With all the anxiety, gossip, innuendo, and the very real SP...

With all the anxiety, gossip, innuendo, and the very real SP decline, discussion has slowly crept down this year to that usually reserved for a speculative resource or medical company yet to turn a profit.

This is a company with a proud 80 year history and one that has been profitable year on year including the paying of dividends in recent years. In addition it has operated in the UK since 2012. That doesn't mean it can't fail but equally it is deserving of a balanced view.

I honestly don't see S&G in the same category as a penny-speculative stock. It is a sound company providing a service needed today and into the foreseeable future. A year of difficulty navigating a transformational change doesn't mean it is nothing more than a speculative 'wing and a prayer'.

The word 'speculative' like many other nouns used in financial can be easily abused and the intended meaning distorted.

I find it can help to switch off from the noise and weigh up what it is we are dealing with. A company operating in a market that will always be in demand and one that has performed well since the beginning of time.

Plenty of respected writers speak of viewing a company as a total package rather than focus on the immediate. What is it, what does it do, is there a demand for it, how does it earn profits.