STOCKS TO WATCH: BAE pieces together Royal Navy warship


STOCKS TO WATCH: BAE pieces together Royal Navy submarine-hunting warship in Glasgow 

Boat-spotters on the banks of the Clyde will this weekend be witnessing the spectacle of the vast HMS Glasgow being pieced together.

The submarine-hunting warship, the first of three in a £3.7billion contract, has been built in two halves by defence giant BAE Systems and is due to go into Royal Navy service in the mid-2020s.

Programme director David Shepherd tells me: ‘Britain was once the centre of the world in shipbuilding.

Submarine-hunting warship has been built in two halves by defence giant BAE Systems

Submarine-hunting warship has been built in two halves by defence giant BAE Systems

‘We are now starting to put ourselves back on the map with high-end warships at the pinnacle of it. This is a platform for the next century.’

Shepherd points out that the ‘floating city’, which has a dentist and a hospital, is capable of aiding humanitarian efforts too.

With BAE chief Charles Woodburn facing a potential revolt over his pay packet at this week’s AGM, BAE certainly has plenty of choppy waters to navigate.

One of Britain’s oldest chemical companies has come under the spotlight amid talk it has attracted a fresh suitor mulling a £1billion takeover bid.

Class action suit 

Keep an eye out for Anglo American’s annual meeting this week.

The City has been focused on the mining company’s demerger of its South African coal assets, propelling shares higher. 

But law firms Mbuyisa Moleele and Leigh Day have been lobbying shareholders to quiz the board over its response to cleanup efforts in Zambia.

The lawyers – who are behind a class action lawsuit – allege that Anglo has failed to prevent lead pollution in the town of Kabwe, in central Zambia and want the company to establish blood lead screening in children and pregnant women.

Anglo argues that its involvement in the mine ended in the 1970s, and says that it never owned or operated the site.

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Bullish on India 

Investors could be forgiven for backing away from India with the Covid crisis there, but David Cornell remains bullish.

He heads Ocean Dial’s India Capital Growth Fund and has seen the small to mid-cap fund rise 110 per cent in the past year. 

After the team was revamped in 2019, it has made strong gains in banks as financial services evolve and Indian manufacturers benefit from better infrastructure.

Cornell says: ‘It’s a terrifying Covid surge and the situation is heartbreaking, but we think the markets are looking through this spike and at the potential growth in India over the next three to five years.’

He adds that Covid has fast-tracked digitisation in a nation already dominated by smartphone usage.

Sorrell vs WPP 

 The tussle between Sir Martin Sorrell and his former WPP empire has reached fever pitch, with the ad firm blocking some of his share options over media leaks.

It was still a healthy week for shares in WPP, where Sorrell remains among the largest individual shareholders. Sources point out, however, that the stock is down 25 per cent since his tumultuous 2018 exit.

Sorrell’s new venture, S4 Capital, reports on trading this week. Expect more fireworks.

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