As Martin Gamble discusses in this issue, some businesses are awaiting the upcoming Budget on 30 October with real trepidation. However, an announcement from the Labour Government was cause for celebration with one smaller company when this author had the opportunity to meet with them in early October.Flow battery technology firm Invinity Energy Systems (IES:AIM) has had a tough little spell due t

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

There has been a good deal of bullish commentary of around Oracle (ORCL:NASDAQ) this year as it finally starts delivering on its long-promised cloud growth.Year-to-date, the stock is up nearly 40%, and while most of that rally happened in the first half of the year, when investors began getting the growth bug again the shares put up double-digit gains in November.The Austin, Texas-based company ha

In late September 2021, when the UK market had its most recent wobble, many ESG or 'sustainable' stocks and funds experienced a sharper sell-off than the FTSE All-Share index, prompting some to wonder if the boom in ethical investing had run its course.Fast forward to today and the best of those ethical stocks and funds are trading at even higher levels than the start of September. Sustainable inv

Investors' capital flooded into environmental, social and governance (ESG) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) at the start of the year. Total assets globally reached a record $25bn at the end of January, a 10% increase in just a month, according to data from research provider ETFGI.There are 210 ESG ETFs listed globally, and the top 20 took nearly $900m in net new assets in January. Among the top five m

Shares in electrical goods distributor Electrocomponents (ECM) crashed by more than 9% in mid-morning trading after half year results only just meet analysts' lofty expectations.While pre-tax profits in the six months to 30 September rose 27% to £100.2m, this only just matched market estimates of £100m. More pertinently, slowing sales growth is causing investors alarm.Revenues in the half year r

Global electrical goods distributor Electrocomponents (ECM) delivers yet another strong trading update for the second quarter to the end of June with like-for-like group sales up 10%, confirming the first quarter's trend of double-digit growth.The stock advances 3.2% to 741.2p on the news.Electrocomponents supplies manufacturers worldwide with everything from electronic parts to tools and safety e

UK stocks get off to a weak start on Thursday following declines in Asia and falls in US index futures as US Treasury yields topped 3.2% for the first time since 2011.Stronger-than-expected US payroll data yesterday and high oil prices are stoking fears of higher interest rates ahead.An increase in the Treasury yield, commonly seen as the 'risk-free' rate for investing, tends to be negative for ot

Often oil services firms see a lag between an increase in the oil price and their customer base gaining sufficient confidence to open their cheque books again.Today's first half results from Petrofac (PFC) reflect that trend as group revenue is down 10.9% despite the advances oil has made in the last 12 months.But, with the company seeing increased returns from its own oil and gas assets and impro

Electronics distributor Electrocomponents (ECM) has delighted the market with a profit beat from its 2018 year end results.The company, which supplies tools, safety equipment, microchips and much else to industry, today reports full year to 31 March adjusted pre-tax profits of £173.1m. That's above the £171.8m that the market had anticipated, and it is £3.6m more than analysts had been expectin

The FTSE 100 is in positive territory, up 8.12 points to 7,797.08 but all eyes will be on retail data released later today.B&Q owner Kingfisher (KGF) dips 2.9% to 286.9p as its revenues are down 4% to £2.8bn on a like-for-like basis in its first quarter to 30 April. CEO Veronique Laury attributes this lacklustre performance to 'exceptionally harsh weather across Europe and weak UK consumer demand

Companies often pay lip service to good corporate governance but it is not necessarily top of the list for investors when deciding which stocks to buy or sell. Oil services firm Petrofac (PFC) is just the latest example of why you ignore the way a company is run at your peril.Shares in the company have nose-dived as the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) swooped on the company and chief operating officer

We think the rally in oil services firm Petrofac (PFC) is overdone given the real risks which still face the business. Use current share price strength as an opportunity to short the stock.News (9 Oct) that the £3.1 billion cap had terminated a contract with Shanghai Zhenhua Industries Company to build a new offshore services vessel, citing 'issues' with the latter's performance, was taken positi

A big contract win for Petrofac (PFC) is exciting the market with the shares up 3% to 877p. The company is being awarded a $780 million project for a Kuwaiti oil pipeline - continuing the strong performance of its engineering and construction (E&C) business which is completely outshining the struggling Integrated Energy Services (IES) division.Shares in the company have been recovery mode in recen

Oil services firm Petrofac (PFC) is cratering - down 23.4% to 914.5p - as it issues a major profit warning. The group announces net profit will be at the lower end of the $580 million to $600 million guidance for 2014 and says 2015's total will fall more than a quarter to $500 million the $675 million which had been pencilled in.Much of the blame for the warning can be laid at the door of the Inte

A profit warningsends oil services firm Petrofac (PFC) tumbling down 16.7% to £11.56. The fall wipes out the recovery in the share price post last November's warning.Today's announcement comes as something of a surprise (not least to us given we previewed next Thursday's (15 May) scheduled update in this week's magazine). We were right to point to the Integrated Energy Services division as an are

TRADING STATEMENTS > Thursday 15 May > First quarterInvestors will be hoping to avoid any nasty surprises when oil services firm Petrofac (PFC) updates on first-quarter trading. Last year (18 Nov '13) the company warned on 2014 and 2015 profits, prompting double-digit downgrades to earnings forecasts. Particular focus this time may fall on next year's $300 million net income target for its Integra

Equities are soaring and the admission from investment guru Warren Buffett in early autumn that he is 'having a hard time finding things to buy' suggests spotting the next stock market winners may be getting a bit harder.On the flip-side, the scarcity of attractively valued shares makes identifying them an even more worthy exercise. We firmly believe there are still opportunities to buy companies

A valuation read-across from energy services firm Amec's (AMEC) rejected £680 million cash bid for peer Kentz (KENZ) supports a positive view on Petrofac (PFC) ahead of the latter's interim results next week (27 Aug).The news could also flush out further consolidation in the sector with US firms Schlumberger (SLB:NYSE), Baker Hughes (BHI:NYSE) and Halliburton (HAL:NYSE) bolstered by the enhanced

The oil services sector has underperformed the FTSE All Share so far in 2013, with a meagre 1.1% gain against a 12.6% rise in the UK benchmark. As a result it languishes in thirty-seventh place out of the 39 sectors which Shares tracks on a weekly basis. Yet since the end of June a series of trading updates from its main constituents has helped prompt a recovery as they have generally met expectat