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Why Ladbrokes, Tullow Oil, and Premier Oil Should Lag the FTSE 100 Today

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By Alan Oscroft, The Motley Fool

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LONDON — The FTSE 100 has opened the week poorly, falling 0.61% to 6,490 points by 7:50 a.m. EDT after the latest figures from China saw first-quarter economic growth come in lower than expected. Amid a sell-off of commodities, the gold price fell 5% to its lowest level for two years — it’s now down 25% since its peak of September 2011.

But even with the index falling, there are companies doing worse. Here are three whose share prices are tumbling today.

Ladbrokes
Ladbrokes‘ shares have dropped 8.2% to 190 pence after the bookmaker issued a first-quarter profit warning. Full-year operating profit is now expected to come in at the bottom end of expectations after Q1 was hit by “a significant reduction in profit” from horse racing at Cheltenham and weakness in online gambling. Operating profit for the quarter dropped 13 million pounds to 37.4 million pounds.

Ladbrokes shares are now down more than 20% from a mid-March peak of 245 pence, with the previous six months’ bull run now almost completely reversed.

Tullow Oil
Shares in Tullow Oil have fallen 4.3% to 1,110 pence after the explorer delayed its Sabisa-1 well in Ethiopia, citing “hole instability issues” that require the drilling of a secondary “sidetrack” bore. Exploratory results are now due in late May. But on the upside, initial drilling did reveal hydrocarbon indications.

In other positive news, we were told that the first of the firm’s six well tests at Ngamia-1 in Kenya has demonstrated flows of 281 barrels of oil per day. Further tests should soon reveal the area’s full production potential.

Premier Oil
Premier Oil have also slipped 4.3% today, despite the firm announcing the first oil flows from its Huntingdon field in the North Sea, which commenced last Friday. Chief executive Simon Lockett said: “This marks the first of four U.K. North Sea projects from our development portfolio which will come on-stream over the next few years.”

After ramping up from an initial 30,000 bopd, the field is expected to produce 250,000 bopd to 300,000 bopd when in full flow.

Finally, reliable dividends can more than compensate for the day-to-day ups and downs of share prices. So how about a company that’s offering a 5.7% yield and could be set for some nice share-price appreciation, too? It’s the subject of our brand-new report “The Motley Fool’s Top Income Share For 2013,” which you can get completely free of charge — but it will only be available for a limited period, so click here to get your copy today.

The article Why Ladbrokes, Tullow Oil, and Premier Oil Should Lag the FTSE 100 Today originally appeared on Fool.com.


Alan Oscroft has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30

From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/15/why-ladbrokes-tullow-oil-and-premier-oil-should-la/

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

3 More FTSE 100 Shares Going Ex-Dividend Next Week

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By Alan Oscroft, The Motley Fool

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LONDON — We’ve already looked at three FTSE 100 companies set to go ex-dividend next week, but it’s a busy week as payments from firms with years ending in December approach, so here are some more from the top-flight index.

As long as you are holding shares in the following three companies up to April 17, you’ll be in the money — or, if they should fall after that date, you might be able to pick up a bargain.

Tullow Oil
Shareholders in Tullow Oil are set to receive a final dividend of 8 pence per share, taking the total annual payout to 12 pence. That’s exactly the same as the previous year and provides a yield of just 1% on the current share price of 1,179 pence. It’s perhaps not a great compensation for the firm’s share price fall of about 17% over the past 12 months — but long-term shareholders have done well with Tullow, as the shares are up 16-fold over the past decade.

Smith & Nephew
With its full-year results on Feb. 7, Smith & Nephew announced a 50% lift of its final dividend to 16.2 cents per share. Added to the interim payment, it made a total of 26.1 cents per share for the year. On today’s price of 752 pence per share, that’s a yield of about 2.3%.

The orthopedics, endoscopy, and wound-care specialist is expecting market conditions for 2013 to remain similar to last year’s, but we hope to see more of what the company described as “a move to a progressive dividend policy.”

Resolution
Resolution is our final pick to go ex-dividend next Wednesday, and again it’s a final payment. This time it amounts to 14.09 pence per share, taking the full-year dividend up 6.3% to 21.14 pence and providing an annual yield of 7.9% on the current price of 268 pence. The income will be available only as cash, as the insurance sector restructuring specialist has discontinued its scrip dividend program.

Going forward, the firm will consider a progressive dividend policy once sustainable cash-generation reaches 400 million pounds per year, and it plans to pay one-third of its annual dividend at the interim stage each year.

Dividends like these can add nicely to your investment returns — they can be spent or reinvested, according to your needs. Whether you’re investing for income or growth, good old cash is always welcome. And that’s why I recommend the brand-new Fool report “The Motley Fool’s Top Income Share For 2013,” in which our top analysts identify a share they believe will provide handsome dividend income for years to come. But it will only be available for a limited period, so click here to get your copy today.

The article 3 More FTSE 100 Shares Going Ex-Dividend Next Week originally appeared on Fool.com.


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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

3 More FTSE 100 Shares That Surged 1,000% in 10 Years

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By Harvey Jones, The Motley Fool

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LONDON — Every investor dreams of that elusive 10-bagger, the stock that multiplies every pound or dollar you invest by 10. This doesn’t just happen with smaller companies: At least 10 FTSE 100 stocks have delivered a total return of between 1,000% and 2,000% over the [ast decade, according to research from Fidelity Worldwide Investment. Last week, I looked at the top 3 FTSE shares over the past 10 years. But the next three are almost as impressive. And they are …

Randgold Resources
There are more peaceful places to do business than Mali, but few more profitable. 

Over the past decade, Randgold Resources , a gold miner and explorer mostly based in the strife-torn African nation, has returned a dazzling 1,723%. Its strategy is to unearth multimillion-ounce deposits in the prospective gold belts of West and Central Africa and develop them into profitable mines. It currently operates four gold mines — Morila, Loulo, and Gounkoto in Mali and Tongon in Cote d’Ivoire — and is developing a fifth, Kibali in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

After enjoying a golden decade, its share price is down 23% over the past six months, and that’s despite reporting record production levels in 2012 and a 16% rise in full-year profits to $511 million. Even a 25% dividend hike didn’t help the share price shine, although on a current yield of 0.6%, this isn’t for income seekers. 

The falling gold price is a concern, as investors become less risk-averse. Political unrest is another worry, both in Mali and Cote d’Ivoire. But Randgold is hungry for more and has launched a hefty program of capital investment. The recent share-price dip looks like a buying opportunity, except I worry that gold’s glory days are now over. Despite its impressive portfolio of mines, this stock is too risky for me. Gold bugs will feel differently.

Tullow Oil
If gold isn’t your thing, what about black gold? 

Today’s second FTSE 100 multibagger is oil explorer Tullow Oil , which returned 1,600% over the past decade, making it a sweet 16-bagger. It enjoyed a solid 2012, with sales revenue up 2% to $2.34 billion, and full-year profit before tax up 4% to $1.1 billion. Net debt fell from $2.9 billion to $1 billion. Highlights included the discovery of a new oil basin in Kenya, the Ngamia-1 and Twiga South-1 wells, its fourth major discovery in six years. It also enjoyed success in Uganda and Ghana. 

Exploration will always be a risky business, and Tullow wrote off an eye-watering $671 million on failed exploration activities, a massive leap from the $121 million lost in 2012. Happily, its strong balance sheet should help it shrug off these losses, as well as fund the 40 exploration and appraisal campaigns in 2013, including new territories in Africa as well as Guinea, Greenland, Uruguay, and Mozambique.

You only have to look at the company’s earnings-per-share growth to see how volatile your holding is likely to be. It …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance