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Pin to quick picksWood Group (J) Share News (WG.)

Share Price Information for Wood Group (J) (WG.)

London Stock Exchange
Share Price is delayed by 15 minutes
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Share Price: 24.26
Bid: 24.08
Ask: 24.42
Change: -4.84 (-16.63%)
Spread: 0.34 (1.412%)
Open: 28.90
High: 29.88
Low: 23.42
Prev. Close: 29.10
WG. Live PriceLast checked at -

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LONDON MARKET CLOSE: Oil price hurts FTSE and investors dial out of BT

Tue, 20th Aug 2024 16:59

(Alliance News) - Falling oil prices which knocked share prices of index heavyweights, BP and Shell, plus a sharp drop in BT, weighed on London's blue-chip index on Tuesday.

The FTSE 100 index closed down 83.62 points, 1.0%, at 8,273.32. The FTSE 250 ended down 171.32 points, 0.8%, at 20,986.15, and the AIM All-Share closed down 2.55 points, 0.3%, at 774.04.

The Cboe UK 100 ended down 1.1% at 826.27, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 0.7% at 18,431.87, but the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.1% at 16,871.44.

In Europe on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended down 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt closed down 0.4%.

In New York at the time of the London close on Tuesday, the DJIA was down 0.3%, the S&P 500 was also down 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.4%.

Brent oil was quoted at USD77.41 a barrel at the London equities close Tuesday, down from USD79.33 late Monday.

The drop knocked share prices in BP, down 2.8%, and Shell, also down 2.8%.

AJ Bell head of financial analysis Danni Hewson said oil prices fell on "hopes of a ceasefire in Gaza and continuing concerns about Chinese demand".

In contrast, the price fall sparked gains in British Airways parent, IAG, and budget airline, easyJet on hopes for lower fuel costs. The two carriers rose 0.9% and 1.3% respectively.

Top of the fallers was BT, down 6.4%, after Sky and CityFibre agreed a long-term partnership that will see Sky launch broadband services on the CityFibre network.

Sky’s full fibre broadband is expected to be available on CityFibre’s full fibre network from next year, CityFibre said in a statement.

The deal sparked concerns that BT's Openreach could face a loss of market share, with Sky a key customer of the London-based telecommunications provider.

But AJ Bell's Danni Hewson thinks CityFibre’s "modest scale and focus on rural areas suggest it shouldn’t be a huge issue".

Segro was another blue-chip casualty, down 2.5%, after UBS downgraded to 'neutral' from 'buy' due to a weaker outlook for logistics rental growth.

While the oil price fell, gold forged ahead once more. Gold was quoted at USD2,512.24 an ounce, against USD2,503.87 at the close on Monday.

The latest rise boosted shares in gold miner Endeavour Mining by 1.2% and gold and silver miner Fresnillo by 0.4%.

Meanwhile, John Wood Group PLC rose 1.4% as it backed guidance despite first-half losses ballooning, just weeks after a Dubai suitor walked away from a GBP1.56 billion proposed takeover.

In the six months that ended June 30, the Aberdeen-based oilfield and engineering services firm said its pretax loss from continuing operating was USD961.7 million, widened from a USD26.0 million loss a year prior.

John Wood said this primarily reflects an impairment of goodwill of USD815 million and USD140 million of charges related to the exit of lump sum turnkey and large-scale engineering, procurement and construction work.

The firm has been the subject of two failed bid sagas, featuring most recently Sidara, and Apollo in 2023.

Panmure Liberum analyst Ashley Kelly thinks the end of the takeover interest from Sidara – due to market conditions, rather than any underlying issues with John Wood – removes a distraction from management and should allow the business to refocus on the longer-term strategy and on winning new business.

Sterling enjoyed another strong day as the dollar remained on offer ahead Jerome Powell's speech at Jackson Hole on Friday. Ahead of that, minutes of the July Federal Open Market Committee meeting will be released on Wednesday.

The pound was quoted at USD1.3020 at the London equities close Tuesday, up from USD1.2980 at the close on Monday. The euro stood at USD1.1105, up against USD1.1063. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY145.67, down compared to JPY146.55.

Elsewhere, Renalytix plunged 21% after terminating sale talks declaring there was no realistic prospect of an offer being made.

Renalytix said it is in talks with "key stakeholders" in the company about "a suitable capital structure and funding". It said its cash runway extends into the fourth quarter of this year based on its cash position of USD4.7 million on June 30.

