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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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Persimmon, up 5.1%. The housebuilder said it expects to report a 32% decrease in revenue in the first half after the UK's Covid-19 lockdown, but has entered the remainder of the year in a "strong position". Persimmon expects to report revenue for the six months to the end of June of GBP1.19 billion. Average selling price in the first half was GBP225,050, higher than GBP216,942 a year ago.
The FTSE 100-listed company also said it has seen good activity in the six week period since sales offices re-opened in mid-May, with average weekly net private sales reservations of 278 new homes, around 30% higher than the same period last year. Customer enquiries remained at "healthy levels" throughout the lockdown period, Persimmon added. Peers Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Developments were up 3.4% and 3.0% respectively.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Rolls-Royce Holdings, down 8.7%. The jet engines maker said it plans to cut over 9,000 roles across the company's worldwide operations, as it saw a GBP3.0 billion cash outflow in the first half of 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The re-organisation is expected to deliver at least GBP1.3 billion in annual pretax cash savings by the end of 2022. It added that it has already received notice for more than 3,000 UK staff for voluntary severance, with two-thirds of the number currently expected to leave by the end of August. Rolls Royce said the GBP3.0 billion cash outflow included GBP1.1 billion less in cash inflow due to lower receipts, with wide-body engine flying hours down 50% in the first half - and 75% lower in the second quarter - together with lower engine deliveries. A further GBP1.1 billion stemmed from a one-off adverse impact from the cessation of invoice factoring, and the firm also cited increased inventory and debtor balances. "Our rate of cash outflow is expected to ease in the second half supported by increased benefits from cash mitigation actions, the timing of working capital movements and the anticipated ongoing recovery of commercial aviation from the trough reported in April," the company said.
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National Grid, down 3.7%. The UK energy regulator's next price controls framework was poorly-received by both National Grid and SSE, with the latter labelling it a "worrying return to austerity". Ofgem's latest plans, known in the industry as RIIO-2, proposed GBP25 billion in funding, and the potential of an extra GBP10 billion, "to transform Great Britain's energy networks". It also said the measures will pocket each household an extra GBP20 in savings from network costs. National Grid said it was "extremely disappointed" by Ofgem's proposals. The power transmission and distribution firm said: "This proposal leaves us concerned as to our ability to deliver resilient and reliable networks, and jeopardises the delivery of the energy transition and the green recovery." SSE unit Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks Transmission said it was "deeply concerned" by the RIIO-T2 measures. SSE was down 1.1%.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Grafton Group, up 3.8%. The Irish builders merchant said it remains cautious going forward, despite reporting an improved performance for the month of June. Grafton also said that revenue for the six months to June 30 fell 19% year-on-year to GBP1.06 billion from GBP1.31 billion recorded last year due the Covid-19 pandemic. Grafton noted that trading in June was "more resilient" than anticipated, with revenue in continuing operations of GBP247.8 million, 11% ahead of the prior year, with the benefit of two additional trading days in the distribution & manufacturing businesses and revenue from the acquisition of Polvo in July 2019. Average daily like-for-like revenue in June was down by 1.1% on the year before. Looking ahead, Grafton said it remains cautious about revenue trends in the second half of the year. "While we face many challenges in the months ahead, we are encouraged by the group's trading and financial performance in the month of June which represented an important milestone on the road to recovery," said Chief Executive Gavin Slark.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Eurasia Mining, up 80%. The miner's shares began trading again on AIM as it launched a formal sale process under the UK takeover code. "The company confirms that it has entered into a success fee based engagement letter with CITIC Merchant to, amongst other things, explore possible strategic options for the company's mining assets," said Eurasia. As per its announcement at the start of July, UBS Investment Bank has been appointed as lead advisor to assist in its strategic review.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Dart Group, down 3.5%. The Jet2 owner said its operations took a hit from travel restrictions imposed at the end of its most recent financial year, resulting in a double-digit fall in profit. The leisure travel company reported a 10% reduction in pretax profit in the year to the end of March to GBP153.2 million compared to GBP170.6 million a year ago, as net operating expenses jumped by 19% to GBP3.29 billion from GBP2.76 billion. Dart Group recorded a net exceptional charge of GBP108.4 million, it said, due to hedge ineffectiveness as a direct result of Covid-19. Revenue, meanwhile, increased by 21% to GBP3.58 billion from GBP2.96 billion year-on-year. Dart Group said its performance for the financial year reflects the growing success of its leisure travel products - package holidays with Jet2holidays, and holiday flights with Jet2.com - which has led to continuing strong customer demand for both. Despite the fact that Jet2.com had to suspend its flying programme in mid-March due to the travel restrictions imposed by governments across Europe as a result of the spread of Covid-19, the leisure travel business still achieved overall single sector flown passenger growth of 14% to 14.6 million versus 12.8 million a year prior.
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By Lucy Heming;Â lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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