London's FTSE 100 traded 0.39% higher at 7,218.19 points on Friday, the blue chip benchmark shrugging off weaker retail sales data amid easing China concerns following reports that cash-strapped property firm Evergrande will make a key interest payment at the weekend.UK retail sales volumes fell 0.2% in September, bucking expectations for a monthly rise of 0.5%.Overnight across the pond, the...

With many investors becoming increasingly worried about perceived sky-high ratings of UK equities we believe little technology engineering business Zytronic (ZYT:AIM) is a firm value opportunity.The stock is currently trading on 13.9 times forecast earnings for the year to 30 September 2019 and offers a prospective dividend yield of 6.2%.The Newcastle-based company designs and builds rugged...

Reliable growth at a reasonable price is not always easy to find among smaller companies but Zytronic (ZYT:AIM) is a UK technology business that offers just that. Paying dependable dividends on a 4%-plus yield, investors get a carefully run, attractive, income-paying stock with all the tax breaks that AIM offers.The shares often look inexpensive relative to the wider sector; they currently...

Hi-tech displays and touch sensors business Zytronic (ZYT:AIM) is going through the legal motions to make £8.9m of non-distributable cash reserves available. Cancelling the share premium account looks like a balance sheet tidying exercise in the short-term, but it will open the option to a shareholder cash return in future.

The FTSE 100 gets off to a weak start as it falls back below the 7,000 mark. The mid cap index, the FTSE 250, is also in negative territory.Waste management group Biffa (BIFF) makes a limp return to the stock market with a low-priced IPO at 180p. The shares fail to make a big impression, trading at 182.38p just after the market open.In contrast, LED lighting specialist Luceco (LUCE) sees its...

China is proving to be a tricky market for UK-based hi-tech displays and touch sensors business Zytronic (ZYT:AIM) with government officials strongly encouraging local manufacturers to buy domestic kit.While this is having a drag effect on parts of Zytronic's order flow, particularly around areas like touchscreen ATM machines, investors should remain confident.Financial sector-derived revenue...

We've had a few requests to revisit the rules around how you can qualify for inheritance tax (IHT) relief by owning certain AIM shares.If you invest money in AIM shares that meet certain criteria set by the taxman for at least two years, that money can be passed on to third parties such as your husband or wife upon your death without that windfall being taxed. Making sure you've picked the...

The UK's electronics companies have often found themselves obscured from the casual glance of investors. This is partly because the UK is not really perceived as being a major electronics manufacturing nation, certainly on a global scale comparable with, say, Silicon Valley or the gadget manufacturing furnaces of Japan, Taiwan or South Korea. Yet readers may be surprised by just how...

London shares rebound in early trade on Thursday, reversing some of the losses built up earlier in the week despite mixed trading on Wall Street and across Asia overnight. The benchmark FTSE 100 index rallies 58 points, or a bout 1%, to 6,327, matching similar early progress on Europe's main stock markets.Cambridge-based chip designs expert ARM (ARM) heads the Footsie leader board with a 5.2%...

Whether it's buying a takeaway via your TV or ordering a pint through a touchscreen table, restaurants and pubs are increasingly turning to technology in an attempt to improve customers' experience and boost sales.A stock which has firmly embraced people's love of all things tech is Domino's Pizza (DOM), whose share price has risen by 49% to 787.5p in the past year. The delivery company's UK...

We remain fans of rugged touch-screens manufacturer Zytronic (ZYT:AIM), its management and underlying robust financial strength. The Newcastle-based rugged displays manufacturer has built its reputation on outdoor applications, ATM screens in particular. But the £45 million cap is increasingly tapping new markets, such as vending machines, gaming terminals and even medical appliances, where...

Investors seeking opportunities to make multiples of their initial capital outlay should look at micro cap stocks. This is a very high risk part of the market but the potential rewards are proportionately rich. While there's inevitably a lack of the balance sheet strength seen in mid and large caps, it can only take a positive contract win, technical breakthrough or resource discovery to...

240.0pGain to date: 56.4%The Tyne & Wear-based electronic displays manufacturer goes to show that catching falling knives needn't always lead to bloodied hands. We waited for the dust to settle following the damaging profits alert of May 2013 before flagging Zytronic (ZYT:AIM) at 153.5p (see Plays, Shares 1 Aug '13), and the shares have climbed steadily since. Consistent investment in research...

Irish charmer Paddy Power (PAP) falls 4.1% to 56.59p as long-standing chief executive Patrick Kennedy announces his plan to step down by next April. David Jennings, analyst at stockbroker Davy, comments: 'Given the group's very impressive track record under his tenure, this is likely to lead to a period of uncertainty for investors with questions in relation to succession and the group's...

Construction group Costain (COST) slumps 18.5% to 260.25p on plansto raise £75 million through a heavily-discounted share placing at 225p. It needs the money for working capital, finance bid costs for bigger tenders and to prove to customers that the business is strong enough to take on much bigger and longer duration work.Part-nationalised lender Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) dives 6.7% to...

A decision to phase outinvestment in digital cameras after a prolonged slump is cheered by CSR (CSR) investors. The Cambridge-based wireless connectivity chip designer jumps more than 7.5% to 549p as it concentrates on more attractive growth markets, such as audio, in-car, indoor location and its Bluetooth Smart chipset, on which there is more detail in Shares' recent interview with CEO Joep...

RESULTS ? Tuesday 10 December ? Finals ? Zytronic (ZYT:AIM)Expect an upbeat statement from Zytronic (ZYT:AIM) as orders bounce back. We got the timing bang on with our research at 153.5p (see Shares, Plays, 1 Aug) as the shares have since romped 39% higher to 214p. The rugged touch-screen maker's balance sheet and cash generation remained robust, so its dividend payout was never at risk....

Zytronic (ZYT:AIM)BUY 189p TARGET 245p STOP LOSS 160pMarket value: £28.4 millionProspective PE 2014: 16.2Prospective PE 2015: n/a1-month price change: 9.6%12-month price change: -46.0%Dividend yield 2014: 5.0%The chart for rugged screen manufacturer Zytronic (ZYT:AIM) offers technical traders a promising picture.Zytronic initially peaked at 311p in early 2001 and it slumped to 28p by the...

Orders at rugged touch-screens technology developer Zytronic (ZYT:AIM) have bounced back faster than the market expected, but regular Shares readers will not be surprised. I spelled out in August that a rebound could come much sooner than the market seemed to be predicting given a near-40% collapse after May's profits warning.Consistent investment in research and development (R&D) is, I...

A strong quarter of gold production sends Egyptian miner Centamin (CEY) up 1.9% to 45.86p. Although the 84,757 ounces is 9% less than the previous three months' output, that's likely to be a result of lower grade material being mined. What's really pleased the market is that Centamin has achieved three consecutive quarters of beating its 5 million tonnes per year nameplate capacity at its...