Group's move will happen over the next 12-18 monthsGroup rental revenue up 6% to $5.26 billion for first halfFull-year guidance revised downwardsShares in Ashtead (AHT) fell as much as 10% in morning trading as the equipment rental firm issued a profit warning and said it will be moving its primary listing to the US.The equipment rental firm joins a growing list of UK companies moving their...

Activist Cevian builds 5% stakeSees significant long term valueShares jump 7%Medical products maker Smith & Nephew (SN.) topped the FTSE leader board with the shares jumping 7% to £10.5 after activist investor Cevian Capital disclosed a 5% stake, making it the second largest shareholder in the group.The shares are down around 13% over the last 12-months compared with a 7% gain in the FTSE 100...

First-quarter sales top estimatesCRH lime acquisition to boost growthAnalysts see nearly 50% upsideRaw materials group SigmaRoc (SRC:AIM) signaled a positive start to 2024 ahead of its AGM (annual general meeting) and said the board was ?confident in the firm?s ability to make further progress in the current year and beyond?.The shares gained 0.6p or 1% to 64.4p in line with other mining and...

CRH director spends $2.5 millionPersimmon CEO buys over £100,000 sharesMelrose CFO snaps up over £99,000 sharesDean Finch, chief executive of UK housebuilder Persimmon (PSN), bought 7,621 shares at £13.15 for a total value of £100,216 on 12 March, after which he owns 24,078 in the company.Finch may be taking advantage of the 7% share price fall over the past month after Persimmon reported...

On 3 January 2024, the FTSE 100 celebrates its 40th anniversary. And to borrow a cliche - it seems an opportune moment to ask, will life for the index truly begin at 40 or will it be plunged into a mid-life crisis?The index was launched as a replacement for the FT-30, which as its name suggests was a grouping of 30 businesses drawn principally from the industrial and commercial sectors. The...

It has been a difficult year for investment trusts as a whole. Discounts have widened across various sectors and there have been a series of failed continuation votes and mergers. Yet some trusts have still done extremely well - relative both to the wider market and their peer group. In this article we shine a light on the biggest outperformers in some of the Association of Investment...

It has been an up and down year for the UK stock market but some names have really shone over the course of the last 12 months. In this article we go through the market cap ranks to identify the best performing large-, mid- and small-cap stocks in 2023.£5 billion+ market capWhile Nvidia (NVDA:NASDAQ) has dominated headlines globally as excitement around AI (artificial intelligence) helped...

There were several trends in the UK stock market this year which, if you managed to identify them, served you well.Most obviously, although it may not have seemed it at the index level, large-cap stocks generally performed better than small- and mid-caps, although for the lucky few the small-cap space has been rife with takeover activity.In terms of sectors, aerospace and defence topped the...

Strong demand and pricing drive salesFull-year guidance raised againShares trading at record highsInvestors in Dublin-based building materials group CRH (CRH) have every right to feel smug given that with all the negative sentiment surrounding the UK construction sector the firm?s shares have been hitting new lifetime highs.The positive mood continued this morning with the shares rising 2% to...

CRH chief executive tops list of dealsEx-GSK director sells stock awarded in 2020Redde Northgate chief also cashes inIn a quiet week for director deals one or two trades stood out, firstly the decision by Albert Manifold, chief executive of building materials firm CRH (CRH), to sell 58,346 shares at €51.48 last week, raising €3 million in proceeds. CRH's Dublin-listed shares...

YouGov shares up 1% to 945pPrimary or secondary US listing awaits YouGovGfk acquisition may trigger moveShares in YouGov (YOU) were trading up over 1% in morning at 945p against a weak UK backdrop as the international online research and data analytics group said it could move its primary listing to the US or establish a secondary listing across the Atlantic.In a story in the Financial Times,...

Most investors probably think they only need to fill in paperwork on dividends if they are investing in stocks listed in other parts of the world - but that is not necessarily the case.Withholding tax is levied by the government of an overseas company on dividends received by people who are not residents of said country.The UK market is home to several big companies, including in the FTSE 100...

There are an increasing number of large firms which are thinking about changing their main share listing from the UK to the US or elsewhere, raising fears London is losing its importance.This article explains why companies are giving serious thought to this issue and who might be next to press the button.Irish building materials giant CRH (CRH) is the latest firm to decide to move its main...

While there is much handwringing over the outlook for the new-build housing sector, it seems the rest of the UK construction industry is in rude health. That has helped construction to be one of the best performing sectors in the FTSE 350 index year-to-date, up 20%.The latest S&P Global/CIPS UK Construction PMI survey - which tracks changes in the total volume of construction activity in the...

One issue which continues to bedevil the UK market is the number of firms who are considering switching their main listing from the London Stock Exchange, usually to New York, and the potential newcomers who are opting to float stateside rather than on this side of the pond.This is leading to much handwringing and comment that London is in decline as a financial centre, as well as proposed...

- CRH to push ahead with US primary listing- Americas performing strongly but sales drop in Europe- Outlook for European business hit by inflationary pressures and new-build slowdownConstruction materials CRH (CRH) saw its recent share price momentum arrested as a trading update flagged a challenging backdrop in Europe and confirmed plans to shift its primary listing to the US.Said...

- Pearson CEO Bird sells almost £2 million shares to cover tax bill- CRH boss Albert Manifold offloads 170,000 shares- Record chief donates 2 million shares to fund educational scholarshipsAndy Bird, chief executive of publishing group of Pearson (PSON), has qualified for a batch of shares as part of a co-investment plan. He subsequently sold just over half of them for £2 million to fund...

For years, UK-listed technology and biotechnology companies moaned about how they could get a higher valuation if their shares traded on the US market. Some added a secondary listing, others ditched the UK completely and parked their shares across the Atlantic. It was a trend that bubbled away, but not a mainstream activity.That's now changing after several larger companies across non-tech...

- CRH unveils plans to move primary listing to New York- Blow to UK market- Company posts record results for 2022Building materials firm CRH (CRH) has signalled its intention to quit the FTSE 100 and seek a primary listing in the US which accounts for the majority of its earnings.The news is a further blow to the prestige of the UK stock market, after news overnight that chip designer ARM will...

Investors are right to be confused by the current direction of the market. The FTSE 100 hitting a record high and many stocks recording double-digit gains this year would suggest everything's rosy. On the other hand, central banks haven't finished pushing up interest rates, big companies are slashing jobs and plenty of consumers are still under financial pressure.In this situation, it's...