Interim performance seen as reassuringFull-year results to meet forecastsGreen power deal to boost marginsDespite concerns over the sharp slowdown in new housing starts, Speedy Hire (SDY), the UK's leading tool and equipment hire services company posted a resilient first-half trading update and announced a £20 million acquisition.Speedy shares, which have lost nearly a quarter of their value...

After the excitement surrounding hydrogen as a route to lowering global emissions, a message reinforced at the COP 26 climate summit, the poor performance of hydrogen investments over the last year is something of a surprise.Research by analysts at Liberum shows that over the 12 months to mid-January, the average return for fuel cell and electrolyser companies has been a loss of around 60% of...

Fast growing hydrogen stock Ceres Power (CWR:AIM) has gone a long way to fulfilling its potential after inking a deal with German giant Bosch that analysts have called its 'biggest milestone to date'.Ceres Power has seen its shares jump 295% this year as investors bet on hydrogen fuel cells playing a key role in decarbonising the global economy.The company makes a solid oxide fuel cell known...

When America picks a new president next week, it's more than likely to have an impact on your investment portfolio whatever the outcome.US voters go to the polls on 3 November to decide whether Republican candidate Donald Trump deserves another four years in office, or whether the Democrat's Joe Biden should be elected the next US president.The general consensus seems to point to three likely...

If you were a shareholder in a hydrogen fuel cell company a year ago, right now you could be sitting on a small fortune.For UK investors, there are three stocks directly involved in the space. Two of them, AFC Energy (AFC:AIM) and Ceres Power (CWR:AIM), make fuel cells, and the other, ITM Power (ITM:AIM), makes electrolysers, a low carbon way to produce hydrogen.The share prices of all three...

Retail investors are racing to dump stock after massive profit warnings spook the markets. Flooring business Carpetright (CPR) and funerals provider Dignity (DTY) are both hammered, while poor Christmas trading at Bonmarche (BON), the fashion chain for the maturer shopper, drags its share price heavily lower.Carpetright sees its shares plummet 45.3% to 90p as a 'significant deterioration' in...

Good news from China overnight helps lift the FTSE 100 this morning, up 0.3% to 7,395.68. The official purchasing managers' index data for the Chinese manufacturing sector revealed the fastest pace of expansion in five years.Political factors also remain in the frame as violent clashes between police and voters marred yesterday's unratified referendum in Catalonia. Traders will also be...

UK consumers and businesses could slash up to £40bn off energy bills by 2050 if the nation embraces a technological shake-up. That's the view of energy watchdog Ofgem and the government.The new plan would involve a complete revamp of the way Britain makes, uses, and stores electricity in the future. It would make it easier for consumers to generate their own power, using things like solar...

Shares in the FTSE 100 index are 0.2% lower at 7,235 with interest rates in focus ahead of European Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi's press conference later today.Gains on bank stocks, which typically benefit from rising yields, are being offset by losses on utilities, whose share prices generally fall when interest rates are rising.That indicates traders expect Draghi to continue to...

Donald Trump's surprise victory in the hotly contested US presidential election has sent shockwaves through many industries including the energy sector.Fears have been sparked that clean, green fuels - such as solar, wind, hydro, fuel cells - are for the chop, with the threat that the current administration's commitment to policies on climate change facing reverse.Not necessarily so. There are...

Green energy technology designer AFC Energy (AFC:AIM) has declared success in developing a second generation fuel cell system. This latest one makes the fuel cell stack last longer and is cheaper to build, ergo buy.This comes after progress reported in July on two fronts; completing the design work on a fairly small 10kW (kilo watt) cartridge system, and finish the basic design and engineering...

No longer seen as an esoteric facet of the tree-hugging ethical investor?s portfolio, Alternative Energy is a sub-sector laden with opportunities.Whether it?s at the cutting edge of fuel cell technology with the likes of AFC Energy (AFC:AIM) or Intelligent Energy (IEH) or battery technology pioneers like Ilika (IKA:AIM), the alternative energy space has the capacity to offer technological...

Ladbrokes shakes off lossDespite reporting a full year loss of £43 million, shares in Ladbrokes (LAD) jumped 6% to 129.4p on the news (23 Feb). Investors are focusing on an improving performance in the fourth quarter of 2015 and encouraging start to 2016 driven by helpful football results. (TS)Spectris cost cuttingManagement at instrumentation and controls technology kit supplier Spectris...

London shares are largely flat as cautious traders look to talks in Brussels over reforming the UK's place within the EU. Safe-haven gold races higher and UK gilt yields tighten. The benchmark FTSE 100 index nudges 5 points higher to 5,979, while midcaps and smaller companies also find little momentum to drive them either way.Among the blue-chip benchmark's main risers was Coca-Cola HBC (CCH),...

The UK is on the cusp of a transformation in its energy sector. Energy secretary Amber Rudd says the country's remaining coal-fired power stations will be shut by 2025 with their use restricted from 2023 onwards.Putting forward the plans (19 Nov) Rudd says gas-fired plants - which are seen as less polluting than coal - will take their place. The viability of this plan is being questioned and...

The drive for efficiency will be every bit as important, if not more so, than cyclical energy prices in determining the destiny of clean energy in the future. That is certainly one of the main takeaways from an afternoon in the company of Adam Bond, the chief executive of AFC Energy (AFC:AIM).Since taking over at the helm of the alkaline fuel cell specialist in December 2014, Bond has pursued...

It used to be believed that investing with a conscience could only come at the expense of your profit performance. Being good capped your returns. Arguably, this is still the prevailing view of most investors yet the winds of change are blowing through stock markets, good investing is increasingly transferring from the 'do-gooder set' to the mainstream, and there's statistical data that claims...

Stonegate Pub eyes IPOStonegate Pub, the UK's fourth-largest managed pub company, is thought to be considering a £1 billion stock market float early next year. The Slug & Lettuce and Yates's owner recently bought 53 pubs from Lone Star Funds for a rumoured £100 million, taking its estate to 665 pubs. (EP)AFC makes grid deliveryAlkaline fuel cell specialist AFC Energy (AFC:AIM) has delivered...

Out of steamThe impressive share price run of electronic components supplier Laird (LRD) could be about to peter out. Laird supplies electro-magnetic shielding kit to Apple (AAPL:NDQ) and others, but having rallied around 15% since the start of the year, analysts believe the stock is likely to take a breather at 373p. (SFr)Punch sells 158 pubsPunch Taverns (PUB) has sold 158 non-core pubs to a...

With share price having galloped a bracing 307% higher since the start of the year, investors might well be forgiven for wondering if they had not already missed the bus on fuel cell specialist AFC Energy (AFC:AIM). But it seems there is more to come from the Cranleigh-based firm as the £119 million cap closes in on commercialisation.Fuel cell technology is increasingly becoming recognised as...