Blencowe Resources: Aspiring to become one of the largest graphite producers in the world. Watch the video here.

Less Ads, More Data, More Tools Register for FREE

Pin to quick picksCobham Share News (COB)

  • There is currently no data for COB

Watchlists are a member only feature

Login to your account

Alerts are a premium feature

Login to your account

GRAPHIC-Downgrades, profit warnings ring Brexit alarms for UK mid-caps

Tue, 25th Oct 2016 15:12

* FTSE 250 vs FTSE 100: http://reut.rs/2eCvwk9

* Profit warnings spark broker downgrades

* Earnings disappointments lead to outsized moves

* Senior, Cobham, Laird among midcaps warning on profits

By Kit Rees

LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - A spate of profit warnings amongmid-sized British companies, big slides in stock prices and arush of broker downgrades have seen the third-quarter earningsseason off to a weak start as Brexit-related cracks start toshow.

So far profit warnings from smartphone maker Laird,engineers Keller and Senior, aerospace anddefence firm Cobham as well as a disappointing updatefrom NCC have triggered punishing share price falls.

A rally in the UK mid-cap index, which recoveredsharply from a slump following the referendum vote to leave theEuropean Union, has stalled over the past week as profitwarnings took their toll.

It is once again lagging the more internationally focusedFTSE 100, as this chart http://reut.rs/2eCvwk9 shows.

While the FTSE 100 is up around 11 percent since the June 23close, the FTSE 250 is up only 2.6 percent, having slipped froman all-time high reached earlier this month, at least in partbecause its constituents tend to be more exposed to a domesticeconomy whose growth could be constrained by Brexit.

By contrast, the greater international spread of FTSE 100members means their sterling profits and dividend-payingabilities actually benefit from the pound's multi-year weakness.

The outsized moves on stocks that disappoint illustrate howunforgiving investors are of weakness in company earnings.

Chipmaker Laird for example saw nearly half its market valuewiped off in a single day last week after warning of sharplylower profit, blaming a slowdown in smartphone sales and pricingpressure.

WORST DAY

Cyber security firm NCC Group also marked its worst dayever, tanking more than 35 percent after troubles with contractcancellations.

Senior fell 13 percent after blaming lower demand for partsused in heavy truck production for its profit warning, whileCobham lost a similar amount after its second profit warningthis year.

Brokers have scrambled to cut earnings expectations andprice targets on a slew of UK mid-range companies.

Laird, Countrywide, Howden Joinery Group,Mitchells & Butlers and Aldermore, all sawnegative broker activity on Tuesday, sending their shares 2.6percent to 5 percent lower on the day.

Almost every brokerage cited concerns about a post-Brexiteconomic slowdown impacting these businesses.

"Within the midcap area we've had a number of profitswarnings recently," Stephen Bailey, a fund manager onLiontrust's Macro-Thematic team, said. "A lot of those arestemming from either currency fluctuations or indeed theuncertainty that's been created by the Brexit vote.

"The economy stalled ahead of the Brexit vote ... and incertain areas it hasn't really got going again," Bailey added. "So it's not surprising we're seeing a number of these warningscoming through, and I would expect that's probably going to beset to continue." (Editing by David Holmes)

More News
16 Feb 2017 08:53

UPDATE 1-Cobham shares plunge on yet another profit cut for British engineer

(Adds shares, background) LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Britain's Cobham missed a profit target that had already been repeatedly lowered and took a charge on a troubled contract with Boeing, capping "an incredibly turbulent and disappointing year" for the defence and aerospace group. In

Read more
16 Feb 2017 08:45

European shares steady after 7 days of gains, Cobham slumps

LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - European shares steadied on Thursday after rising for the past seven sessions, with gains in airlines stocks offset by weaker miners and a slump in British engineering group Cobham following a poor update. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was little changed in per

Read more
16 Feb 2017 08:41

LONDON MARKET OPEN: Airlines Up As Cobham Suffers From Profit Warning

Read more
16 Feb 2017 08:11

Cobham issues fifth profit warning after balance sheet review

(ShareCast News) - Cobham warned on profits for the fifth time in just over a year, as it made further extensive write-downs after judging its balance sheet is "clearly not strong enough". The FTSE 250 aerospace and defence group has taken a total £179m charge, including £150m from the KC-46 air tan

Read more
16 Feb 2017 07:48

Cobham takes charge on troubled Boeing tanker programme, cuts guidance

LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - British engineering group Cobham said it would take a 150 million pound ($187 million) charge on its work on Boeing's troubled KC-46 tanker program and downgraded its likely 2016 trading profit again. The company said on Thursday its trading profit for 2016 was e

Read more
20 Jan 2017 09:36

BROKER RATINGS SUMMARY: Exane BNP Cuts Sainsbury's And Tesco

Read more
15 Jan 2017 17:13

Sunday share tips: Cobham, H&T

(ShareCast News) - Cobham has become something of a specialist in profit warnings, having issued four since 2015, but the shares are still worth 'holding', The Times´s Tempus said. During the previous week, the heavily-indebted Dorset-based maker of air-refuelling kit told investors it might have to

Read more
11 Jan 2017 17:41

Pharma weighs on European shares but FTSE sets record-breaking streak

* FTSE 100 scores longest winning streak on record * Pan-European STOXX index ends up 0.2 pct * Trump comments on drug prices hits healthcare stocks * Mediaset rallies on report of Vivendi boss offer (Live coverage of European markets now available on cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pag

Read more
11 Jan 2017 13:58

UPDATE 3-British aerospace company Cobham misses profit target, scraps dividend

* Early readout puts trading profit at 245 mln stg * Group's already lowered target range was 255-275 mln stg * Scraps dividend after poor result on profit and debt * Shares fall as much as 21 pct (Adds CEO, CFO comments from analyst call) By Paul Sandle LONDON, Ja

Read more
11 Jan 2017 10:40

European shares up, Britain's FTSE set for record-breaking streak

(Adds detail, new comments.) By Kit Rees and Helen Reid LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Wednesday, with retail stocks back in focus after a well-received update from British grocer Sainsbury, though Cobham tanked on disappointing profits. The pan-European STOX

Read more
11 Jan 2017 10:17

IN THE KNOW: UBS Stays Neutral On Cobham Despite Skipped Dividend

Read more
11 Jan 2017 08:47

EXTRA: Cobham Shares Drop As It Warns Again On Profit, Scraps Payout

Read more
11 Jan 2017 08:41

European shares down, Cobham bottom of STOXX - For more see the European equities LiveMarkets blog

LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Live coverage of European markets now available on cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets Summary: **European shares down 0.2 pct **British engineer Cobham down 18 pct after profit miss **UK grocer Sainsbury's gains on Christmas trading update<

Read more
11 Jan 2017 07:40

Cobham trading profit falls short of guidance, scraps dividend

(ShareCast News) - Aerospace and defence group Cobham posted group trading profit below guidance for the year ended 31 December and said it was not recommending a final dividend. In a post-close trading update, the company said group trading profit for the year came in at £245m, below the range of £

Read more
11 Jan 2017 07:13

British engineer Cobham misses profit target, scraps dividend

LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - British engineering group Cobham said it made 245 million pounds ($298 million) in trading profit in 2016, at least 10 million pounds short of its target, and as a result of poorer than expected trading would scrap its final dividend. The company said its new man

Read more

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.

Quickpicks are a member only feature

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.