Long-suffering shareholders in pest control and hygiene business Rentokil Initial (RTO) will be hoping the firm has good news when it reports its full-year results on 6 March.Over the past year, the shares have drifted sideways, in contrast to those of US peer Rollins (ROL:NYSE) which have chalked up a 24% gain.The gulf between the two is even wider over five years, with Rentokil shares having los

Stock prices in London opened mixed on Tuesday, with the FTSE 100 up a notch despite Unilever shares falling as its Chief Executive Officer Hein Schumacher is set to leave the company.Separately, US President Donald Trump's claimed that tariffs of up to 25% on Canadian and Mexican imports are moving forward as planned, following last month's last-minute pause which ends next Tuesday.The announceme

London's blue chip index was in the red around midday on Friday, as investors await US retail sales and industrial production data.The FTSE 100 index traded down 17.80 points, 0.2%, at 8,747.10. The FTSE 250 was up 65.80 points, 0.3%, at 20,981.66, and the AIM All-Share climbed 2.18 points, 0.3%, at 725.38.The Cboe UK 100 was flat at 877.76, the Cboe UK 250 firmed 0.3% to 18,337.27 and the Cboe Sm

There may be a sense of poignancy when Europe's biggest bank HSBC (HSBA) reports full-year earnings next week as for several hundred staff it will be the last call.At the end of January, the company informed managers in its UK, European and US corporate advisory and equity underwriting teams it was closing down operations as it finally gave up chasing a place at investment banking's top table.Whil

London stocks closed in the green on Monday, as US President Donald Trump's threats of 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports appear not to have phased investors.However, UK steel industry representatives have urged UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to act to protect it from Trump's threatened levy, warning that the move would be a 'devastating blow'.The UK government is waiting to see details of

The FTSE 100 index climbed on Wednesday, with shares in GSK boosted after its revenue beat expectations.The Bank of England is expected to enact a 25 basis point rate cut on Thursday, but policymakers face the unenviable balancing act of weighing up a stalling economy with inflation pressure.The expected quarter-point cut by Threadneedle Street would take the bank rate to 4.50%, from 4.75% current

Stock prices in Europe opened lower on Tuesday, amid low risk sentiment, as investors track developments in a US and China trade spat.The FTSE 100 index fell 57.72 points, 0.7%, at 8,525.84. The FTSE 250 shed 142.70 points, 0.7%, at 20,569.06. The AIM All-Share fell 1.40 points, 0.2%, at 710.73.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.6% at 853.75, the Cboe UK 250 fell 0.7% at 17,968.56, and the Cboe Small Comp

With most of the big names in the retail sector having reported we can get a decent picture of how the sector fared in the run-up to and during the festive period. A weak trading backdrop for non-food retail in October and November, before Santa delivered a return to growth in December, a month that also witnessed a notable shift to online sales according to the latest data (17 January) from The O

Stock prices in Europe lacked direction at Tuesday midday, while analysts still believe the Monetary Policy Committee in the UK will opt for an interest rate cut next month, despite solid wage growth.'The FTSE 100 was subject to choppy trading following [US President] Trump's inauguration,' AJ Bell's Russ Mould said. 'Having jumped at the market open, the UK index quickly pulled back as investors

Digital business set to outperform says Panmure LiberumDue to report full year results on 4 MarchYear-to-date shares up 7%Shares in Reach (RCH) soared 25% to 90p in early morning trading as the newspaper publisher said it expects to deliver results ahead of current market expectations for the full year.Back in October 2024 the publisher said it was confident in delivering full-year guidance due to

Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 270pMarket cap: £1.05 billionWe aren't a willfully contrarian bunch at Shares, but now and then we come across a stock which seems so beaten-down with so much bad news priced in we just have to take a closer look.A case in point is FTSE 250 fast-food firm Domino's Pizza Group (DOM), the UK's leading pizza brand with over 1,360 stores in the UK and Ireland.Ironically, ei

Pubs group JD Wetherspoon's (JDW) value credentials continue to shine through. According to fund manager Anna Farmbrough at Ninety One the company has doubled its average price advantage over competitors to 40% since the pandemic.Farmbrough notes that a few years ago there were three pubs in her local area while today there is just a single Wetherspoons, demonstrating its ability to benefit as con

Specialty recruitment firm SThree (STEM), which focuses on filling roles in science, technology, engineering and mathematics settings, posted a downbeat trading statement for the 12 months to November and drastically cut its forecast for earnings for the current year.The shares, which were previously down just 11% for the year, slumped as much as 39% intraday before recovering and now stand 34% be

Specialist business services firm FRP Advisory (FRP:AIM) is one of those businesses which many investors may have heard of but few are sure exactly what it does.Put simply, FRP helps companies through each stage of their development, giving advice on raising capital, managing debt, acquisitions, corporate finance and forensic accounting. It is probably best-known for 'crisis management' where it h

Stock prices in London closed lower on Monday, as Canal+ shares slumped on their first day of London trading and Entain fell as it faces an Australian investigation.The FTSE 100 index closed down 38.28 points, 0.5%, at 8,262.05. The FTSE 250 ended 76.12 points lower, 0.4%, at 20,813.03, and the AIM All-Share gave back 3.87 points, 0.5%, at 729.49.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.5% at 828.87, the Cboe

Contract fee income stallsNo signs of improvementFY25 pre-tax forecast slashedSpecialist recruitment firm SThree (STEM) posted a downbeat full-year trading update and warned challenging trading conditions would persist through the current financial year.The shares dropped as much as 140p or 39% to 221p before recovering to stand down 88p or 24% at 273p by mid-morning. SUBSTANTIAL CUT TO GUI

UK firms from the retail, leisure, hospitality, manufacturing, logistics and housebuilding sectors have said they will incur additional costs due to the increases in the national living wage and employers' national insurance contributions announced in the Budget on 30 October. According to Reuters the total declared impact is now £1.1 billion.Some of the sectors most affected include retail (the

Investors already have access to thousands of companies around the world. The choice can be overwhelming so do we really need the launch of yet another stock market? The answer might be 'yes' if it offers something different to what's already available and a new market called 'Pisces' certainly ticks the right boxes.Pisces is the name for the UK government's new vision for privately-owned companie

Spare a thought for Laszlo Hanyecz. You may not have heard of him, but in 2010 he spent 10,000 Bitcoins on two pizzas, in one of the first ever 'real world' crypto transactions. The market value of those Bitcoins is now $950 million. Hanyecz is pretty stoic about it, but deep down he must know that no amount of melted cheese can make up for the vast fortune he might have had. Hanyecz, a computer p

London stocks started the week mixed ahead of a 'pivotal' US jobs report on Friday, and after data showed the UK manufacturing sector enduring a sharper decline than expected last month.The FTSE 100 index rose 25.59 points, 0.3%, at 8,312.89. The FTSE 250 ended 2.52 points lower at 20,769.05, and the AIM All-Share rose 0.55 of a point, 0.1%, at 733.04.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.2% at 834.02, the C