Round 'em up - a few strays

Round ‘em up: It is one of those weeks when the results come faster than you can cope with, so here are brief thoughts on a few FTSE100 stocks, with dividend news, that have slipped past the bat.

I will write on BT early next week, but it looks like good baseload for income growth investors. The interim dividend was up 15% with a re-iteration of the ambition to raise the total dividend by 10%-15% in each of the 2014/15 and 2015/6 years. The 2014 starting yield of 3.4% is not startling but overall this looks good value.

Royal Dutch Shell is another company that fails to excite but has income attractions. The third quarter dividend was put up by 4.4% to 47c, so there is currency noise here for sterling investors. But in an age when resource company boards are more conscious of husbanding cash they are on course to generate enough cash to meet their target to return $30bn to shareholders over the current and next financial years by way of dividends and buy backs. If the Final is another 47c then the annual sterling dividend will be around 117p. At a 2320p share price this is a 5% yield. So it may be a corporate supertanker and the low oil price is not what they want, but with a very long record of dividend delivery and an increasing 5% yield this is another decent looking stodgy stock.

Barclays is another matter. The great project 'Transform' is designed to transform the bank from a low capital return capital markets play, with questionable historic staff ethics, into a more efficient retail and customer focused bank. It may be coincidence but the now unloved Investment Bank operations are having a poor year. At the same time the skeletons that have fallen out of the cupboard are still rattling with a new £500m FX investigation provision and a further £161m PPI provision top-up. This flow of historic bad news is clouding the progress that is being made by new-ish CEO Antony Jenkins. I am writing this before the PRA stress test results this afternoon but with a core Tier 1 of 10.2% I would expect them to clear the bar but not by much. A narrow pass would have adverse implications for future dividend growth. The interim dividend is again 1p to make 3p so far this year and on course for a maintained 6.5p for the year. Perhaps there will be an increase at the final, but I am being ungenerous. So that is a 2.9% yield at 226p, which is OK if you believe in the medium term Barclays turn-around. At this share price there is a big discount to the 287p Tangible Net Asset Value, but that probably reflects concern that there are more balance sheets hits to be taken. They might be going in the right direction but there feels little rush to invest yet. 

(Neil Cumming, 31st October)

These comments are not a personal recommendation to deal. Any investments can fall as well as rise in value, so you could get back less than you invest. I may have a financial interest in some of the stocks written about.

www.dividendpower.co.uk or e-mail at info@dividendpower.co.uk

Sub-Standard Chartered

Standard Chartered: The Peter Sands of time are running out. He has been in charge at Standard Chartered for eight years but the momentum is now firmly and worryingly negative. These third quarter results were greeted with alarm by markets. The loan book has slipped, shrinking from $305bn at the half year to $296bn now. On nearly flat operating income, quarterly impairments were $539m, having been $289m for this quarter last year amidst ‘subdued’ trading conditions and a 4% rise in costs. This dropped through to quarterly pre-tax profits of $1530m against $1830m in third quarter 2013. In response, the group is now targeting a further $400m of cost savings in 2015.

The group says that the group is ‘well capitalised, with ratios well above the regulatory requirements’. Yet Core Tier 1 was 10.9% at the year end, 10.5% at the half year and won’t have improved. This is still comfy for now, but is at a time when regulators want to see Core Tier 1 going up and not down. Suddenly from expansion across Asian markets and in different verticals the group is now fighting fires on various fronts and having to re-trench. Their guidance is now ‘that underlying profits in the second half will be lower than the same period last year’. This is a blow, as at the interims they were talking about profits being higher in the second half than the first. Also, the bank is still in the US regulatory doghouse for money laundering failings. This is disappointing since it is a ‘second strike’ and some feel that the group’s management was too blasé and failed to clean out the stables after the first $667m fine.

