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LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - European holiday company TUI and
British home improvement group Kingfisher are among
companies likely to exit the FTSE 100 in the blue-chip index's
latest reshuffle, according to Reuters calculations based on
Monday's closing prices.
NMC Health will be expelled from the index after
losing about two thirds of its market value after U.S. based
short-seller Muddy Waters questioned the UAE-based hospital
operator's financial statements.
While TUI benefited from the failure of rival travel company
Thomas Cook, it has been hit hard by the impact of the Boeing
737 MAX grounding and, as most stocks in the travel and leisure
sector, by the coronavirus epidemic.
TUI, which has lost more than a third of its value since the
beginning of the year, slipped below the threshold required by
FTSE Russell, London Stock Exchange-owned index provider.
FTSE Russell, which will announce its quarterly shuffle of
the FTSE 100 index on Wednesday, requires companies to be at
least 110th to be part of the blue-chip index.
A security will also be promoted if it rises above 90th.
The virus could be "the final blow" that pushes TUI out of
the FTSE 100, said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
An exit of Kingfisher would mark another blow for the UK
retail sector after M&S, an iconic name of the British high
street, was booted out from the FTSE 100 after being a
constituent of the index since its inception in 1984.
Kingfisher, which has undergone a organisational shake-up
under new boss Carrefour veteran Thierry Garnier, has a current
market capitalisation of 3.9 billion pounds but could be knocked
out by stocks rising to the top 90 largest groups.
Among those are utilities group Pennon, gambling
company GVC Holdings, asset manager Intermediate Capital
Group and mining group Fresnillo.
WM Morrison Supermarkets, which had been at risk of
losing the prestigious FTSE 100 tag, is expected to keep its
blue chip status with its 99th position.
(Reporting by Julien Ponthus and Thyagaraju Adinarayan in
London; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
