The financial pages lead with news that Unilever (ULVR) is moving its headquarters to Rotterdam, abandoning its dual structure, though this won’t affect the 7,300 workers in the UK. There’s the usual blather about Brexit, but the group’s majority shareholders base is in the Netherlands, and it’s less likely to become the target of a hostile takeover bid under the Dutch regulatory framework.
We may have passed the high-water mark for the 2017 year-ends, but they’re still coming in thick and fast. Emma Powell has been reviewing the decision by Prudential (PRU) to separate M&G Prudential from the remainder of the group, a decision that Emma believes “makes perfect sense” from a commercial perspective. Click here to get the low-down on the 2017 figures.
A while back, the IC’s Harriet Russell sensed that Dignity (DTY) was facing major challenges on price points and demographics, placing the shares on a somewhat contrarian sell call. Well, Dignity, once an absolute banker within the portfolio, did, indeed, struggle in the aftermath of the call – click here to find out if Harriet thinks the market correction has run its course.
Alex Newman has been pondering why market valuations for Kenmare Resources (KMR) remain in the doldrums despite “record production volumes and a 3 per cent decline in cash costs”, but the market in minerals sands is notoriously volatile and Kenmare continues to trade at a sizable discount to book value – click here to find out how Alex thinks the miner could remedy the situation
When asked about the power of advertising in research surveys, most agree that it works, but not on them, but it appears that ad agencies are having trouble re-setting their business models in the face of an increasingly digitalised marketplace. The IC’s Megan Boxall has been assessing prospects for the traditional agency in light of the global reduction in marketing spend – click here to read Megan’s take on an industry in flux
Happy birthday to our own Harriet Clarfelt, who has been going over the number for Curtis Banks (CPB). The self-invested personal pension provider has been building sales following the 2016 deal to acquire Suffolk Life. Click here to find out if the birthday girl thinks the group is still buying on the back of a 56 per cent hike in the dividend.
Jonas Crosland has been weighing up the performance of Kier (KIE), a group that is in transitions, and is also having to deal with negative sector sentiment in the wake of the collapse of Carillion. Headline profit for the six months to December 2017 were marginally ahead after adjusting for one-off closure costs of the Caribbean and Hong Kong businesses - click here to read Mr Crosland’s thoughts at the interim stage