For the current calendar year eps might perhaps be 160c against 164.4c last time. At 1000p (and falling for now) that is roughly a PE of 10x. The interim dividend was held at 28.8c and a maintained final would make 86c for a big 5.4% yield. The shares are trading probably in line with Net Tangible Asset Value (which was 1597.6c at 31^st December 2013). So the temptation is the yield, but that looks unlikely to grow and the balance sheet is flagging. Whilst it looks like there is some way to go before the dividend is under threat, the management needs to arrest the slide now. This takes us back to the murmers that perhaps Peter Sands isn’t the best man for the hot seat just now. Despite that yield it feels like there is no rush here. (Neil Cumming, 30th October)

These comments are not a personal recommendation to deal. Any investments can fall as well as rise in value, so you could get back less than you invest. I may have a financial interest in some of the stocks written about.

www.dividendpower.co.uk or e-mail at info@dividendpower.co.uk

BG Group - Holding Out For A Hero

BG Group: This is one of the great stock market disappointments of recent years, with a poorly played hand of cards, despite including prime positions in deep water Brazil and Australian LNG. Results’ announcement after results’ announcement has included delays and production disappointments. So now they have the new manager signed from abroad to improve their performance. Helge Lund has been persuaded to leave Statoil to join BG, with the challenge of a job at a smaller organisation hopefully as motivating as the some ten-fold increase in remuneration.

These Third Quarter results were again a mixed bag: Brazil better, Kazakhstan worse, North Sea slower and Egypt coughing up $350m of back payments. Mind you, that still leaves $1.2bn outstanding of Egyptian receivables. Brazilian production is now past 100/- bpd and the first Australian LNG is due before the end of this year. (The somewhat unexpected re-election of centre-left Dilma Rousseff as Brazilian President is a small negative for sentiment.) Overall current 2014 production guidance has been held. For now though, investors are looking beyond these results to see how Lund shuffles his pack on arrival in March 2015, although there is no reason yet to think that utterances or action will ensue quickly.

Currently, eps forecasts for the next couple of years are in the 70p ball park, for a broad brush PE of 14.3x at 1000p and a 19p dividend for this year. That is a yield of 1.9%, with decent cover allowing scope for more increases, barring some major strategic upheaval. Which, of course, may just happen. For income investors none of this looks that compelling yet, but a decent business meeting a high quality Chief Executive is well worth following closely.  (Neil Cumming, 29th October)

These comments are not a personal recommendation to deal. Any investments can fall as well as rise in value, so you could get back less than you invest. I may have a financial interest in some of the stocks written about.

www.dividendpower.co.uk or e-mail at info@dividendpower.co.uk  

Lloyds Banking Group - Is Black Beauty on the comeback?

Lloyds Banking Group: So the banks are slowly hauling themselves out of the mire post the banking crisis. Lloyds did its bit to help at the time, by trying to over pay by unimaginable factors for HBoS, only to then end up merely over-paying massively for it. Their thanks for buying a wrecked bank, which brought Lloyds to its knees, was to be told by the EU that they had received ‘state aid’ and to see Her Majesty’s Government end up as a major shareholder. The eventual verdict from Brussels was that they would have to sell off a sizeable chunk of their branch network. Hence, the carve out of TSB and sale this summer of the first equity chunks, through an IPO and placing, with the sales due to be completed by 31^st December 2015. For income investors the abandonment of the dividend was a blow as the banks sector used to be a core income generator for them. So for several years Lloyds could be ignored by income investors, but we are coming to the end of that phase.

Monday saw the results of the EBA stress test under which Lloyds would have a 6.2% core tier 1, not far above the 5.5% hurdle and tighter than Barclays (7.1%), HSBC (9.3%) or RBS (6.7%). This came soon after last week’s trailed news of a 10% workforce shrinkage over the next three years. Today’s results confirm those 9000 job losses and a 150 branch closure programme, which will hog the media headlines. This is part of a three year programme targeting an ambitious 45% cost income ratio (at 49.7% now) and £1bn of cost savings. These results overall beat most expectations with a margin improvement of 4bps to 2.51% and bad debts and impairments continuing to tail off. That is not to say though that it is business as usual, because the lending market is still very turgid and distorted by QE. The Tangible Net Asset Value is 51.8p, up from 49.4p last quarter.

On the dividend front they just say that talks with the PRA continue. The assumption is that a token 1p dividend can be expected at the 2014 Finals in February, but the narrow EBA stress test pass and leverage uncertainty put an element of doubt on this. However, an optimist can look to maybe 8p of eps in 2015, with say a 4p payout. At 74p this would be a tempting PE of 9.3x and a yield of 5.4%, but a full looking price to current TNAV of 1.4x. Overall it feels like this is a stock to start squirreling away (HMG will be sellers again), whilst leaving scope to average down or run for the exit if it strays off the recovery path.  (Neil Cumming, 28th October)

These comments are not a personal recommendation to deal. Any investments can fall as well as rise in value, so you could get back less than you invest. I may have a financial interest in some of the stocks written about.

www.dividendpower.co.uk or e-mail at info@dividendpower.co.uk  

Spirit Pub Company - or cider or IPA?

