Ian Pollard – Next #NXT online sales save the day
Next pc NXT Full price sales in the second quarter were up 2.8% on last year and ahead of the 1% expected at the time of the May update. Next believes believe that this over-achievement was due to the prolonged period of exceptionally warm weather, which greatly assisted sales of summer weight products.Expectations for the […]
Ian Pollard – BT lines crossed; sacrificial lamb chosen; board saved
BT Group plc BT.A Todays announcement from BT that the Chief Executive is to make an unexpected and unplanned exit illustrates that the Board and the Chairman may have a problem which in turn illustrates that BT has a problem. The problem appears to be that the top management is confused and incapable of expressing […]
Ian Pollard – Galliford Try Cuts Dividend After Strong First Half
Galliford Try GFRD Has done the unthinkable, especially for a housebuilder which claims to have delivered a strong first half performance. It has not just tweaked its interim dividend, it has cut it by a hefty 13% The reason is of course perfectly natural. It wants to increase dividend cover to twice pre exceptional earnings. […]
Hargreaves Services; Profits Down 75%, Divi Up 58%
Hargreaves Services HSP warned in December that the half time figures would be bad and they are. Although like for like revenue for the 6 months to 30th November fell by only 2.2%, like for like profit before tax was down by 75% and underlying diluted earnings per share by 95.7%. As is usual in […]
Hargreaves Services – Coal Becoming King Again
Hargreaves Services HSP updates that trading conditions in the six months to the 30th November have become more stable and a strong second half is expected, despite contract delays in the Industrial Services Division. Coal is becoming king again with profits from the UK coal division expected to exceed forecasts and be some £3m ahead […]
Hargreaves Services in Meltdown – Recovery Anyone ?
Hargreaves Services HSP went into meltdown in the year to 31st May leaving the total dividends for the year to be slashed by over 92%, as it went through a second successive year of tumultuous market conditions and almost a complete absence of demand for coal by UK power stations.Last years profit before tax of […]
The UK Ancient & Modern
Despite their best efforts Harold Wilson, Ted Heath, Kinnock, Blair, Old Uncle Tom Cameron and all did not manage to destroy completely the UK’s industrial base.It is still there, even if there were times when it looked like they may succeed and even if it is limited to the Barnsley- Sheffield triangle and a couple […]