Shares & trading

Investment luminary Nick Train, responsible for more than £1 billion of assets, has defended Unilever (LON:ULVR) for spending heavily on its Indian subsidiary.

Tim Steer, a fund manager at Artemis, has predicted that a little-known mid-cap firm is primed for promotion to the FTSE 100 index.

A leading bank analyst has surveyed the state of the industry in the UK and found that, despite pockets of excellence, the danger posed by bad debts has yet to be resolved.

A disappointing year has not signalled the death of the oil industry in the Falkland Islands, an analyst has argued, but 2013 stands to be another quiet year for those focused on the area.

Centrica (LON:CNA) benefited from the UK's prolonged cold snap as residential gas consumption rose 18 per cent in the first four months of 2013 compared to the same period last year.

Telecoms giant BT (LON:BT) saw its share price rise nearly 9 per cent to £3 on Friday - more than any other FTSE 100 company - as it reported adjusted fourth quarter profits of £833 million.

The Polar Capital Global Healthcare Growth & Income Trust has made a significant bet that AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) will return to health.

Troubled FTSE 100 miner, Eurasian Natural Resources (LON:ENRC), has quashed speculation that it is about to be bought out, confirming that it has not received any proposal that could lead to an offer.

The Association of Private Client Investment Managers and brokerage Peel Hunt have argued that individual investors are ‘unfairly excluded’ from the initial public offerings (IPOs) of UK companies.

Philip Richards, the manager of the RAB Special Situations fund, has argued that shares in African Minerals (LON:AMI) have suffered because of a Goldman Sachs downgrade in spite of a host of positive developments.

UK retail giants Sainsbury's (LON:SBRY) and Next (LON:NXT) have reported sales growth of 4.6 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively, despite tough economic conditions.

Matthias Siller, manager of the £191 million Baring Emerging Europe fund, has revealed that he has cut his broad exposure to Russia’s energy sector and instead concentrated on the highest quality names in the industry.

Royal Dutch Shell's (LON:RDSA) 'meagre' first quarter dividend increase to $0.45 (£0.29) per share is further evidence of an overall slowdown in dividend growth amongst UK companies, according to Justin Cooper, CEO of Capita Registrars.

The worlds biggest maker of luxury cars, BMW (BMW:GR), reported a 3.7 per cent drop in profits to €2 billion (£1.7 billion) in the first quarter of 2013 due to weak European markets.

The £413 billion managed worldwide by Legal & General Investment Management was used to challenge several corporate boards over the past year, the group has revealed.