SUNDAY NEWSPAPER SHARE TIPS: Low & Bonar, Anglo Pacific Group, Kingfisher and Glaxo Smith Kline

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We round up the Sunday newspaper share tips. This week, Midas looks at Low & Bonar and updates on Anglo Pacific, while the Sunday Telegraph runs the rule over B&Q owner Kingfisher and Sunday Times at Glaxo Smith Kline, which is set for a new chief executive.  

On course: Low & Bonar provided the textile for a tensile roof at Aintree racecourse

MAIL ON SUNDAY

Low & Bonar has come a long way from its roots back in 1903, when John Low and George Bonar set up a jute firm in Dundee.

Today, the company is run by Brett Simpson, who was born in New Zealand, raised in Australia and has spent most of his working life in the US, Asia and continental Europe.

The group still has a presence in Dundee, making yarns for carpet groups, including Axminster & Wilton. But it now has 15 factories worldwide, and operates in 20 countries, with almost 2,500 employees.

Read the full Midas column here

Anglo Pacific Group occupies a unique place on the stock market. The only natural resources royalty company to be listed in London, Anglo Pacific invests in mining projects and then receives a proportion of the revenues they generate.

Midas last looked at the company in December 2014, when the shares were just 105p, having suffered from the slump in commodity prices, particularly coal.

The company had also invested in several exploration and development assets, which produced no royalties because they were not making any money.

Read the full Midas Update column here

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Having acquired the Homebase chain for £340million a year ago, Australian retailer Bunnings opened the doors to its first rebranded store.

Bunnings’ arrival poses a bigger problem for B&Q than Ikea – and it doesn’t stop at the food. In St Albans, the store is holding 40 per cent more stock than the old Homebase and is sure to be keener on price.

Veronique Laury, the chief executive of B&Q owner Kingfisher, appears to regard Bunnings with something approaching a Gallic shrug, suggesting the retailer might take another two years to get to grips with the UK market and not letting its launch distract from her business plan.

The shares have fallen seven per cent since a November update. Kingfisher still trades on 14 times this year’s forecast earnings. The One Kingfisher plan comes with plenty of execution risk and the rewards require profit to soar in 2020 and 2021.

Together with competitive pressures, there is better value – and more sizzle – elsewhere.

SUNDAY TIMES

What to make of Sir Andrew Witty? The answer 18 months ago would have been straightforward.

The Glaxo Smith Kline boss had barely survived a bribery scandal in China and had presided over a malaise at Britain’s biggest drug developer. Glaxo’s share price was in the doldrums, as was the chief executive’s reputation.

Some even whispered the treasured dividend was under threat. How times change.

Witty will unveil Glaxo’s results on Wednesday, his last official act before retiring after nine years in charge. He leaves the company he joined in 1985 in good health.

The share price recovered from a nadir of £12.80 in late 2015 to close on Friday at £15.47

Some investors are known to be wary backing a new boss, a leap of faith but one worth taking. Buy.

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