ABF is a store of value

The stockmarket can be a very hard taskmaster. Companies that disappoint it after many years of steady improvement often see their shares take a hammering. In addition, if those firms operate in areas where sentiment has soured, the result can prove very messy. For long-term investors, though, this is where opportunities arise.

Cue FTSE 100 index member Associated British Foods (ABF). To call it “the biggest