Ian Pollard: Stagecoach Pleased With Operating Loss of £6.2m (Unadjusted)

Stagecoach Group plc SGC  is pleased to report positive half-year financial results, ahead of expectations, at least according to the Chief Executive, David Griffiths. These included a total unadjusted operating loss of £6.2m compared to a profit of £114.8m profit for 2018, which may lead the more cynical to comment that some people are easily […]

BHP – 2017 Dividends Increased by 177%

BHP Billiton BHP benefited in 2017 from a substantial reduction in exceptional losses which fell from $6.4b in 2016  to $842m. as the Samarco dam failure in Brazil weighed less heavily on the company. The year to the 30th June turned out to be a very strong financial year with free cash flow at $12.b., […]

Corporate news review Tuesday 15th August 2017

Hargreaves Lansdown HL. reports net FY new business of £6.9bn, AuA up 28% to £79.2bn and active clients up 118k to 954k. PBT is up 21% to £265.8m, and HL raises its dividend by 20% to 29p per share. John Menzies MNZS says it has enjoyed a positive first half, with underlying PBT up 36% […]

Wood Group weak in the East

by Ian Pollard Wood Group plc WG has faced continued challenges in its core oil and gas markets in the 6 months to 30th June, with weak activity in the East more than offsetting a robust performance in the West. The first half is down on that of 2016 and is weaker than hoped for […]

Hothschild Enjoys Boom In Mining

Hochschild Mining HOC has returned to profit and produced an exceptionally strong set of first half results, especially for a company in the beleaguered mining industry. Last yea’rs first half loss of $43.4m was turned into a profit of $60.3m after silver production of 17m ozs exceeded expectations with a rise of 31% and gold […]

Not Again – More Unspecified “Challenging Conditions”

More and more Boards and CEOs seem to be waking up to the fact that if they claim to be operating in “challenging conditions” it makes their performance and governance, good or bad, look even better than it really is. What they forget is that some of us, perhaps even some shareholders, would like to […]