(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Tuesday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Ocado Group, up 1.3%. The online grocer was raised to Buy from Hold by Berenberg.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Ashtead Group, down 7.5%. The equipment rental firm posted a rise in interim profit as strong US and Canadian growth pushed revenue higher despite a weaker UK performance. For the six months ended October 31, the FTSE 100-listed firm posted a GBP660.2 million pretax profit, 8.2% higher than its GBP610.0 million profit the year before. This improvement stemmed largely from rental revenue, which was up 18% to GBP2.45 billion from GBP2.07 billion, lifting group revenue 19% to GBP2.68 billion from GBP2.25 billion. The company's UK A-Plant unit posted revenue of GBP187 million, down 2.0% from GBP191 million last year. "As the UK is currently demonstrating all too well, renting out construction equipment is a cyclical business. When times are bad construction activity grinds to a halt and unsurprisingly rental demand disappears too. This affects both rental volumes and rental rates at the same time, exacerbating the pain," said Hargreaves Lansdown's Nick Hyett.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Tullow Oil, up 15%. The oil and gas company was staging a very partial rebound after shares slumped a massive 72% on Monday, hitting a record low of 38.05 pence. Tullow on Monday suspended its dividend, cut its future production guidance, and said Chief Executive Officer Paul McDade had resigned.
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Computacenter, up 6.5%. The IT services provider said 2019 trading results will likely exceed market expectations thanks to solid trading by established businesses and an improved performance from US acquisition FusionStorm. Computacenter said trading in the 11 months ended November 30 has shown "material progress". Revenue and profitability have been "well ahead" of 2018 so far on a life-for-like basis, excluding acquisition gains. As such, having reviewed its November performance, Computacenter said it is expecting a 2019 trading result "well ahead of current market expectations" in terms of EPS and profitability.
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Bodycote, up 3.5%. UBS upgraded the heat treatment services provider to Buy from Neutral.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Hunting, down 5.0%. Credit Suisse downgraded the oilfield services firm to Neutral from Outperform.
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Shaftesbury, down 4.8%. Barclays cut the central London-focused property company to Underweight from Equal Weight.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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ASOS, up 1.0%. HSBC raised the online fashion retailer to Buy from Hold.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Ted Baker, down 11%. The troubled fashion retailer cut full-year guidance, after disappointing Black Friday sales, suspended its dividend and announced the immediate departures of its executive chair and chief executive. The once high-flying chain downgraded its annual pretax profit guidance to a minimum GBP5 million and a maximum of GBP10 million. For the year ended this past January 26, the company had posted pretax profit of GBP50.9 million. This followed "lower than anticipated margins and sell through" over November and the Black Friday period. In the 17 weeks to December 7, revenue slipped 0.3% to GBP203.8 million, and 3.1% on an organic basis, removing the impact of acquisitions and disposals. Ted Baker is conducting a cost review in a bid to improve its efficiency and has temporarily suspended its dividend. The company said it will look to resume payment as soon as it is "appropriate to do so". Ted Baker said CEO Lindsay Page has resigned with immediate effect, and Chief Financial Officer Rachel Osborne has become acting CEO.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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