Equities in Europe ended higher on Thursday, overcoming some earlier uncertain trade, as comments from a US official calmed some geopolitical worries which kept a lid on investor enthusiasm.Nonetheless, Brent remained above the $73 mark, supporting oil majors.Moscow's ambassador in London said Thursday Britain was 'now directly involved' in Russia's war with Ukraine, following reports Kyiv had fir

Record revenue and profitInterim dividend up 7%Full year guidance reiteratedTechnology-enabled health, safety, and environmental solutions group Halma (HLMA) topped the FTSE 100 leaderboard with a 9% rise after reporting record first half results which showed revenue breaching £1 billion for the first time.The gain extends 2024's advance to 20%, well ahead of the blue-chip index which is flat on

SDI (SDI:AIM) 58pMarket cap: £60.6 millionThe past couple of years have seen many a growth grenade tossed at SDI (SDI:AIM) yet the company has stuck to its largely successful knitting and we expect its fortunes to significantly improve through 2025. A casual glance at the share price chart might put a quick end to investors' research into this small cap business, but that's a mistake, in our view

Over the long haul, small-caps have historically outperformed large caps, fuelling the research highlighting the so-called 'small-cap effect' ? the idea that smaller companies offer higher risk-adjusted returns than larger ones. Unfortunately, the higher interest rate environment of recent years has proved tough for the stock market's small fry, who've spent more than a decade lagging more sizeabl

Specialist engineering company Halma (HLMA) demonstrated its unerring dependability with its latest full-year results on 13 June.For the uninitiated, Halma is a global manufacturer of safety, health and environmental technology products. It employs around 6,000 people in roughly 50 individual small- to medium-sized enterprises, and operates across more than 20 countries.It has a pretty vast produc

Stocks in Europe fell around Thursday midday, after the US Federal Reserve backpedalled from previous predictions.The FTSE 100 index was down 40.98 points, 0.5%, at 8,174.50. The FTSE 250 was down 146.28 points, 0.7%, at 20,351.12, and the AIM All-Share was down 1.59 points, 0.2%, at 785.77.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.7% at 814.10, the Cboe UK 250 was down 1.1% at 17,782.64, and the Cboe Small Comp

21st year of record earnings'Mini-Berkshire' beats targetsPositive start to new yearEnvironment, health and safety technology group Halma (HLMA) reported its 21st year of record revenue and profit and said it had made a 'positive start' to the current financial year.The shares climbed as much as 180p or 8% to £25.35 taking them to the top of the FTSE 100 performance table. QUALITY COMPOUND

Stock prices in London were mixed on Thursday morning, with strong earnings from FTSE 100's Halma after the US Federal Reserve announced guidance of just one interest rate cut by the end of the year.The FTSE 100 index opened down 4.18 points, 0.1%, at 8,211.30. The FTSE 250 was down 52.37 points, 0.3%, at 20,445.03, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.90 of a point, 0.1%, at 788.26.The Cboe UK 100 was

If we took a straw poll of readers and asked which country has the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund, the chances are Saudi Arabia and Singapore would come high up the list if not at the top.In fact, the largest is Norway's Government Pension Fund Global which has a value of more than $1.6 trillion.When the country discovered large offshore oil fields at the end of the 1960s, the government de

Whenever there is a discussion about ?quality? UK industrial stocks, the name Spectris (SXS) is often thrown into the ring although we suspect many investors, while being familiar with the company in a general sense, have little idea what it actually does.Looking on Stockopedia, the company has a 99th percentile quality ranking, which backs up its reputation, but it is classified as a large-cap te

Judges Scientific (JDG:AIM) £98.82Market cap: £655 millionScience kit manufacturer Judges Scientific (JDG:AIM) has built up a loyal fan base over the years, both ordinary and professional investors. We continue to see the stock as a core smaller company growth holding that will gradually build value for portfolios, while letting you sleep comfortably at night.Over the past 10 years, the stock ha

In an environment marked by intense global competition and industry disruption, successful mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are increasingly important to the growth and profitability of many companies.Yet research shows most mergers disappoint. Over the decades, multiple studies have shown that mergers and acquisitions fail to generate the anticipated synergies, and many actually destroy value inste

As we approach the end of the year it is an opportune moment to shine a light on some of this year's least-loved stocks.Rather than look at the stocks which have lost the most, we have collected together those trading at or near their lows for the year along with those with the fewest friends in the analyst community and those which the hedge fund community thinks are outright shorts.If we first t

If we conducted a straw poll we've no doubt most readers would have heard of Amersham-based engineering firm Halma (HLMA), but we suspect a much smaller proportion could put their hand up and explain what it does.For a FTSE 100 company with a market cap of £8 billion, Halma seems to operate 'in the background' rather than taking centre stage so we thought it was high time we took an in-depth look

Discerning investors who are looking for well-managed, well-capitalised companies with a sustainable edge have been finding their way to the Stewart Investors Worldwide Sustainability Fund (B7W3061) steadily over the past decade.A £10,000 investment in the fund 10 years ago would be worth £22,372 today, although at the peak towards the end of 2021 it would have been worth just over £28,000 acco

Over the last 15 years the electronics and electronic equipment space, home to some of the UK market's highest-quality engineering and capital goods firms, is the best performing sector in the FTSE 350 with an 11.7% compound annual return.The industrial engineering sector is not too far behind with its own annualised return of 9.7%. For comparison, the FTSE All-Share's annualised return over the s

Companies with regulatory drivers underpinning their business should be highly prized, particularly in the current economic environment. A recent pullback in the share price of ventilation products maker Volution (FAN) has created an opportunity to invest in just such an outfit.The company's quality is reflected in an adjusted operating margin of 21%, achieved despite inflationary pressures, and c

The events of the past three years have completely altered the investment backcloth against which fund managers are trying to earn above-average returns.Fund managers can have an investment framework to operate within, but what do they do when a 'black swan' lands? How do they adapt their strategies and reshuffle portfolios when a once-in-a-century event happens - like a global pandemic or an outb

HALMA (HLMA) £22.77Gain to date: 9%Sometimes the market is hard to please. On 15 June, life-saving technology company Halma (HLMA) reported its twentieth year in a row of record full-year profit and its forty-fourth consecutive year of growing the dividend by 5% or more. However, the share price has since fallen by 6% over the space of three trading days.Admittedly, we're still 11% ahead of our O

London's blue chips closed in the green, shrugging aside concerns of higher borrowing costs, after the European Central Bank and Federal Reserve both signalled more rates rises were on the way.The European Central Bank on Thursday matched the 'hawkish' rhetoric of its US counterpart, although unlike the Federal Reserve, it continued to tighten monetary policy.The Federal Reserve opted against a ra