UK WINNERS & LOSERS SUMMARY: Intu Drops As It Withdraws 2020 Guidance

Thu, 26th Mar 2020 10:47

(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Thursday.

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FTSE 100 - LOSERS

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JD Sports Fashion, down 6.5% at 486.75 pence. Credit Suisse cut its price target on the sportswear retailer to 560p from 881p.

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British Land, down 5.7%. The property company said it has suspended all future dividend payments with immediate effect as it looks to save cash in the face of the Covid-19 crisis. British Land also outlined rental deferral measures for some of its retail customers. Its portfolio has a 41% exposure to the sector as of September 30. The firm, which back in January proposed a 7.9825 pence third quarter payout, said it will "revisit" its dividend policy once the clouded market outlook clears. British Land explained one of its centres, Valentine in Lincoln, has closed, though all of its others have stayed open "to provide important access to essential stores such as supermarkets and pharmacies". The company added that 200 individual units in its retail sites have kept their lights on, this is just 12% of its total, however. These measures will amount to GBP3 million in lost revenue and services charges.

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Spirax-Sarco Engineering, down 5.1%. Berenberg downgraded the valves and pumps maker to Hold from Buy.

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FTSE 250 - WINNERS

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James Fisher & Sons, up 5.2%. The marine services provider said its trading in the first two of months of 2020 was ahead of the prior year. The company however, the Covid-19 outbreak makes it "difficult" to offer any forward guidance "with any degree of certainty". This includes a hiring freeze, deferring discretionary capital, and cutting board salaries by 20%. Also, James Fisher has suspended its 2019 final dividend of 23.4 pence. "The group will continue to monitor the developing situation and further actions will be taken as necessary," James Fisher said. The company noted its "strong" balance sheet and "good" liquidity.

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FTSE 250 - LOSERS

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Capita, down 8.0%. The outsourcer hit back at claims it is not following government guidelines to tackle coronavirus by having staff remain working its sites. Capita runs call centres across the country with its Glasgow and Leeds offices coming under fire with complaints to local MPs Alison Thewliss and Hilary Benn. A letter on social media indicated staff were being designated as key workers - making it necessary to continue working from the office. But this has been denied by the company who say "most staff" are working from home and those who cannot are "providing essential services as defined by the government".

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Weir Group, down 3.5%. The engineer said it has decided against paying a previously declared dividend as it looks to weather the Covid-19 pandemic. Weir, which provides engineering services to industries such as oil & gas and mining, had declared a final dividend of 30.45 pence per share at the end of February. However, this has now been withdrawn. The Aberdeen-based company said trading was in line with expectations across all divisions in the first two months of 2020, but the environment then changed "rapidly". Given the uncertainty, Weir is withdrawing all guidance for 2020. It is taking action to reduce costs, such as cutting all non-essential capex.

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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS

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Intu Properties, down 11%. The shopping centre operator said it is now unable to provide guidance for 2020, due to continued uncertainty over the Covid-19 outbreak. Earlier in March, the London and Johannesburg-listed firm said it expected like-for-like net rental income for 2020 to be down, but by less than in 2019, which suffered a 9.1% fall. Intu said the reduced social activity as a result of the virus pandemic is set to continue for the foreseeable future, reducing footfall and future rents to the point where the company is expected to seek covenant waivers from its lenders. In addition, rent for the second quarter of 2020 was due to be paid on Wednesday, and Intu has only received 29% of this, compared to 77% received for the same period the year before. In order to preserve cash, Intu said it has significantly reduced its capital expenditure for the year and is also cutting back on head office costs. As at Tuesday, the company had available cash facilities of GBP184 million.

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Reach, down 2.5%. The newspaper publisher said it expects circulation and advertising revenue to come under pressure due to Covid-19. Reach, which owns the Daily Mirror and a range of UK regional titles, said it traded in line with expectations in the first 12 weeks of its financial year. However, it warned: "The situation remains significantly uncertain and it is too early to assess the expected impact that the Covid-19 pandemic will have on financial 2020 and beyond." The company ends its financial year in late-December. The company said it will unveil plans to limit the revenue shortfall in a trading update ahead of its May 7 annual general meeting.

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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com