Spirit Pub Company: I wrote favourably on this stock on 5^th September 2014, when the price was around 78p. Now, corporate action is always a bit of a wild card in stock selection, with many a youthful month wasted waiting for the eventual bid for Rowntree Mackintosh. All the same, if a bid comes rolling along it always brightens the day as has happened at Spirit Pub Company. When, as now, you get ‘one and a smidge’ bids and the whiff of a contest, it becomes interesting.

Firstly, Greene King turned up in September with an approach worth 100p that was rebuffed. They then increased the indicated offer to secure Spirit’s approval and recommendation. The new agreed proposal is 0.1322 new Greene King shares and 8p cash. The cash is partly a sop for not getting Spirit’s 1.5p final declared dividend, scheduled for going xd in January 2015. Now the Irish cider maker C&C (Magner’s to you and me) has indicated that it is considering an approach with 110p being mentioned. This would probably be a mix of cash and paper, but more cash than Greene King are offering. Many are observing that the fit with C&C is not that obvious, with apparently limited scope for cost cutting, so Spirit’s blessing seems unlikely. C&C’s ‘put up or shut up’ date is 5pm 20^th November.

Something to keep in mind is that Greene King’s shares have not been great of late, although an element of weakness is the potential overhang of the new shares that could be issued. At the current 790p, the offer values Spirit at 112.4p. But Greene King’s high for the year is 933p and getting half way back there (i.e. 861p) would give a bid value of 121.8p. On maybe 63p of eps to April 2015, that is a not unreasonable 13.7x for Greene King, before any benefit from a Spirit deal. There is always the risk that bid talks and offers evaporate or break down. Likewise a competition spanner may come in (unlikely with C&C; not quite so sure with Greene King?). But if Spirit make say 7.3p of eps to August 2015 and if that is worth a modest 12.5x then the shares should hold above 90p.

So I would hold on for now and see what happens; a sweetener from Greene King could seal the deal and leave everyone happily supping on a pint of IPA.  (Neil Cumming, 27th October)

These comments are not a personal recommendation to deal. Any investments can fall as well as rise in value, so you could get back less than you invest. I may have a financial interest in some of the stocks written about.

www.dividendpower.co.uk or e-mail at info@dividendpower.co.uk  

Tesco - unexpected loss in bagging area

Tesco: When I wrote on Tesco’s in late August, it was already clear that the wheels had come off the trolley, but the flow of bad news continued. There is now a messy debate emerging about whether the former Chief Executive, Philip Clarke placed undue pressure on his executives to pull all the levers possible to pull forward profits in a desperate rear guard action. So now the shiny kitchen sink is out on display and it is pretty full. Deloittes have put a figure of £263m on the profit ‘hole’, similar to the original £250m estimate, but extending back to cover three years. Investors are left with the assumption that the problem doesn’t go any further back in time (which would put Terry Leahy on display). The Chairman Sir Richard Broadbent is stepping down, so the boardroom will soon be refreshed in all key positions.

In these results sales were down 4.4%, with UK like for likes down 4.6%. On squeezed margins the profit figure of £783m was 46.6% down, before all the one offs. Group net cash generation was down to £1bn (from £1.7bn). The balance sheet has been protected to some extent by the swingeing dividend cut (at 1.16p, down 75%), but capex plans have been treated more kindly, coming in at a reduced but still hefty £2.1bn, which will raise eyebrows. The international operations continue to be mixed and further surgery here seems likely. The bright spot was Tesco Bank, with profits up 20% to £102m.

So with the P&L still under internal and external pressure with a balance sheet that is showing signs of stress, so the nadir may be near, but not yet passed. The stress is in net debt that is now £7.5bn and a £3.4bn pension deficit. A rights issue at some point is still quite possible. Given all the uncertainty the board is giving no full year guidance. Being generous and assuming that first half clean eps of 7.7p can be repeated, then 15.4p works out at a PE of 11.0x at 169p. The dividend for the year is likely to be down 75% to 3.69p for a yield of 2.2%, and has an uncertain future. For income growth investors (and many others) this is a share for another day (or year). (Neil Cumming, 24th October)

These comments are not a personal recommendation to deal. Any investments can fall as well as rise in value, so you could get back less than you invest. I may have a financial interest in some of the stocks written about.

www.dividendpower.co.uk or e-mail at info@dividendpower.co.uk  

GlaxoSmithKline - into the dividend fog.

