UK 02:47 Saturday, 24 October 2026
Breaking news and expert analysis on fast-moving AIM and LSE listed shares
Hello Share People. When a country’s economy ain’t growing, as in the present case of the UK, wise governments beef up major construction projects. These provide jobs which bring the taxes rolling in. And they also speed up operations by other kinds of company, so they can also expand and make more money. That’s why I rather favour construction merchants at the moment.
Since September, I have written a couple of times about Kier Group (KIE), which is aiming “to sustainably deliver infrastructure [that is]... vital to the UK”. However, I haven’t bought the stock - a wise move, clearly, as the shares are down c. 30% over the last six months. So, what do I think now?
A Thursday tends to be a busy day in the financial markets…and that is certainly true today. So whilst it is nice to see the FTSE 100 still being up year-to-date, the pound performing a bit better against the dollar and (sensibly) the world’s bond investors realising that developed market interest rates and yields should be going up, what about the corporate updates of interest to me?
It was back in December 2018 that Nigel mentioned ‘Neil Woodford raising more much-needed cash by dumping good shares’ by selling his stake in Kier Group (KIE), ‘a British construction, services and property group active in building and civil engineering, support services, and the Private Finance Initiative’. I am sure there were a bunch of reasons why Woodford needed the cash at the time, but this decision was not a complete disaster as the shares have fallen over 80% since. If only he could have missed all his other big losing calls! I have not been a great fan of Kier Group and related companies for many years, having seen plenty of sector ‘excitement’ over the past twenty-five years. Suffice to say there were a bunch of reasons why in an industry that can easily be impacted by economic volatility and too much debt.
Kier Group (KIE), recommended in May at a 114.6p offer price, has made a trading update including “full year results are anticipated to be moderately ahead of the board's expectations” and the shares are currently at 126p. More to come?...
Tip of the month last month, UK infrastructure services and construction group Kier (KIE) at a 114.6p offer price has announced the result of an open offer, following completion of its sale of the 'Kier Living' housebuilding business.
Tainted by the stench of Neil Woodford, the collapse of Carillion and its own balance sheet woes, folks have, until recently, asked when this company was going bust. Now a refinancing means it will not and with Britain's left-wing Government spending other folks cash like there is no tomorrow, all looks set fair. That is not in the price but as the market wakes up it will be and the shares will spurt ahead. That makes it a buy.
This morning’s announcement of a £241 million fundraise by fully-listed Kier Group (KIE) comes as no surprise to me in the wake of last month’s FY20 numbers which showed a company technically insolvent as net current assets were MINUS £297.5 million. Time for some Ouzo…..
I was a little confused as I scanned through the financial headlines: Alliance News apparently was telling readers yesterday (Wednesday) that Kier Group (KIE) Swings to interim profit as restructuring costs fall. But was that really true? No it is #fakenews as is so often the case from Alliance.
