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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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Kingfisher, up 10%. The DIY retailer reported strong second-quarter trading figures following a strong e-commerce performance and the phased reopening of stores France and the UK as lockdown measures eased. For the second quarter to July 18, group like-for-like sales were up 22%, leaving year-to-date like-for-like sales down just 3.7%. Kingfisher, which owns B&Q in the UK and Castorama in France, added that online sales have more than tripled as customers took up DIY projects during lockdown. Kingfisher said that based on the strong sales seen to date in the second quarter, combined with cost reductions, it anticipates its half-year adjusted pretax profit to be ahead of the prior year. The retailer posted interim pretax profit of GBP245 million last year. "Unsurprisingly trading has been very strong in the second quarter as households spend lockdown doing up their homes. This is the tailwind Kingfisher has desperately needed to get back on its feet after such a long period of struggling," said AJ Bell's Russ Mould.
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Fresnillo, up 7.7%, Polymetal International, up 3.5%. The gold miners were tracking spot gold prices higher, quoted at USD1,848.75 an ounce Wednesday morning, up from USD1,839.86 at the London equities close Tuesday. The precious metal hit a fresh nine-year high of USD1,866.28 overnight. Separately, Fresnillo said first-half gold production decreased 12% to 381,319 ounces from 432,417 ounces last year due to a lower volume of ore processed at Herradura and Noche Buena mines. Fresnillo said annual gold production is now expected to be in a range of 785,000 ounces to 815,000 ounces, down from a previously guided range of 815,000 to 900,000 ounces, as a result of Covid-19 related disruption. Silver production guidance remains in the range of 51 million ounces to 56 million ounces.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Melrose Industries, down 15%. The industrial turnaround specialist said revenue fell 27% year-on-year in the first half 2020 and said it is likely to make a "small" adjusted operating profit for the period. Melrose - which is highly exposed to the battered aerospace and automotive sectors - said an "extraordinary" trading period saw the factories of its Automotive and Powder Metallurgy businesses temporarily shut in Europe and the Americas due to Covid-19. Melrose said trading was in line with expectations until mid-March and then fell steeply in the second quarter due to Covid-19. After cost cuts, however, Melrose said it generated GBP200 million in free cash flow before restructuring costs and the January acquisition of Forecast 3D, reducing net debt by GBP90 million in the half-year. The company's Aerospace unit saw sales plummet 18% year-on-year in the first half of 2020 and these are not expected to recover in the second half of 2020. Overall the unit is anticipated to record a 25% to 30% year-on-year decline in 2020 sales and for the business to broadly breakeven.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Computacenter, up 11%. The IT services provider said the half-year to June 30 saw adjusted pretax profit "substantially ahead" year on year. Computacenter reported a surge in demand for IT equipment for those setting up home offices during the lockdown. This considerably helped the performance of the company despite a drop in demand from most industrial clients. The company's second-half adjusted profitability "should be much improved" on prior forecasts, it said. "This re-forecast has provided better insight and improved clarity for the board and, coupled with the very pleasing first half result, indicates a reduction in uncertainty in our markets for the second half of 2020," Computacenter said. The group's board believes this year as a whole will be one of material progress for Computacenter.
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Mediclinic International, up 9.5%. The private hospital operator said its Southern Africa revenue was lower in June as the region has not yet passed its Covid-19 peak, though operating performance has improved overall. The firm's Southern Africa business revenue was 12% lower in June compared to the previous year as the area "is yet to reach the initial peak" when it comes to Covid-19 cases. Nonetheless, the private healthcare services company's overall operational performance improved in June as lockdown measures eased, with elective surgical procedures and outpatient activities starting to gradually resume. Hirslanden and Mediclinic Middle East, representing over two-thirds of Mediclinic revenue, were ahead of the previous year.
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PayPoint, up 7.6%. The payments services provider said the ending of a British Gas contract and reduced frequency of larger payments led to a 6.6% drop in first-quarter revenue, but it said it is seeing evidence of recovery in activity across several services. Net revenue for the three months to June 30 decreased to GBP26.8 million from GBP28.7 million a year ago. The reduction included a GBP1.1 million net revenue in the prior year from a contract now ended with British Gas. UK retail services net revenue increased by 10% to GBP10.8 million due to the increase in card payments and service fees from the PayPoint One roll-out. First-quarter UK bill payments net revenue decreased by 28% to GBP8.2 million. Excluding the British Gas contract impact, net revenue decreased by 20% and transactions decreased by 25%, primarily as a result of consumers making larger payments, less frequently, during the Covid-19 lockdown, as well as warmer weather compared to prior year. Transaction volumes and sites recovered well from April lows, Paypoint said.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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St Modwen Properties, down 5.3%. The property company said its net asset value declined in its half-year as its portfolio valuation fell amid the Covid-19 pandemic. NAV per share fell to 423.1p as at May 31 from 484.2p at November end. EPRA net tangible assets per share reduced to 430.8p from 490.8p. EPRA NTA is similar to EPRA NAV but adds back a smaller amount of deferred tax and excludes intangibles. St Modwen made a pretax loss of GBP158.1 million for the six months ended May 31, swinging from a GBP28.1 million profit. Revenue fell to GP120.5 million from GBP173.2 million. St Modwen declared an interim dividend of 1.1p per share, less than a third of the previous year's 3.6p per share dividend. The company cancelled its final 2019 dividend in response to the pandemic.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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