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(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Thursday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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J Sainsbury, up 2.7%. The grocer said it would follow supermarket rivals Tesco and Wm Morrison Supermarkets in deciding to forego business rates relief. In March, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said the UK government would grant all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses a 100% business rates holiday for the next 12 months, with the intention of helping companies get through the Covid-19 pandemic. Sainsbury's said it spent GBP290 million as a result of Covid-19 in the first half of its financial year, which was partially offset by GBP230 million of business rates relief. The grocer's sales and profit was stronger than originally expected since the beginning of England's second national lockdown, hence the decision to forego business rates relief on all stores. Sainsbury's noted that due to this, it now expects an underlying pretax profit of at least GBP270 million of the financial year to March, which includes the assumption it will forgo around GBP410 million in business rates relief. On Wednesday, Wm Morrison Supermarkets said it was planning to waive GBP274 million of business rates for the 2021 financial year, following Tesco's announcement that it will repay GBP585 million of business rates relief received that same day. Wm Morrison shares were down 0.7% on Thursday and Tesco up 1.1%.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Paragon Banking, up 4.1%. The Solihull, England-based provider of mortgages and other asset-backed loans sliced its annual payout by 32% following a drop in profit in what was a year marred by the "long and dark shadow" of Covid-19. Paragon posted a pretax profit for the year ended September 30 of GBP118.4 million, down 26% from GBP159.0 million a year prior. Provisions for credit losses were increased to GBP48.3 million from GBP8.0 million, due to the virus pandemic. Net interest income was down 0.1% at GBP278.1 million from GBP278.4 million. At 30 September, the bank's CET1 ratio was at 14.3% compared to the prior year's 13.7%. Paragon declared a final dividend of 14.4 pence per share, up from 14.2p per share a year prior. However, Paragon paid no interim dividend this year, so the 14.4p is the total payout, down 32% from 21.2p in financial 2019.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Hochschild Mining, down 15%. JPMorgan Securities confirmed that Chair Eduardo Hochschild sold a 12% in gold miner Hochschild Mining, banking GBP123 million. Hochschild sold 61.7 million shares via Pelham Investment at 200 pence per share, 15% below the stock's closing price on Wednesday of 235.59 pence each. Following the sale, run by JPMorgan, Hochschild will still own 197 million shares in the miner, a 38% stake.
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Tui, down 5.9%. Commerzbank cut the Anglo-German tour operator to Hold from Buy. On Wednesday, Tui said it reached an agreement for a EUR1.8 billion support package, shoring up its finances further in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. The package includes of a EUR500 million capital raise and a EUR200 million additional facility from the KfW, Germany state-owned development bank. The financing also includes a EUR700 million package from Germany's Economic Stabilization Fund, of which, EUR420 million is converted into Tui shares at EUR1.00 each. The package also includes a EUR400 million state guarantee, or an increase of the Economic Stabilization Fund's non-convertible financing. It's the third financial aid package Tui has received in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. In April, Tui secured EUR1.8 billion financing from the KfW, before agreeing to a further EUR1.05 billion in October.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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MJ Gleeson, up 12%. The housebuilder said it is "minded" to resume dividend payments in 2021 on the back of a "strong" interim performance to date. MJ Gleeson, hosting its annual general meeting on Thursday, had decided against a dividend in its year ended June 30. Trading so far this in the new financial year has been promising, helped by the housing sector being deemed an essential service during the latest lockdown in England. MJ Gleeson now expects its annual performance to top current expectations. Chair Dermot Gleeson said: "The board recognises the importance of dividend payments to shareholders. In the light of our strong performance to date and the positive outlook, the board is minded to resume dividend payments during the course of 2021. However, any final decision will depend on the circumstances at the time." Gleeson added that build and sales activity at the Gleeson Homes division is back to pre-Covid levels.
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By Lucy Heming;Â lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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