Meanwhile, Castings fell 9.4% after it flagged continued subdued demand.

The Brownhills, England-based iron casting and machining firm said demand from its commercial vehicle customers, which account for 80% of the company's revenue, continues to remain at a lower level albeit with a potential for a slight increase in autumn.

"Our customers have now indicated that there is unlikely to be any improvement before at least early 2025," the firm said in a statement.

I3 Energy jumped 28% after Gran Tierra Energy launched a cash and shares bid which valued the company at GBP174.1 million.

Under the terms of the acquisition, each i3 Energy shareholder will be entitled to receive one New Gran Tierra share per every 207 i3 Energy shares held, plus 10.43 pence cash per i3 Energy share.

In addition, each i3 Energy shareholder will be entitled to receive a cash dividend of 0.2565 pence per i3 Energy Share in lieu of the ordinary dividend in respect of the three month period ending September 30.

Peel Hunt expects this transaction to bring "multiple benefits, including increased scale and relevance for the enlarged business on both the TSX and LSE, as well as a strengthened and more diversified asset base capable of delivering long-term production, cash flows, and shareholder value."

The corporate calendar in London on Wednesday sees half-year results from Costain and Mobico.

Wednesday's global economic calendar sees UK borrowing data at 0700 BST, and minutes from the July Federal Open Market Committee meeting at 1900 BST.

By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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4 Aug 2023 09:39

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4 Aug 2023 07:55

LONDON BRIEFING: WPP cuts outlook; focus turns to US nonfarms

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2 Aug 2023 09:38

John Wood wins multi-year agreement to provide services for Shell

(Alliance News) - John Wood Group PLC on Wednesday said it has been awarded a multi-year enterprise framework agreement to continue to provide services to Shell PLC's projects.

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LONDON BRIEFING: Taylor Wimpey profit falls; BAE Systems revenue up

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are called to open lower on Wednesday, after Fitch's US rating downgrade caused Asian markets to fall sharply.

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13 Jul 2023 08:54

John Wood backs annual outlook as trading shows "good growth"

(Alliance News) - John Wood Group PLC on Thursday reported "good trading" in the first half of the year as revenue rose around 15% annually to USD2.9 billion.

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13 Jul 2023 07:49

LONDON BRIEFING: UK GDP falls 0.1% in May, as production down

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are expected to edge into the green on Thursday, following the latest set of UK economic data, as the pound strengthened to a 15-month high against the dollar.

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13 Jul 2023 07:44

Wood Group 1H profits in line with expectations, trading described as 'good'

(Sharecast News) - Wood Group posted strong revenue growth for the half and said that adjusted operating profits were in line with its own forecasts.

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6 Jul 2023 15:46

UK earnings, trading statements calendar - next 7 days

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3 Jul 2023 08:40

TOP NEWS: John Wood wins USD250 million Brunei contract extension

(Alliance News) - John Wood Group PLC on Monday said it was awarded a two-year contract extension by Brunei Shell Petroleum Co.

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3 Jul 2023 07:46

LONDON BRIEFING: Tesco names Burberry's Gerry Murphy as new chair

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are expected to edge higher at the open on Monday, after the second half of 2023 got off to a strong start in Asia.

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3 Jul 2023 07:33

Wood Group secures $250m contract extension in Brunei

(Sharecast News) - Wood Group said on Monday that it has secured a $250m contract extension from Brunei Shell Petroleum, Brunei's largest energy producer.

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14 Jun 2023 14:58

Petrofac Ithaca, Wood Group workers to resume North Sea strike

June 14 (Reuters) - British union Unite said on Wednesday that North Sea offshore oil and gas workers employed by Petrofac on the FPF1 platform, and by the Wood Group UK Limited on TAQA platforms will resume strike action over pay next week.

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14 Jun 2023 14:21

Petrofac Ithaca, Wood Group workers to resume strike action, Unite says

June 14 (Reuters) - British union Unite said on Wednesday that offshore workers employed by Petrofac on the FPF1 platform, and the Wood Group UK Limited on TAQA platforms will resume strike action next week.

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2 Jun 2023 11:43

UK "seen as less accommodating" for big business, despite Dechra deal

(Alliance News) - Analysts were divided over what the latest takeover deal for a London mid-cap means for the wider financial market in the UK.

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26 May 2023 09:41

LONDON BROKER RATINGS: RBC cuts Halfords; Berenberg likes Sabre

(Alliance News) - The following London-listed shares received analyst recommendations Friday morning and Thursday:

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