Tate & Lyle, Debenhams and Henry Boot

“The Footsie slipped into negative territory as traders looked to consolidate positions following the gains posted in the past few sessions. Wall Street closed higher overnight, while Asian markets were mixed with crude prices teetering around the psychological $50 a barrel mark,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“Tate & Lyle has recovered from a torrid 2015 following a good performance from its speciality food ingredients business, which makes sugar substitutes. The group has undergone a restructuring since the collapse in sucralose prices hit its figures last year.

“The sucralose business has now been repositioned as a more focused, low cost and sustainable business and the group’s overall solid performance is reflected in a 1% increase in adjusted pre-tax profits at constant currencies. Tate & Lyle has maintained its total dividend at 28p per share and its shares were up by over 1.4% in early trading.

“In common with many shoppers high street giant Debenhams has gone online to find its new chief executive with Amazon’s Sergio Bucher set to take up the reins in October. Bucher has been vice-president of Amazon Fashion Europe since 2013 and has helped to make it one of largest fashion retailers. Debenhams will now hope he can bring the Midas touch to help it realise its potential as a leading international multi-channel retailer.

“Henry Boot’s shares were up in early trading after it dismissed concerns over a slowdown in the construction sector. All three of its business segments - land development, property investment and development and construction – are trading well. And while it may see some transactional uncertainty around the EU referendum, it does not anticipate this will last for long or have a detrimental effect on the year as a whole.”

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