GlaxoSmithKline: Chief Executive Sir Andrew Witty is administering some big medicines to his sluggish charge, where their key respiratory franchise is being held back by poor sales of the ageing Advair, as newer products wend their way to approval. Earlier this year the group announced a complicated deal with Novartis that will see various assets swapped and a major consumer healthcare business emerge as a joint venture. Following that deal the group plans to return £4bn to shareholders, (the current market capitalisation is £66.5bn). Now the group has announced that its majority owned ViiV Healthcare, which was formed to develop treatments for AIDs, is ready for an IPO of a minority stake to crystallise a valuation. The group has also announced plans to target around £1bn of cost savings with half achievable by 2016 and the balance within three years.

The full year dividend for 2014 is targeted to be 80p, up 3% on last year’s 78p. Even after the spike in the shares on these results to around 1380p, that is a handsome yield of 5.8%. The ‘but’ is that in 2015 they expect the dividend to be maintained but not increased. That is where the fog descends for income growth investors. By 2016 your GlaxoSmithKline share will have exposure to the Novartis jv, with its own dividend policy and the ViiV Healthcare subsidiary with another dividend policy (which may not be generous). The £4bn return of capital may feel like income but you then have to replace the recurring 5.8% dividend stream on that money. So if you invest £1000 now and receive income of £58, I do not know what all the moving parts will deliver in 2016. In many such upheavals the answer is less dividend not more. All the corporate moves may well release value for shareholders and for that reason holding onto GlaxoSmithKline shares seems sensible enough. However, by the important yardstick of dividend income growth, they are quite likely to come up short.  (Neil Cumming, 23rd October)

These comments are not a personal recommendation to deal. Any investments can fall as well as rise in value, so you could get back less than you invest. I may have a financial interest in some of the stocks written about.

www.dividendpower.co.uk or e-mail at info@dividendpower.co.uk  

Home Retail Group - I can hear a chainsaw

Home Retail Group: When you have a lot of bricks and your business is threatened by the clicks of the internet retail revolution, life is tough. If you are Argos then a large secondary High Street estate, based on paper catalogues became a horrible place to start. Then you add in Homebase, which used to aim for ‘aspirational’ but has long lost any pzazz and life is tough. In fairness to Home Retail they have made a good fist of managing change, under the leadership of the now departed Terry Duddy. The estate is slimmer, the paper is being replaced by tablets and their version of ‘click ‘n’ collect’ has been added. Over recent years, Homebase seemed to have reached the status of a relatively pain free managed decline, but today we were treated to the noise of the corporate chainsaw revving up again.  

In the interims to August 2014, pre-tax profits were up 13%, but were shy of forecasts with an expected £20m increase in operating costs being more front end loaded than expected, with £15m incurred so far. Argos saw a +2.9% like for like sales lift with gross margins being maintained. Electricals and the like performed better than soft furnishings where more range work is needed. Overall, internet sales are now 43% of the total so they have come a long way in recent years. At Homebase like for like sales were up 4.1%, but there was another hit to gross margins, this time being -75bps. The company has announced that 25% of the remaining stores will be shut by 2018, albeit most are in a long tail that the group seems to have stopped loving some time ago. Frankly, few will miss them. At 178p, a slightly optimistic consensus of 11.5p eps for February 2015 is a middling PE of 15.5x. The interim dividend is held at 1p in line with policy to put through any changes at the finals. If the 11.5p is made, then the total dividend could be 3x covered at 3.8p to give a modest yield of 2.1%.  Meanwhile, against a market capitalisation of £1.44bn, the balance sheet sports a healthy £333m of cash, up £2m over the period, but down from £412m a year ago and the NAV is stated at 348p.

The bottom line is that if Argos and Homebase disappeared, they wouldn’t be missed for long. There are almost echoes of Woolworths’ long goodbye in all this, although the cash and NAV do provide comfort that such a brutal disappearance is unlikely for now. If you like the shops then this may all seem like a store of value, but with little positive momentum in the business, I would rather shop elsewhere.   (Neil Cumming, 22nd October 2014)

These comments are not a personal recommendation to deal. Any investments can fall as well as rise in value, so you could get back less than you invest. I may have a financial interest in some of the stocks written about.

www.dividendpower.co.uk or e-mail at info@dividendpower.co.uk  

Whitbread - Today here, tomorrow the world?

