Sell in May and go away? So far that wouldn’t have been such a bad thing to do with both the NASDAQ and FTSE100 down over 1% in the month. Indeed the FTSE100 has given up most of its gains on the year.
UK Hardware (down c6%), Mobile Telecom (down 1.5%) and Support Services (down 1%) all registered falls. But the FTSE UK SCS Index still managed a 3.5% gain in May – that’s a near 7% gain for the YTD.
Our ‘Best Performer’ Lists are dominated by ‘old-stagers’. Indeed I seem to have been reporting on these companies since dinosaurs roamed the earth.
In the UK, Gresham was up 37% on very strong quarterly results. See Gresham marches on. Another old-stager which is really performing is Harvey Nash. Up 23% in the last month and around double what they were this time last year. Well done Albert and the team! See Harvey Nash still springing ahead. A word of warning though. The performance at Harvey Nash is generated by mainland Europe (in particular) NOT the UK.
Innovation Group (TIG) has also had a renaissance under new CEO Andy Roberts. Shares up 15% this month. See TIG eyes the magic 20%. This month Roberts also stepped down from the board of Kewill so he can dedicate his attentions to TiG.
Although Misys momentum picks up in Q3, it was rumour of a possible bid that sent their shares up c15% this month. Anite’s Q4 upswing also saw their shares up 14%
We wrote an article - Autonomy and the ‘Bin Laden bounce’- which conjectured about how many of the US agencies investigating the huge amount of data taken from Bin Laden’s lair were using Autonomy’s software. Whatever, their shares are up 12% in May. They also spent some of their cash-pile. See Autonomy mines Iron Mountain. Although this wasn’t the ‘Big One’ the market had long expected.
Monitise and Sanderson were also both up 10% on improving results.
In the UK, at the other end of the scale, Mouchel was down another 17%. See Mouchel free at last. Remember the Costain bid was at 164p. Mouchel shares are now 63p. If I was a Mouchel shareholder I would be feeling rather sick. Poor old Maxima continued to tumble – down a massive 28% See Wheels fall off Maxima. Tribal sent its suitors packing too which sent its shares down 12%. See Tribal ends uncertainty over ownership. After selling two of its divisions, it is now left with education which is not exactly strong right now. See Still early days for trimmed down Tribal.
On the international scene, CSC fell 22% this month when it issued a warning. The UK was blamed here too. See CSC shares fall as NHS blamed for FY11 downgrade.
Patni, now of course controlled by iGate, suffered margin pressures in its limbo period. Patni shares are down nearly 19%. Mastek continued a slide which has been going on for a year now– down another 16% this month. Conversely, Satyam is up 13%. Clearly a case of hope over experience.
Finally, as we report elsewhere in HotViews today – see Nokia tumbles – Nokia got the Wooden Spoon this month with a 24% dive on a ‘stunning’ profits warning. Nokia is now at a 13-year low.