magazine archive
magazine archive
Story In Numbers
Mothercare’s missed opportunity
Thursday 31 May 2018Shares in embattled mother and baby products retailer Mothercare ( MTC ) , currently in a perilous financial condition, are now trading at a lowly 32.5p, almost 90% below the 300p per share offer it received and rejected from US peer Destination Maternity in 2014. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and...
Ninth growth upgrade and counting at Blue Prism
Thursday 24 May 2018Another trading update from Blue Prism ( PRSM:AIM ) and another growth guidance upgrade. That’s the ninth in little more than two years since its IPO brought the stock to AIM at 78p per share. The shares now change hands at £16.32. ‘Blue Prism just can’t stop growing’ is how one software industry...
Webis now up more than 580% on US gambling sector hope
Thursday 24 May 2018The potential opening up of the US sports betting industry has breathed new life into micro-cap gambling company Webis ( WEB:AIM ) and made its shares the second best performing stock year-to-date with a 584% gain. Webis conducts live pari-mutuel racing and online wagering services through its...
Tesla margin criticism is wrong, says investment bank
Thursday 24 May 2018Tesla has as many critics as it does fans and many commentators have been quick to shoot down the company, saying it is burning through cash and has a boss in Elon Musk who isn’t behaving in the manner appropriate to being the chief executive of a quoted business. Drilling down into more specifics...
Walmart flips out over Flipkart
Thursday 17 May 2018US retail behemoth Walmart is paying $16bn for an initial 77% stake in Indian e-commerce company Flipkart, its largest ever deal as it looks to battle Jeff Bezos’ Amazon in one of the world’s largest and fastest growing economies. Flipkart, which sells everything from electronics and smartphones to...
Melrose to address excessive pay concerns
Thursday 17 May 2018Its hostile takeover of high profile business GKN (GKN) is shining a harsher light on corporate governance and executive pay at industrial buyout firm Melrose Industries ( MRO ) . Ahead of its AGM on 10 May the company had pledged to review executive pay but the £42m doled out to its four top...
BT payouts tally with pension funding gap growth
Thursday 17 May 2018The funding gap of BT’s ( BT.A ) pension scheme soared during its latest three-year assessment period. Between June 2014 and June 2017 liabilities shot up from £47.2bn to £60.4bn, or a £13.2bn increase. That compares with growth in assets of £8.9bn (from £40.2bn to £49.1bn). Interestingly, the £4...
Facing up to the new virtual reality
Thursday 10 May 2018Facebook really wants people to give virtual reality (VR) a try, so it’s launched a second headset that will cost half the price of its original Oculus Rift . Its latest Oculus Go was launched at last week’s F8 developers conference in California and will sell for $199, versus the $399 asking price...
More jam tomorrow from Ocado
Thursday 10 May 2018Online grocer-to-e-commerce tech licensor Ocado ( OCDO ) has bagged an impressive fourth deal with an international retailer, but it faces hefty development costs and isn’t forecast to return to pre-tax profit until the financial year to November 2020. Based on broker Peel Hunt’s estimates, Ocado’s...
Cheers for change at Johnston Press
Thursday 10 May 2018Shares in newspaper publisher Johnston Press ( JPR ) gained 11% on the day the departure of chief executive Ashley Highfield was announced (1 May). Investors are clearly hoping his replacement, internal appointment David King, can breathe new life into the business. However, King is likely to bump...