The Week - UK (2022-04-09)

Shares CITY 51

9 April 2022 THE WEEK

AG Barr
Investors’ Chronicle
The Irn-Bru and Rubicon
maker has profited from
marketing investment and
the reopening of hospitality.
Cocktail brand Funkin is a star
performer, and it’s expanding
into natural energy drinks and
plant-based milk. Buy. 542p.

Dechra Pharmaceuticals
The Sunday Times
Since nuzzling into the FTSE
100 in December, shares in
the vet pharma, which also
specialises in pet food, have
been hit by a sector sell-off.
Still, it’s well-run with rising
revenues and a strong emphasis
on R&D. Buy. £40.88.

Keywords Studios

The Times

Keywords provides services

to the booming video games

sector. Highly cash generative,

growing organically and

deal-hungry. Benefiting from

demand for content creation

developers, and expanding.

Buy. £23.38.

OneSavings Bank

The Times

Thanks to a buoyant rental

market, the buy-to-let

mortgage specialist has

reported record profits of more

than £500m. “A really nice

business” – lowly valued, yields

4.6% and is buying back

shares. Buy. 544.5p.

Smiths Group

The Mail on Sunday

This “top-flight” engineer has

sold its medical division to

focus on making products

for growing markets such

as security, connectivity and

carbon capture. Invests in

R&D and has a lucrative

after-care arm. Buy. £14.35.

United Utilities Group

The Daily Telegraph

The defensive water services

firm provides a basic necessity,

offering relative safety amid

soaring inflation and uncertain

geopolitical and economic

times. Charges are linked

to inflation. Yields 4%.

Buy. £10.89.

Who’s tipping what

The week’s best shares

...and some to hold, avoid or sell

Diversified Energy
The Times
The gas producer buys mature
US wells and extends their life
through “new extraction
technology”. Methane gas
leaks and decom missioning
costs are troublesome, but
shares are cheap and yield
11.9%. Hold. 116.6p.

EnQuest
Investors’ Chronicle
The oil and gas producer
extends the life of aged North
Sea assets. Given the current
energy security rhetoric, this
is “back in fashion”, but
produc tion will be hit by safety
works, and profits remain
subdued. Sell. 31p.

Ergomed

The Times

Ergomed provides clinical

trials for the fast-growth rare

disease and oncology markets.

Clients span pharma giants to

small biotechs. Expanding in

the US and benefits from a

smooth revenue stream.

Hold. £13.35.

Harworth Group

The Daily Telegraph

The land regeneration specialist

has made hay from industrial

and logistics sites and housing

in the Midlands and North of

England. But shares aren’t

cheap and it faces staff

shortages and rising costs.

Take profits. Sell. 185p.

Petrofac

Investors’ Chronicle

Following a £77m fine and

contract bidding bans, after a

guilty plea to bribery offences,

the oilfield services firm claims

to be making “significant

strategic progress”. But profits

look set to remain way down

on 2018’s. Sell. 109p.

Yellow Cake

The Daily Telegraph

Shares in the uranium storage

specialist have doubled and

trade at a premium. But nuclear

power looks an attrac tive

option in the face of a global

energy crisis, and uranium

could remain a “very hot

commodity”. Hold. 411.5p.

Directors’ dealings

Kape Technologies

Kape’s 2021 acquisition of

Webselenese “made a lot of

sense”. But the software

provider’s shares have

fluctuated, prompting

Webselenese co-founders Ran

Greenberg and Ariel Hochstadt

to offload £10.6m-worth each.

Form guide

Shares tipped 12 weeks ago

Best tip

Next Fifteen Communications

The Times

up 18.69% to £14.48

Worst tip

Experian

Investors’ Chronicle

down 15.57% to £29.66

Market view

“In the last ten years, things

in the virtual world were

almost the most valuable

things. Right now it’s things

in the physical world. Can

you get hold of the energy, of

the metals, of the ‘stuff’?”

Duncan Lamont, of fund

manager Schroders.

Quoted in the FT

SOURCE: INVESTORS’ CHRONICLE

Market summary

6-month movement in the FTSE 100 index

5 Apr 2022 Week before Change (%)

FTSE 100 7613.72 7537.25 1.01%

FTSE All-share UK 4238.74 4208.38 0.72%

Dow Jones 34833.33 35207.79 –1.06%

NASDAQ 14276.66 14535.54 –1.78%

Nikkei 225 27787.98 28252.42 –1.64%

Hang Seng 22502.31 21927.63 2.62%

Gold 1930.30 1937.05 –0.35%

Brent Crude Oil 107.01 108.48 –1.36%

DIVIDEND YIELD (FTSE 100) 3.48% 3.51%

UK 10-year gilts yield 1.65 1.64

US 10-year Treasuries 2.56 2.41

UK ECONOMIC DATA

Latest CPI (yoy) 6.2% (Feb) 5.5% (Jan)

7.8% (Jan)

9.7% (Jan)

Latest RPI (yoy) 8.2% (Feb)

Halifax house price (yoy) 10.8% (Feb)

£1 STERLING: $1.306 s1.199 ¥161.927 Bitcoin $45,220

Key numbers for investorsKey numbers for investors Best and worst performing sharesBest and worst performing shares Following the Footsie

WEEK’S CHANGE, FTSE 100 STOCKS

RISES Price % change

Anglo American 4132.50 +8.72

Glencore 516.80 +7.52

Severn Trent 3192.00 +7.44

United Utilities Group 1166.00 +7.12

London Stock Exchange 8360.00 +6.25

FALLS

CHR (Lon) 2980.00 –8.14

Melrose Industries 122.95 –8.11

Lloyds Banking Group 46.31 –7.39

Ashtead Group 4692.00 –7.20

WPP 998.00 –7.03

FTSE 250 RISER & FALLER

Brewin Dolphin Holdings 516.00 +60.00

Cmc Markets 244.00 –15.10

Source: Datastream/FT (not adjusted for dividends). Prices on 5 April (pm)

7,000

7,500

7,700

7,400

7,600

7,300

7,200

7,100

Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr

400

450

425

Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr

375

350

325

2 Directors

sell 5.6m