UK WINNERS & LOSERS SUMMARY: Land Securities Sinks As Losses Mount

Tue, 12th May 2020 10:51

(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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Vodafone, up 8.5%. The telecommunications firm reported a swing to profit for financial 2020 as it maintained its all-important annual dividend. For its financial year to the end of March, the telecommunications provider swung to pretax profit of EUR795 million from a loss of EUR2.61 billion in financial 2019. Revenue rose 3% to EUR44.97 billion from EUR43.67 billion last year. Adjusted earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation grew by 2.6% to EUR14.9 billion, reflecting revenue progression and cost savings success. Free cash flow grew by 12% to EUR4.9 billion. A final dividend of 4.5 euro cents was declared, up from 4.16 cents the year prior, thereby maintaining the total annual dividend at 9.0 cents. "Even within the last 12 months, the shares have dropped 19%, as compared to a dip of 17.5% for the wider FTSE 100, although the maintenance of the dividend will be of some comfort. Despite this underperformance in recent times, Vodafone remains a stock which attracts a strong following among investors given both its own size as well as the range of its possibilities, and the market consensus of the shares as a strong buy has not wavered," said Interactive Investor's Richard Hunter.

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WM Morrison Supermarkets, up 3.5%. The supermarket chain reported sales growth in the first quarter despite "highly volatile" trading and a worse-than-expected Easter due to the ongoing coronavirus lockdown in the UK. For the 14-week period from February 3 to May 10, the grocer said like-for-like sales excluding fuel were up 5.7% - with retail sales up 5.1% and wholesale up 0.6%. Total sales were up 5.7% excluding fuel, and down 4.0% including fuel. Morrisons said that retail like-for-like sales were up 5.0% for the first six weeks of the year. Sales were flat in the first four weeks of financial 2021, with weeks five to seven being marked by "considerable stocking up" by customers, lifting sales.

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Standard Life Aberdeen, up 3.0%. The asset manager reported a 10% decline in assets under management and administration, as it recorded GBP24 billion in net outflows during the first four months of 2020. The company's estimated AUMA at April 30 was GBP490 billion, down 10% from GBP544.6 billion at the end of 2019, with estimated net outflows of GBP24 billion. The remaining GBP30.6 billion of the decline would have been from market movements, though Standard Life Aberdeen didn't specify this in its statement. In a video statement to Standard Life Aberdeen's annual general meeting, Chief Executive Keith Skeoch reiterated the company's commitment to pay the 14.3p final dividend in respect of 2019, saying this was supported by its capital strength and GBP237 million proceeds from the sale of shares in its Indian joint venture HDFC Life.

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FTSE 100 - LOSERS

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Land Securities, down 15%. The commercial property company posted a sharply widened annual loss, as a result of a drop in the value of assets, after an already challenging and changing retail sector was hurt further by the Covid-19 pandemic. For the financial year to March 31, Landsec's pretax loss widened to GBP837 million from a loss of GBP123 million in financial 2019, as revenue slipped 6.3% to GBP414 million from GBP442 million. Landsec said the value of its assets fell 8.8% in the recent year to GBP1.18 billion from a decline of GBP557 million last year. Annual EPRA net asset value per share was down 12% at 1,192p from 1,348p. Landsec slashed its full-year dividend 49% to 23.2p per share from 45.55p last year. "Commercial property companies are currently struggling as tenants have stopped paying rent, particularly in the retail space. Land Securities has paused construction on a number of developments, particularly office space in London as it considers what the long-term impact of Covid-19 will be. This ties in with recent news that office provider WeWork has defaulted on some of its own rental payments. At the moment the future of the office looks uncertain," said Rachel Winter, investment director at Killik & Co. Peer British Land was down 10%.

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FTSE 250 - WINNERS

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Kingfisher, up 6.0%. The DIY retailer first-quarter sales were battered by Covid-19, but almost all of its stores are operating again to some extent, including all but one of its B&Q sites in the UK. In the three months to April 30, Kingfisher's total sales slumped 24%, or 25% on a like-for-like, constant currency basis. It was period during which the pandemic began to gain a foothold in Europe, meaning some retailers were forced to close due to not providing essential services, while others, in the case of chains like B&Q, shuttered by choice. UK & Ireland total sales were 15% lower year-on-year, with numbers showing a 22% sales slump in B&Q and a 0.1% decline at Screwfix. However, Morgan Stanley raised the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight.

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Marks & Spencer, up 5.1%. Morgan Stanley upgraded the food, clothing and homewares retailer to Overweight from Equal Weight.

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FTSE 250 - LOSERS

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Aston Martin Lagonda Holdings, down 7.5%. Peel Hunt downgraded the luxury carmaker to Reduce from Hold. Aston Martin will report first-quarter results on Wednesday.

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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS

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Ryanair Holdings, up 3.3%. The Irish carrier said it plans to run 40% of its schedule from July, should government measures allow, as the budget carrier unveiled social distancing and precautionary measures for when flights resume. Ryanair said it aims to operate a daily schedule of about 1,000 flights, and hopes to restore 90% of its pre-pandemic route network. "Since the Covid-19 flight restrictions in mid-March, Ryanair has been operating a skeleton daily schedule of 30 flights between Ireland, the UK and Europe. From July, Ryanair will restart flying from most of its 80 bases across Europe," Ryanair said.

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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com