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(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Tuesday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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TUI, up 6.9%, International Consolidated Airlines, up 6.8%, easyJet, up 4.5%. The travel stocks clawed back some losses, as global equity markets rallied on central bank stimulus hopes. The travel sector has been one of the worst hit in the coronavirus-induced stock market sell off.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Ashtead Group, down 1.6%. Shares in the equipment rental firm were lower despite reporting positive third-quarter earnings. Ashtead said organic growth and supportive North American end markets led to a 8% growth in third-quarter rental revenue. Ashtead recorded rental revenue of GBP1.12 billion for the three months to January-end, up from GBP1.05 billion a year ago, resulting in a 11% growth in total revenue to GBP1.25 billion. Year-to-date, rental revenue grew 12% to GBP3.57 billion and total revenue was up 13% at GBP3.93 billion. The company said net debt as at January 31, stood at GBP5.44 billion, up from GBP3.73 billion the same time last year, resulting in a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 2.3 times on a pro forma basis. "It's prudent to keep an eye on debt levels, which have been creeping up. The indicators are far from flashing red, but it's something to be mindful of. Ashtead is approaching the top end of its net debt to cash profit target, and the group's overstretched the balance sheet before, so we'd like to see this remain under control," commented Hargreaves Lansdown.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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4imprint, up 17%. The marketing firm posted higher annual profit, with a particularly sharp revenue rise in North America, and it is on track to meet its USD1 billion revenue target ahead of schedule. The company reported a USD54.0 million pretax profit for its financial year ended December 28, up 22% from USD44.3 million the previous year. This primarily resulted from 4imprint's 17% revenue rise to USD860.8 million from USD738.4 million, with all revenue growth organic. This included 17% revenue growth in North America to USD839.3 million from USD714.6 million, but a 9.6% UK and Ireland revenue decline to USD21.6 million from USD23.9 million. The company declared a 59.00 cents per share final dividend, taking the annual payout up 20% to 84.00 cents from 70.00 cents. 4imprint said it aims to achieve USD1 billion of revenue by 2022 and said its 2019 trading momentum has put it in a "good position" to achieve this goal earlier than expected.
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Aggreko, up 8.2%. The temporary power supplier said it is monitoring the potential impact of the coronavirus outbreak, as it reported a 9% rise in annual profit, driven by a strong performance in its Rental Solutions division. For 2019, pretax profit increased to GBP199 million from GBP182 million in the year-ago period, while operating profit jumped 10% to GBP241 million. The Rental Solutions unit recorded 22% growth in annual underlying operating profit, while Power Solutions Industrial saw a 7% dip by the same measure. Power Solutions Utility underlying operating profit was up 21%. Annual revenue fell 8% to GBP1.61 billion from GBP1.76 billion, but profit margins jumped to 14.9% from 12.5% on improved underlying margins in both Rental Solutions and Power Solutions Utility businesses. Aggreko said it currently expects to deliver results in-line with expectations for 2020.
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Rotork, up 6.5%. The valve actuators maker reported a higher annual profit as a result of lower costs and expenses amid a restructuring programme. While revenue fell 3.8% in 2019 to GBP669.3 million from GBP695.7 million the year before, the company posted a 2.8% higher pretax profit of GBP124.1 million versus GBP120.7 million. To begin with, cost of sales fell 6.8% to GBP357.7 million from GBP384.3 million so that gross profit was a bit higher in 2019 at GBP311.6 million compared to GBP311.5 million. On top of this, distribution costs fell 12% to GBP6.4 million from GBP7.3 million. Rotork is recommending a final 3.9p per share dividend, taking the total per share for the year up 5.1% to 6.2p from 5.9p.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Ibstock, down 4.5%. The brick maker warned of a slow start to 2020 amid political and economic uncertainty and reduced new-build housing activity in the second half of 2019. Ibstock said pretax profit decreased by 12% to GBP82 million in 2019 compared to GBP93 million a year earlier, due to the non-repeat of a GBP11.2 million gain on disposal of property, plant and equipment secured in 2018. Revenue, meanwhile, increased by 5% to GBP409 million form GBP391 million, thanks to growth across the company's both Clay and Concrete divisions. "The political uncertainty which caused more subdued market conditions in the second half of 2019 has meant a slower start to 2020. We anticipate that activity levels will improve as the year progresses, and as a result, expect to deliver a stable outcome for the year," said Chief Executive Joe Hudson.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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CMC Markets, up 11%. The spread betting firm raised its full-year expectations, with "recent market conditions" boosting activity on its online trading platform. CMC expects net operating income ahead of the market consensus range of GBP199.0 million and GBP202.3 million in the financial year ending March 31. This could represent a hike of as much as 55% from GBP130.8 million in the year prior, which was hampered by "regulatory change and market conditions". In January, CMC said it expected net operating income to come in at GBP187.5 million. Current market consensus for pretax profit is in the range of GBP46.9 million and GBP56.7 million. Pretax profit in the prior year came in at GBP6.3 million, so either way a big improvement is expected. CMC added that in calendar year 2020 to date, "performance across the business has continued to be strong".
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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GoCo group, down 1.0%. The price comparison site slashed its dividend after pretax profit fell sharply in 2019. In 2019, revenue was marginally lower at GBP152.4 million from GBP152.6 million. Pretax profit was 53% lower at GBP15.8 million from GBP33.8 million in 2018. The AutoSave business automatically switches subscribed customers to the cheapest provider available to them. The company reported a 12% rise in marketing spend to GBP89.5 million, with administrative expenses were 17% higher at GBP30.7 million. The company's full-year dividend was 44% lower at 0.9p per share from 1.6p.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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