Utilico Insights - Jacqueline Broers assesses why Vietnam could be the darling of Asia for investors. Watch the full video here.
I think we have become conditioned to assume that everything at B&M is cheaper. Food inflation notwithstanding, I have noticed that some of their offering is less competitive than it used to be. For example, at my local retail park, a tin of custard (probably made by the same producer) is cheaper at M&S Food than it is next door at B&M.
B&M are still competitive on branded lines, when compared with the major supermarkets, but they are not always as cheap as you might think. Also, because B&M carry only branded goods (in food and household) they are quite vulnerable to customer pushback against shrinkflation. I bought a twin pack of Persil non-bio from B&M. The next time I went to B&M and bought the 'same' pack, when I got it home and saw it standing next to the old bottle, I noticed that the bottle (and contents) had shrunk by about a quarter. The price hadn't. Of course, that isn't just a B&M problem, but other retailers tend to offer own-brand 'unshrunk' alternatives.
If B&M's reputation for value starts to slip, there is a danger of shoppers moving elsewhere and their bottom line suffering as a result. There's no evidence that this is happening at the moment, but who knows what lies ahead? Judging by my own shopping experience, it is a danger that cannot be dismissed.
Indeed, the dust will settle after a few days and it will start climbing again. I see £6 as the top, for now.
I sold out of UU last year at 1150p at 60% profit (one of my better buys). Even with the decent yield, it would have taken years to make that sort of profit in dividends and I couldn’t see the sp climbing much higher, so there wasn’t a great case for holding.
I’m glad I got out. Even a well run water company like UU is going to come under increasing pressure (and possibly legislation) to divert more of its profits to infrastructure spending - and the sp will probably take more of a hit.
SB
Of course - and my call is based on my own experience.
I consider myself to be a fairly cautious investor. I opened my position over 5 years ago, at what was then the 2 year average sp. I have invested all the dividends since then. I’m still 28% down on my original investment.
I’m only thankful that I’m invested mostly in FTSE 100 companies, with an international presence, because, with a few exceptions, anything I’ve bought that’s UK domestically focused has gone nowhere.
I've held this dog share for 5 years. Wimps is a basket case. It couldn't even rally during the HB boom of the last few years, so what chance has it now?
Perhaps hold for a decade and you might just get your money back, if you reinvest the divis.
Now 72p in old money. Should be a good income generator, as the divi increases - and should also see steady growth. I reinvested my accumulated divis, at a good price, just before leaving AIM.
I've held MRO since 2018. I was down as much as 60% during the pandemic, now -16%. It's nice to see a share, that I had almost written off, doing well. I'll hold for another 5 years and see what happens. I'm expecting a decent divi and modest growth from the demerged companies.
I’m relieved to see the sp has held up, despite the onslaught of bad publicity over the past couple of months. Sadly, the proceeds from these sales might just about cover the hack mitigation costs.
Typical schizo market reaction to a decent report. Almost 10% down? Really?
Yesterday's close was 69p. Today's close (in old money) was 71.8p. The share is therefore up 4.06%. Not a bad start to life on the main market.
Ignore the prices on HL between 16:30 and 17:00, when are often incorrect owing to accounting processes. That said, I think the sp could well hit 174 in the next couple of weeks.
It will be good to see Bree out of AIM, which has done this holding no favours. I’m not saying it will fly on the main index, but its prospects will probably be brighter.
It looks like pressure from rebel investors is paying dividends (pun intended). A prospective dividend yield of 7.8% (plus buybacks) makes this share a very attractive income generator.
Nice to see a UK bank gaining rather than tanking on good results for a change.
I've been a Pru holder for several years. The market cap has been sliding in all the time I've held the shares. The dividend is woeful. I always ask myself why I invested here - and I'm not sure why. The only positive was the M&G spinoff. Perhaps things will improve as the middle class in China seek more insurance products. It's one of those to review in 5-10 years time.
Nice bounce, but with Barc, you get the uneasy feeling that the next blowout is always just around the corner. Will it ever hit those broker ratings (200-270)? We can always hope. Meantime, the divi will sugar the pill.
Encouraging, but given that Wimps couldn't even rally during the housing boom of the last few years, I'm not holding my breath for any great resurgence. I'll keep reinvesting the divi, keep my fingers crossed, and hope that, by the end of the decade, the company will either get merged or taken over - or maybe the City will have recognised its true worth by then.
Woodsmith will be a gold mine for decades, once it’s up and running. Of course, it’s not a simple project - and it’s understandable that some reckless investors, who lost too much in Sirius, are somewhat bitter.
Funny how some broker ratings seem to follow sp trends, rather than influencing them. Conversely, certain shares are consistently forecast well above their current value (e.g. Legal & General) but hardly ever budge out of their normal range.
Thanks LG - all part of the joys of investing. I'm still well up on my share portfolio, so no sleep lost. I'm not a great fan of averaging down and prefer the 'sink or swim' approach. I have made a few exceptions to this rule, but I'm not inclined to do so in this case.