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(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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J Sainsbury, up 3.0%, Wm Morrison Supermarkets, up 2.0%. The UK supermarket chains were higher in a positive read-across from French peer Carrefour. The French grocer said it has received a takeover approach from a Canadian convenience store operator. Talks over a "combination project" are at the very early stages, Carrefour said, adding that the approach from Alimentation Couche-Tard was "friendly". Carrefour shares were up 9.5%. "The waves from any Carrefour/Couche-Tard tie-up may lap up against British shores quite gently. That being said though, the Issa Bros/TDR (private equity) are in the process of buying the majority of the equity in No 3 British grocer, Asda, from Walmart. With so much low-priced money in the system we can, therefore, expect more such activity, especially for asset backed and defensive entities," Shore Capital analyst Clive Black said.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Persimmon, down 4.5%. The housebuilder reported a fall in revenue for 2020 as it faced tough challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic. For the year, the housebuilder posted revenue of GBP3.3 billion, down 8.8% from GBP3.65 billion recorded for 2019. New home completions totalled 13,575, down from 15,855 the year prior. However, its average selling price rose to around GBP230,500 from GBP215,709. Dividends paid in 2020 were down 53% to 110 pence from 235p in 2019. Looking ahead, the York-based company warned that while the vaccine rollout has commenced, uncertainties surrounding the potential impact of the pandemic remain, especially in relation to unemployment levels and consumer confidence. It also expressed concern about the potential impact of an end to the stamp duty holiday in the UK, due at the end of March. "At this stage, with the end of the stamp duty holiday in sight, taking a cautious view of the immediate outlook is the right approach, but we have seen more bullish outlooks from some of the group's rivals," said Hargreaves Lansdown's Steve Clayton.
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Just Eat Takeaway.com, down 4.3%. The online food ordering platform reported positive order growth numbers but also said it is investing heavily in its delivery services. For the fourth quarter, total orders were 179.8 million, up 57% from 114.9 million orders in the fourth quarter of 2019. For the full year 2020, Just Eat expects revenue growth of more than 50%, with adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation margin of 10%, after the significant investment made in delivery in the quarter. "A big increase in the number of couriers employed directly by the company will bring with it increased costs, taking Just Eat further away from its original capital light model where it just provided an online platform for restaurants. The investment in ramping up delivery capability is reflected in the margin pressure revealed by today's trading update. There is a firm signal that management will prioritise market share over profitability for the time being at least," said AJ Bell's Russ Mould.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Liontrust Asset Management, up 8.5%. The asset manager said its assets under management surged in its third quarter, helped by a pair of acquisitions. Since then, its assets under management and advice has risen further, topping the GBP30 billion mark. Assets under management and advice on December 31, the end of its third quarter, were GBP29.43 billion, up 43% quarter-on-quarter and an 83% rise since the start of its financial year. Net inflows during the three-month period totalled GBP792 million, pushing the figure for the first nine months of its financial year up to GBP2.54 billion. At the close of play on Monday, Liontrust's assets under management and advice amounted to GBP30.10 billion. The figure is almost double the GBP16.08 billion from the end of its last financial year on March 31.
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IMI, up 2.0%. Credit Suisse raised the engineer to Outperform from Neutral.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Vesuvius, down 3.0%. JPMorgan downgraded the molten metal flow engineering firm to Neutral from Overweight.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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ASOS, up 2.0%. The online fashion retailer said its revenue growth in the final stretch of 2020 topped expectations with UK sales alone jumping by more than a third, a stark contrast to the crisis gripping high-street retailers. In the four months to December 31, which ASOS labels Period 1, group revenue climbed 23% to GBP1.36 billion from GBP1.11 billion a year earlier. At constant currency, revenue rose 24% year-on-year. In the UK alone, retail sales had a 36% leap to GBP554.1 million from GBP408.9 million. By region, this was the biggest sales hike, topping the EU's 18% rise, beating the 13% increase in the US as well as the 15% improvement in the Rest of the World segment. The EU region's increase was the same measured at constant currency, but the US and ROW results improved to 17% and 20% growth, respectively, by that measure. The retailer said it expects a net-Covid benefit to pretax profit of GBP40 million in the first half of its financial year ending August. ASOS explained that this is due to virus restrictions likely still being in place "for the balance of the first half". Online-only firms such as ASOS have been beneficiaries from high street outfits being forced to down shutters due to lockdown restrictions.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Johnson Service Group, down 4.5%. RBC Capital downgraded the textile services provider to Sector Perform from Outperform.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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