John Phelps’s portfolio

OUR share tips struggled to make any sort of progress last week as investors grappled with the uncertainties of Trump economics and the latest twists in the Brexit saga.

The 2016 portfolio was the only gainer with a modest 0.7 per cent rise thanks to fresh support for Smiths Group and 3i Infrastructure while the 2015 and 2014 selections both showed fractional falls when we carried out our usual review on Wednesday morning.

The real disappointment, though, was the performance of this year’s new crop of tips in the 2017 portfolio which gave up a hefty 1.5 per cent of previous gains.

Water treatment concern Pennon was one of the major casualties following the recent investment downgrade by Credit Suisse although investors can take some comfort from the prospect of an 11.09p a share dividend for those still on the shareholder register on February 2.

Property group Segro and flavourings and fragrances manufacturer Treatt also drifted lower ahead of trading statements due in the next couple of weeks.

But Scotland’s Aggreko helped limit the overall damage with a further useful rise after extending its important Argentine contracts while CYBG, owner of Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks, held steady despite its news of 79 branch closures. The majority of our other tips suffered from minor slippages in line with the performance of the benchmark FTSE 100 share index with heavyweights SSE, Whitbread and Lloyds Banking among those to suffer from profit taking.

Supermarkets Sainsbury’s and Morrisons were also hit by markdowns on concerns over rising inflation.

There were a few gainers, however, and waste treatment group Shanks continued its recent push, encouraged by broker notes from Credit Suisse and Peel Hunt which both believe the shares are at least 20 per cent undervalued.