For a company whose market value is more than £10bn that does not really move the dial and is almost neither here nor there from the point of view of this column, which is more interested in security of dividends. But such buyback aspirations at least speak of confidence in the future and if the company can deliver then our patience could yet receive its full reward.

The shares could be worth buying on any virus-inspired weakness. Otherwise they are a hold.

Questor says: hold

Ticker: SN

Share price at close: £12.12

Update: ContourGlobal

It must be said that the share price chart for ContourGlobal over the past 12 months is no thing of beauty, as it simply goes from the top left-hand corner down to the bottom right.

But that slide means the shares now offer a forecast dividend yield that is nudging 9pc and this may catch the eye of income seekers in particular. The shares even ignored an upbeat trading statement at the start of this month, which nudged profit estimates higher by some 4pc thanks to an unexpectedly strong performance from a power plant in Spain.

The weakness may relate to interest rate increases, especially in emerging markets, since Latin America and Africa represent 40pc of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda). Utilities tend to underperform when rates rise for three reasons.

First, they are seen as bond proxies (and bond prices fall as bond yields rise, which they may do in sympathy as headline borrowing costs go up).

Second, they tend to have plenty of debt – $4.1bn in net borrowing in ContourGlobal’s case – so higher interest bills eat into earnings.

And third, the “discount rate” goes up, so the theoretical “net present value” of future cash flows goes down, taking the perceived value of the shares down with it.

However, more than four fifths of the company’s Ebitda derives from energy supply contracts that are index-linked and more than four fifths of the firm’s debt is fixed-rate. Both offer some degree of protection.

The stock still feels like a valuable option for income seekers. 

Questor says: hold

Ticker: GLO

Share price at close: 190.2p

Russ Mould is investment director at AJ Bell, the stockbroker

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