(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Wednesday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Coca-Cola HBC, up 6.3%. The soft drinks bottler reported a "solid" quarterly performance despite adverse weather. Reported revenue growth for the three months to September year-on-year was 5.0%, and excluding foreign exchange movements was 3.4%. Volumes rose 1.1%, though excluding the EUR260 million acquisition of Serbian biscuit and snacks maker Bambi, volumes were down 0.1%. Coca-Cola HBC posted a 3.8% increase in revenue per unit case on a reported basis, and the figure was 2.3% excluding forex.
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Smiths Group, up 2.6%. The engineer said its annual expectations remain unchanged following double-digit revenue growth in the first quarter. Smiths said revenue for the three months to the end of October was up 11% on an underlying basis, thanks to continued "good" growth in its John Crane division in both original equipment and aftermarket services. For the full year, the London-headquartered company said it expects year-on-year growth to be weighted towards the first half.
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SSE, up 2.5%. The utility said it has made "encouraging" progress as it returned to profit for the first half of its financial year. The Perth, Scotland-based firm also increased earnings guidance for the full year ending March 2020. For the six months to September 30, SSE posted a pretax profit of GBP128.9 million from continuing operations, after a GBP284.6 million pretax loss a year before. Adjusted pretax profit rose 15% to GBP263.4 million. SSE's loss a year before was caused by a GBP500 million exceptional charge which included impairments and costs related to an attempt to de-merge its retail business, SSE Energy Services. This has since been sold to Ovo Energy, and SSE said it expects the sale to complete in early 2020. Results released Wednesday exclude this business. Looking forward, the company has upped adjusted earnings per share guidance for the year to between 83p and 88p, from a previous range given in September of 80p to 85p.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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ITV, down 3.6%. Keppler Cheuvreux downgraded the broadcaster to Hold from Buy. ITV on Tuesday said its performance in the first nine months of 2019 was as expected and remains on track to deliver on its full-year guidance.
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British Land, down 3.2%. The property company said interim performance was "resilient" despite a sharply widened loss amid a "challenging" retail environment and an unpredictable UK political backdrop. The company's pretax loss for the six months to the end of September widened to GBP440 million from GBP42 million a year prior, as revenue sunk 34% to GBP328 million from GBP499 million. British Land said this wider loss primarily reflects an increase in the downward valuation movement on properties of GBP184 million, and an increase in capital and other income loss from joint ventures and funds of GBP128 million. The portfolio value was down 4.3% overall to GBP11.72 billion, with occupancy reducing to 96.8% on September 30 from 97.2% as at the end of March. "A near-GBP600 million reduction in the value of British Land's portfolio illustrates the troubles still gripping the property sector. Unsurprisingly its high street assets slumped in value the most as retailers continue to struggle with weaker footfall. It is a terrible time to be a retail property investor with asset valuations still in decline and tenants asking for every bit of help they can get," said AJ Bell's Russ Mould.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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G4S, up 2.6%. Bank of America Merrill Lynch restarted coverage on the outsourcer with a Buy rating.
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JD Wetherspoon, up 1.5%. The pub chain reported a 5.3% like-for-like sales rise in the 13 weeks to October 27, with total sales up by 5.6%. Wetherspoon forecast its full-year results to be in line with expectations.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Tullow Oil, down 22%. The oil and gas company once again warned production will miss targets following continued operational problems in Ghana. The firm also, alongside partner Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas, has reported the presence of heavy crude oil in wells in Guyana, containing high levels of sulphur. For 2019, the Chiswick, London-based oil producer sees production averaging 87,000 barrels of oil per day. In July, Tullow had warned production was likely to be between 89,000 barrels and 93,000 barrels, lower than the 90,000 barrels to 98,000 barrels initially guided. The company said the lower than forecast production is mainly due to topside issues at the Jubilee field, which has constrained water injection and gas handling, as well as the suspension of a well at the TEN field. Both fields are off-shore Ghana, West Africa. "Given the group has recently started paying a dividend, but still has some work to do on debt reduction, that's far from ideal. Throw in troubles closing a deal to reduce its stake in oil fields in Uganda, and 2019 is turning into a bit of an annus horribilis for Tullow shareholders," said Hargreaves Lansdown's Nick Hyett. Eco Atlantic was down 50%.
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Cineworld Group, down 3.8%. Morgan Stanley started coverage on the multiplex chain with an Underweight rating.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Wincanton, up 4.5%. The logistics company raised its interim dividend despite reporting a fall in profit. Wincanton reported a pretax profit of GBP28.5 million for the six months to the end of September compared to GBP30.1 million a year earlier, due to an increase in finance costs to GBP4.2 million from GBP2.9 million. More positively, underlying operating profit increased by 5.6% to GBP28.5 million, boosted by new business wins, the company's continued focus on efficiency and the exit from certain low-margin contracts last year. Revenue, meanwhile, grew by 1.9% to GBP592.9 million from GBP581.8 million year-on-year, thanks to new contracts with grocers Co-op and Wm Morrison Supermarkets, and breakfast cereal producer Weetabix. Wincanton declared an interim payout of 3.90 pence a share, up 8.3% from 3.60p paid the year before.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Mulberry Group, down 6.7%. The luxury handbag maker reported a widened first half loss on rising investment costs and a difficult UK retail market. In the 26 weeks to September 28, the British fashion brand booked a pretax loss of GBP10.9 million, including the impact of accounting rule IFRS 16, widened from GBP8.2 million last year. Revenue edged 0.9% higher year-on-year to GBP68.9 million from GBP68.3 million, with the international segment offsetting its struggling UK unit. Mulberry said: "Results for the period were affected by the challenging UK retail environment and further investments made in developing the brand in international markets."
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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