Whitbread: The momentum at Whitbread has kept going since Andy Harrison (ex Lex Services and easyJet) became CEO in 2010. The main eatery brands are Brewers Fayre and the venerable Beefeater, but most of the excitement is elsewhere. Costa Coffee has been a huge success and is all around us on High Streets, trains, stations, pubs and motorways. In this six months to August 2014 Costa like for like sales grew another 6.1% with top line growth of 16.9% and expansion abroad looks set to be the next leg of growth. Also doing very well has been Premier Inns, both through its own efforts and the self-inflicted financial straits at rival Travelodge. Premier like for like sales were up 9.6% within overall growth of 14.7% and record 84% occupancy. In the financial year to February 2015, £500m will be spent on growth (including £415m on Hotels and Restaurants), but cash generation overall is good with half year cash flow generation at £356.3m, leaving net debt up by £37.1m at a manageable £467.2m. Whilst the lodging business is capital hungry, the coffee side has far better cash characteristics and the debate over demerger (or similar) is never far away, although recurring good results have tended to dampen the flames of unrest. The debate though is how much all this is worth?

The interim results showed underlying profit before tax up 18.5%, with eps up 21.5% to 111.69p. The dividend was increased by 15.6% to 25.2p. So on consensus forecasts of about 205p, the PE is 20.5x at a 4200p share price. Dividend cover has been creeping up and if I look to a 2.6x cover the dividend would be 78.9p yielding 1.9%. Forecasts look to be leaving some scope for upgrades but at least 10% growth in FY2016 is expected. Whitbread are executing very well, but on these metrics it all seems a tad expensive, as has been the case for some time. From here, it seems difficult to see how extra value could be created by demerger, but the issue will never entirely go away. I would hold off from fresh purchases but would congratulate those who bought early and are still holding on happily.  (Neil Cumming, 21st October)

These comments are not a personal recommendation to deal. Any investments can fall as well as rise in value, so you could get back less than you invest. I may have a financial interest in some of the stocks written about.

www.dividendpower.co.uk or e-mail at info@dividendpower.co.uk  

Provident Financial - Knock, Knock

Provident Financial: Going back a few years, some were predicting the decline of door-step lenders such as Provident Financial. You have to take your hat off to them though. They have launched new products to suit new technology and new customer requirements and now they are set to benefit from the broom that is sweeping out the debris of the disgraced payday lending market. They have even started to expand abroad again having previously successfully floated off International Personal Finance in 2007. Vanquis was set up in 2002, concentrating on credit cards with low spending limits for those with impaired credit records and this now also takes retail deposits. This is now being rolled out in Poland. More recently they set up Satsuma, a short term on-line lender with APR’s in the hundreds not thousands of percent. Meanwhile they still operate the old style door step lending where competition is less since the emasculation of Cattle Holdings. The other main strand is vehicle finance (Moneybarn) for those with impaired credit histories.

The shares have done well in recent years and are now around 2050p. Digital Look cites consensus eps showing growth of 14% to 128p for this year to 31^st December, rising 15% to 148p next year, so a PE of 16x dropping to 13.8x. Good cash generation means a high dividend payout, with cover around 1.3x. Consensus dividend for this year is a rise of 12% to 98p and then 15% to 113p, giving a yield of 4.8% rising to 5.5%. As the likes of Wonga face their re-birth, the way ahead looks rosy for Provident Financial and on these numbers, despite the good multi-year performance, it may not be too late to buy. It is a strong hold at the very least.  (Neil Cumming, 20th October)

These comments are not a personal recommendation to deal. Any investments can fall as well as rise in value, so you could get back less than you invest. I may have a financial interest in some of the stocks written about.

www.dividendpower.co.uk or e-mail at info@dividendpower.co.uk  

Diageo - mine's a Serengeti please

Diageo: This huge international drinks group has an amazing array of brands under its umbrella. These stretch from Smirnoff, Bell’s, Johnnie Walker and Gordon’s Gin through to Guinness. You even almost have to forgive them for inflicting Blossom Hill and Piat d’Or on the populace through your local Spar.....or maybe not. So their aim in developed markets is to add brands, develop brands and move customers up the price points. In emerging markets they want to bring customers into the branded space using both their major brands and acquired local brands. For example, on my recent Tanzanian safari one debate was whether Serengeti or Tusker beer tasted better. Serengeti won, but Diageo own them both. So this recipe should all secure long term growth of global GDP plus a bit. There are plenty of missed beats over time, say when emerging market economies wobble, the Chinese turn against graft or somewhere like Russia becomes a pariah. So, I find it really difficult to get that excited about Diageo unless the share price is in a market driven heap. Otherwise, it feels almost quasi bond like in its stately progress over the years.

