The healthcare sector is attractive due to essential nature, AI, genomics, and chronic disease management, supporting long-term growth despite regulatory and cost headwinds. BlackRock Health Sciences Trust offers a resilient 8.63% dividend yield, low expense ratio, and conservative, low-risk positioning ideal for income-focused investors. BME's option strategy caps upside but provides steady income and volatility protection; the fund trades at a 7.84% NAV discount, offering potential capital appreciation.
B&M European Value Retail SA (LSE:BME) shares fell 11.4% to 228.3p, around all time lows, after a trading update for its first quarter showed . A 4.4% rise in revenue was reported for the 13 weeks to 28 June, though average selling price deflation impacted trading margins.
Healthcare CEFs are under pressure from regulatory shifts, but sector defensiveness and discounted valuations can create long-term opportunities. Within the CEF structure, we also have the added benefit that comes with the discount/premium dynamic inherent in the structure. We are looking at two names today that present investors with attractive distributions and that are looking like decently discounted opportunities.
B&M European Value Retail SA (LSE:BME) shares climbed 4% on Tuesday after RBC highlighted the discount retailer as one of its top picks in the sector, citing an expected turnaround in sales and potential shareholder returns. In a note following its European retail conference, RBC said B&M's like-for-like sales should start to recover from the first quarter, supported by improved weather, easier comparables, and better merchandising.
B&M European Value Retail SA (LSE:BME) is showing signs of a sales rebound, with early first-quarter figures pointing to a return to positive like-for-like growth, according to Citi. The latest till roll data suggest that UK total sales, including new space, are up around 9% year on year for the first 11 weeks of the current quarter, which ends on 28 June.
Shares in B&M European Value Retail SA (LSE:BME) were one of the top risers on Tuesday morning after the discounter's new chief executive Tjeerd Jegen snapped up £0.5 million worth of shares. In a statement, the FTSE 250-listed retailer said its newly appointed boss bought five chunks at prices between £2.60 and £2.70.
B&M European Value Retail SA's (LSE:BME) shares took another hit last week, falling 15% after its latest full-year update disappointed already wary investors. The drop comes despite the company having issued a trading update just weeks earlier, prompting some to question whether the value retailer can regain its momentum without a convincing rebound in sales at existing stores.
B&M European Value Retail SA (LSE:BME) reported a fall in profits for the past year though underlying earnings were towards the upper end of its previous guidance, as it prepares to begin a new era after a recent boardroom reshuffle. The discount chain, which operates stores across the UK and France under the B&M, Heron Foods and Babou brands, posted preliminary results showing adjusted EBITDA up 0.6% to £620 million for the year to 29 March 2025.
Shares in B&M European Value Retail SA (LSE:BME) could be heading into their June results with some momentum, as recent sales data and dry spring weather suggest a stronger-than-expected start to the new financial year. Analysts at Citi point to industry data showing that B&M's sales have picked up in recent weeks.
B&M European Value Retail SA (LSE:BME) has appointed a new chief executive, Tjeerd Jegen, former boss of Dutch discounter HEMA and German chain Takko Fashion. The FTSE 250-listed group said Jegen will take the reins from interim CEO Mike Schmidt in mid-June.
BlackRock Health Sciences Trust (BME), a perpetual CEF, offers a diversified portfolio of 130 health science stocks, most of which are large-caps. BME's distributions have picked up quite markedly of late, resulting in above-average yields of over 8.5%, and have played a key role in beefing up the total return performance this year. Large-cap healthcare stocks are undervalued, with strong growth prospects and lower correlation to the S&P 500.
B&M European Value Retail SA (LSE:BME) narrowed its profit guidance for the past year to March and said it will announce a new chief executive "in the coming weeks" Having made a profit warning in February, the discount retailer said the final level of adjusted EBITDA is expected to be "above the midpoint" of the guidance range it gave at the time of £605 million to £625 million. Revenues for the 52-week period to 29 March 2025 came in at £5.6 billion, representing a 3.7% increase on the prior year.