Share price portfolio
This report is based on the share performance of the companies Tesco, BSkyB, GlaxoSmithKline, Ladbrokes and Whetherspoons from 02 February to the 02 May 2008. Overall the share performance was fairly steady with GlaxoSmithKline, and BSKb remaining stable, Tesco performed well with Ladbroke and JD Wetherspoon not doing as well as hoped. When comparing our organisations with the FTSE 100 most took a similar route with only Ladbroke being up on the FTSE by the 1st May.
JD Wetherspoon was the worst performing against the FTSE being a full 17 points behind by the 1st of May. If asked to invest the same amount again we would consider varying our portfolio with a mix of low and high risk companies. The group would also do more research into a wider range of companies and take in to account external issues affecting particular markets. The immediate future looks stable for the market, however with increases in interest rates and inflation not stable, it is possible that problems may occur in the longer term.
Share prices
A sum of 49. 999,87 has been disposed between the shares of five companies on the 2nd February 2008. Appendix 1 shows the number of shares purchased and a calculation of brokerage fee and VAT. The below figures shows the prices of the shares maintained every Friday between the start date till the 2nd May 2008. (All information on share prices is from the Financial Times).
According to Thomson Financial – Shares of Hi Tech Pharmacal Co. rallied Wednesday (February) after the Amityville, N. Y. based generic drug manufacturer said: “the Food and Drug Administration has granted final approval to the company’s abbreviated new drug application for fluticasone propionate nasal spray, a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline’s Flonase”. In March there was news about a drug that was making depressed teenagers more likely to commit suicide. Apart from that, was tipped on them riding low for a while, but then everything is pretty much riding low. According to Thomson Financial: “GlaxoSmithKline PLC said Tykerb, an oral treatment for breast cancer.
The Commission’s decision comes after GSK released more safety data from clinical trials and a post-marketing review” in addition, within the some month GlaxoSmithKline said: “[t]he Food and Drug Administration has approved [ours] Advair Diskus 250/50 for the reduction of exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. According to Katherine Hunt (LSE. com- 9 of May): “COPD is a progressive, life-threatening lung disease that includes chronic bronchitis, emphysema or both [and] with this approval, Advair becomes the only treatment the FDA has approved to reduce COPD exacerbations and improve lung function”.
All of this help increased the GlaxoSmithKline price shares. It looks like the GlaxoSmithKline price shares are going to be up next month since according to MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) – India’s GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd. said it signed a licensing agreement with Japanese pharma Astellas Pharma Inc. , which will give it exclusive rights to Astellas’s injectible anti-fungal agent, Micafungin, in India BSkyB Satellite broadcaster BSkyB, part of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, runs the UK’s largest digital TV platform Sky.
Majority of its revenues are generated from its subscribers, while other revenue streams include advertising and interactive services. Recently, it has also decided to diversify into the highly competitive broadband telephony market. 1. Share performance (Digitallook, 9th May 2008) The table above shows the share prices of BSkyB over the period of three months in 2008. As you can see from the graph the Share prices dropped dramatically towards the end of February.
The reason for that is because the BBC decided to Challenge the rights to broadcast the Champions League football matches. It could be argued that one of the reasons why sky decided to decrease the share price was to avoid competition. Another reason why the share prices dropped is because of the plummeting value of its stake in ITV. BBC and ITV joined forces to launch the service that will give millions of consumers’ access to free high-definition broadcasts.
It could be argued that this promotion will help sky attract more customers to their high definition package, which will help raise the share prices. There’s a probability that the share prices will rise because The Financial Times reporting show BSkyB is looking to increase the profitability of its fast-expanding telecommunications business by ending its reliance on BT’s wholesale telephony products within the next 18 months. (Thisismoney. co. uk, BskyB profile, 15/03/08) (FT. com BskyB 03/05/08) C. Ladbrokes Ladbrokes PLC is known as one of the worlds leading betting and gaming companies.
Ladbrokes is where they are in re-inventing the betting and gaming experience whether it is online, in shops or Ladbrokes overseas outlet. The bookmakers said that they have had a strong start to 2008, with no signs of a slowdown in consumer spending. The Pre-tax profits rose 46 per cent to 344. 2m, while the economic downturn has had little impact, with revenues up 16 per cent in the first seven weeks of 2008. Ladbrokes PLC chief executive said “We are recession robust,” But Ladbrokes counted the cost of 23 race meetings being abandoned during the July and August floods and poor weather conditions in 2007.
However, company is poised to open 25 shops in Madrid when the region begins awarding operating licences to betting shops for the first time (ft 28/02/2008).
Share performance (Digital look, 10th May 2008)
In late February, Ladbrokes informed of its sharp increase in annual pre-tax profit due to the sale of its hotel unit and world cup winning, its shares still fell though. Story from,(digital look, 2008f) With the company ending in February and with the appointment of Brian Wallace as the new group finance director in early March, the share price has been around the 410p.
Towards the end of April, the company is concentrating on expanding internationally and will soon be able to reach consumers through adverts. Ladbroke’s shares rose a little bit on 24 April 2007 though they fell again maybe due to the fears from US company 888 plc lawsuits. The company could increase it shares by reaching to more punters abroad through advertising. (Digital look, 2008g) accessed on 9 May 2008. Though the company did not have a great month in February, as the Sunday telegraph reported that, Ladbrokes’s 470 m takeover of online gaming firm 888, com has run into trouble, prompting much of the gambling industry to write the deal off (the guardian, 2008a). Otherwise the share prices have been around the 410p. D. Whetherspoons J D Wetherspoon plc (commonly referred to as Wetherspoons) is a British pub chain, founded by Tim Martin in 1979. Now there are 700 pubs and 20,000 staff. Whetherspoons outlets throughout the UK making it the larges and well-known pub in the UK. Wetherspoon J D reported annual 2007 earnings of 27. 90 per share on September 07, 2007.
