It has been a fairly good year for the newspapers’ new year share tips. Most managed to beat the FTSE 250’s 14% return, and all but two beat the FTSE 100’s 7.1%. By far the best performance came from the Evening Standard, which we have included in our round-up for the first time.
Litigation finance provider Burford Capital was The Times’s standout selection, climbing 101%. And the Daily Mail’s top performer was Gfinity, an e-Sports tournament operator, which returned 74%.
The Independent at least managed a positive return at 6.1%, but failed to beat either index. Persimmon was its most lucrative choice, up 54%. The wooden spoon goes to The Guardian, which managed to lose money for unfortunate punters who followed its tips. Its worst pick was regional airline Flybe, which lost over 28%.
…and what they’re tipping for the year ahead
Daily Mail
The Royal Navy’s new aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, may have sprung a leak, but global instability and an expanding US defence budget mean that defence firm BAE Systems should come good following a poor performance last year (573p). Online retailer Boohoo.Com plc (LON:BOO) is one of the “leading lights of the fast fashion revolution” and is snapping up rival clothing brands (188.5p).
Metro Bank has distinguished itself from other challenger banks by investing in bricks-and-mortar branches – investors should buy into its “boots on the ground” strategy (3,584p). The last 12 months have brought more cyberattacks on big organisations, but shareholders in cybersecurity firm Sophos stand to gain (570p).
The continued travails of the high street mean that shopping-centre owners are turning to family-friendly leisure firms such as Hollywood Bowl (206p). Fuel-cell maker Ceres Power Holdings plc (LON:CWR) is working with Nissan on electric vehicles and its shares should continue their already strong progress into 2018 (13p). The video-games industry makes more money than Hollywood does now, and Frontier Developments is one of the UK’s leaders in the field (1,324.5p).
