action to halt the move and will point to the fact that the scheme is currently still in surplus. But Royal Mail will counter that its pension contributions already run to around £400m a year and could more than double to over £1bn in 2018 unless changes are made. The move was welcomed by investors with Royal Mail’s shares up by more than 1.9% in early trading.

“Recruitment group Hays achieved an all-time record quarterly net fee performance in the three months to the end of March. Group net fees increased 21% on a headline basis and 10% on a like-for-like basis against the prior year, its 16th consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth. The difference between headline and like-for-like growth is primarily due to the significant appreciation of the euro and the Australian dollar against sterling since the Brexit vote.

“Circle Property's shares were up in early trading after an independent valuation showed a 19.7% increase in the company’s portfolio in the 12 months to the end of March, largely due to its ongoing asset management programme. Circle’s focus remains on understanding the requirements of occupiers in key and under-supplied regional business markets, such as Birmingham and Milton Keynes, and delivering high quality space that meets this demand. Circle’s shares were up by over 1.9%.”

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