At the moment the share price is around 1700p, with historic eps around 95p and dividend of 51.7p, giving a PE of 17.9x and a yield of 3.0%, nearly twice covered and backed by a reasonable balance sheet. And you could expect very long term growth of maybe mid single digit percentages. This all looks very unthrilling, but maybe you should compare it to a gilt and then you might surmise that for a modest equity risk you are actually adding considerable long term cumulative upside. In that sense, perhaps, it is base load for long term equity portfolios. Mind you 1700p may just also get you two bottles of Johnnie Walker Red Label or Bell’s at a desperate supermarket sometime in the run up to Christmas.  (Neil Cumming, 17th October)

These comments are not a personal recommendation to deal. Any investments can fall as well as rise in value, so you could get back less than you invest. I may have a financial interest in some of the stocks written about.

www.dividendpower.co.uk or e-mail at info@dividendpower.co.uk  

Liontrust - a growing cub.....

Liontrust: This group has enjoyed great momentum in recent years. The latest FUM was £3.8bn, with the market capitalisation at £97m. They have announced that they have won a £320m institutional UK equity income mandate which was lost by Miton Group recently, being run on behalf of SWIP (now owned by Aberdeen Asset Management). The UK equity income team is led by Stephen Bailey, whilst the UK equity team is led by Anthony Cross and on the multi-manager side they employ John Husselbee and Paul Kim.  So, with a good fund factory in place and some good performance the future looks rosy for the group. For the year to March 2015 forecast eps could brush 20p, meaning that at 215p, the PE is 10.8x. Meanwhile the dividend is on course for around 4p, giving a yield of 1.9%, but this is growing at a clip (having been 1p in the year to March 2013). With eps set to grow well and a dividend cover of 5x, dividend growth is set to be very good. I know that with equity markets in upheaval it is a brave man who buys an asset manager, but fortune supposedly favours the brave. The other risk is an unexpected upheaval in the fund manager ranks, but all seems to be a stable ship at present. For income growth investors this looks to be a smaller market capitalisation stock worthy of a second look. One other small cloud to be aware of is that the Chief Executive John Ions has been off-loading stock recently, although he still has £2m and options so still has plenty of skin in the game.  (Neil Cumming, 16th October)

These comments are not a personal recommendation to deal. Any investments can fall as well as rise in value, so you could get back less than you invest. I may have a financial interest in some of the stocks written about.

www.dividendpower.co.uk or e-mail at info@dividendpower.co.uk  

Ashmore Group - fashion victim?

Ashmore Group

Ashmore is a very successful manager of emerging market funds, with a bias towards debt and bond offerings. Due partly to their specialist brief they enjoy high margins with EBITDA margin of around 65%. However all is not well at the moment. The impending end of QE in the USA as tapering comes to its conclusion is making investors fret about the immediate future for emerging markets. The lure of being out of the dollar and enjoying a ride on the ‘carry trade’ of an emerging currency is fading. In their first quarter update Ashmore have revealed AUM of $71.3bn, somewhat weaker than the $72-76bn range that analysts had been forecasting. The worry is that AUM could face further pressure as investors cash out and that the handsome margins may end up being squeezed, despite having held good for many years so far.

Having fallen some 25% over the last year the shares are around 294p. On reduced expectations of say 21p earnings for June 2015, this is a PE of 14 and the likely 17p dividend is a yield of 5.8%. The balance sheet is strong with spare cash on board, so despite low dividend cover of 1.2x there is no reason to fear for this year’s dividend. So this all looks attractive enough, but I am fretting about the apparent loss of momentum at the group. Investment fads are very fickle and emerging markets look well set for the medium and long term, but just now there seems little rush to buy Ashmore. (Neil Cumming, 14^th October 2014)

These comments are not a personal recommendation to deal. Any investments can fall  as well  as rise in value, so you could get back less than you invest. I may have a financial interest in some of the stocks written about.

www.dividendpower.co.uk                                  info@dividendpower.co.uk