London's FTSE 100 struggled as Thursday wore on, ending lower despite a decent start after Donald Trump's tariff agenda received a blow. A US court blocked most of Trump's sweeping import tariffs from going into effect, ruling that the president had overstepped his authority with the across-the-board global levies. The Trump administration filed an appeal. European stocks started strongly, but...

London's blue chip index underperformed against its European peers at Thursday midday, ahead of US quarterly personal consumption expenditures price index, GDP and weekly jobless data. The FTSE 100 index was down 3.68 points at 8,722.33. The FTSE 250 was up 66.67 points, 0.3%, at 21,012.86, and the AIM All-Share was up 3.05 points, 0.4%, at 744.63. The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.1% at 869.08, the...

Record first half Dry Spring weather impact Full year to meet expectations Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) was the biggest midcap faller on Thursday (29 May), dropping 9% to 270.5p as recent warm and dry weather took the shine off record first-half trading to the end of March. Chief executive Stephen Burns commented: 'The prolonged period of unprecedented dry and warm weather from March to May, has had...

Artemis UK Future Leaders (AFL) Price: 368p Market cap: £112 million A wide 15% discount to net asset value (NAV) at the recently-renamed Artemis UK Future Leaders (AFL) presents a compelling entry point for investors keen to capture the long-term outperformance of small caps and back the top-quality investment team at Artemis who took over the portfolio on 10 March 2025. New managers Mark...

UK high street enduringLow ticket leisure a winnerValue retail showing resilienceMany have sounded the death knell for the UK high street, notably during the Covid crisis as retail trends shifted towards online shopping. Yet, the high street has endured amid the consumer's persistent demand for physical retail.And despite many high street stocks successfully adapting to this evolving retail...

What a mixed year this has turned out to be for Shares' best ideas for 2024.That our one star turn stock was an annuities and lifetime mortgage specialist, even if it was 'screamingly cheap at its current price', as we originally noted, and the supposedly exciting tech growth picks have been dull-to-dismal, might make you hark back to school days studies of Christopher Hill's The World Turned...

Record revenue and profitNew year started positivelyLong runway of growthThe UK and Canada's largest tenpin bowling operator Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) reported record revenue and profit for the year to 30 September despite tough prior year comparatives and said the new financial year had started positively.Despite the positive progress investors were not bowled over and took the opportunity to...

Retail and hospitality companies have slammed the UK government's Budget as a raid on corporate coffers that will heap extra costs on already hard-pressed sectors, with Labour's 6.7% increase in the National Living Wage and uplift in employers' national insurance contributions (NICs) forecast to lead to job cuts and price hikes.Chancellor Rachel Reeves' lowering of the employers' NIC threshold...

Hollywood Bowl directors sell 300,000 sharesBarclays director sells shares after new highMidwich director buys 150,000 sharesMelanie Dickinson, chief people officer at tenpin bowling and mini-golf centre operator, Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) has sold 150,000 shares at 331p for a total value of £497,505 on 24 October.Dickinson now has 290,276 shares after the sale. Matthew Hart, chief marketing and...

Revenue rises to record £230 millionProfit to be ahead of consensusStrong pipeline of new centresLeading tenpin bowling operator Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) delivered another record year of revenue alongside tight cost control, resulting in profits coming in ahead of consensus expectations.The positive update was well received by investors with the shares gaining nearly 3% to 334p, taking the...

Next CEO sells £29 million sharesDunelm founder's son sells 10 million sharesHollywood Bowl director sells 275,000 sharesSimon Wolfson, CEO of clothing retailer Next (NXT) has sold three tranches of shares during the period 20 to 24 September.Wolfson sold 204,349 shares at £100.65 for a total value of £20,568,376; 57,962 shares at £101.57 at a total value of £5,887.051 and 27,689 at...

Now that the dust has settled after the UK elections and attention has turned back to markets, we have updated the performance stats on our tips for 2024. Overall, our picks have gained 8.7% year-to-date compared with an 8.3% rise in the FTSE All-Share. That's not to say it has been plain sailing ? our returns range from a gain of almost 60% to a loss of more than 40%, the latter is in a US...

First half revenue up 8%Strong pipeline of new centresGood progress in CanadaThe UK and Canada?s largest tenpin bowling group Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) said first half revenue increased 8% to a record £119.2 million as UK revenue tipped over £100 million for the first time.The shares dipped 1.3% to 331p in a tough session with the mid-cap FTSE 250 index in the red to the tune of 1.5% after a...

Our portfolio of picks for 2024 is off to a solid start in what proved an uneven first quarter for the stock market as a whole.Our return of 9% is comfortably ahead of our FTSE All-Share benchmark at 3.9%. It?s a tale of feast and famine, however, with half of our selections achieving double-digit gains while 40% are in the red.!function(){"use...

Ten-pin bowling operator Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) is a super-resilient, cash-generative company whose growth potential in the UK and Canada looks underappreciated by the market based on its current valuation.Bowling is an affordable, family-friendly leisure activity with a defensive bent and Hollywood Bowl has scope to beat consensus estimates as robust customer demand, site refurbishments and...

AdobeIt may look like odd timing to back Adobe (ADBE:NASDAQ) just after lukewarm guidance, but we think this is a great opportunity.The creative digital software firm called for fiscal 2024 earnings per share of $17.60 to $18 on $21.3 billion to $21.5 billion revenue, a little light compared with the consensus of $18 and $21.7 billion revenue respectively.The shares plunged 7%, which seemed...

Record annual revenues amid 4.5% like-for-like growthSpecial dividend and buyback announcedLong-term potential for 130 centresThe UK?s largest tenpin bowling operator Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) delivered another strong year of sales and profit growth and revealed an enhanced shareholder return policy including a special dividend and share buyback.Shares in Hollywood Bowl gained 2% to 288p, a new...

The UK hospitality sector has been one of the biggest casualties of the pandemic and the slowest to rebound.Enforced closures during lockdowns, surging energy, labour and commodity prices post pandemic and ongoing train strikes mean hospitality has faced more than its fair share of obstacles over the last three years.The extra challenges mean hospitality has been slower than other sectors to...

All-cash recommended offer at 412.5p per shareOffer price represents 33% premium to prior closeBidco has secured 39.51% shareholder supportIt feels increasingly like UK mid-caps are sitting ducks just waiting to be snapped up by opportunistic private equity groups so news that ten-pin bowling and entertainment group Ten Entertainment (TEG) has agreed a cash offer from Trive Capital is not a...

First-half sales increase 16.2%Full-year profit expected to top market expectationsSignificant long-term growth opportunityTenpin bowling and mini-golf centre operator Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) continued its strong growth trend after revealing annual revenues to 30 September grew 16.2% to £215 million, around 7% above market expectations.Growth was driven by a combination of 'strong' demand from...