The company remains a world leader, delivering consistently strong results. The recent weakness in advertising spending is likely to persist throughout the year. The Fund initiated a holding in French mobile phone operator, Orange. The company has a strong and highly successful brand together with excellent growth prospects. Outlook In the UK, recent interest rate cuts have helped support domestic demand and data releases suggest that the need for any further stimulus has receded.
Retail sales continue to strengthen while manufacturing weakens.
Meanwhile, in continental Europe, earlier hopes of a consumer revival offsetting an export driven industrial slowdown have been deflated and the risks of a technical recession in Germany are mounting.