The FTSE 100 closed down 0.06% Thursday, and for a second
consecutive day the legion of banks, miners and oil stocks that
make up the index's heavyweights slipped. "Investors are switching
up their trades today, moving back into growth stocks after the
recent selloff while trimming their profits in the FTSE 100 after a
good run for that index," IG Group chief market analyst Chris
Beauchamp says. The recent trend of moving investments to household
names from growth stocks has taken a bit of a knock Thursday, but
as with the concurrent bounce in the U.S. it isn't yet clear
whether the day's reversal of fortunes is likely to turn into
anything more sustained, Mr. Beauchamp says.
Companies News:
Tesco Permanently Appoints New Execs for Underwriting Arm
Tesco PLC said Thursday that it has appointed Debbie Walker as
chief risk officer and Gary Duggan as chief insurance officer and
chief executive of Tesco Underwriting, a subsidiary of Tesco Bank,
effective immediately.
---
Norway Oil Fund Pays $299.5 Mln for 50% Share in UK Property
Portfolio
Norway's $1.4 trillion sovereign-wealth fund, the world's
largest, has bought a portfolio of 14 logistics properties in the
U.K. with property joint-venture partner, Prologis Inc.
---
Novolipetsk Steel 4Q Production Rose 16%
Novolipetsk Steel on Thursday reported that its steel production
increased 16% in the fourth quarter, bringing 2021 growth to
10%.
---
As Inflation Bites, Power Lies Higher Up the Food Chain --
Update
The food companies with the best shot at beating inflation are
those that investors are least likely to know.
---
Hercules Site Services Hopes to Raise GBP5.5 Mln by Floating on
AIM
Hercules Site Services PLC said Thursday that it plans raise
around 5.5 million pounds ($7.5 million) by floating on London's
AIM.
---
Arecor Therapeutics's 2021 Performance in Line With Views
Arecor Therapeutics PLC said Thursday that its performance for
2021 was in line with expectations and it closed the year with a
strong cash balance.
---
ContourGlobal Sells Brazil Hydro-Electricitry Business for $318
Mln
ContourGlobal PLC said Thursday that it has sold its
majority-owned hydro-electric generation subsidiary in Brazil for
1.73 billion Brazilian reais ($318.1 million), netting proceeds of
around $110 million.
---
Rockwood Realisation Names Noel Lamb as Chairman
Rockwood Realisation PLC said Thursday that it has appointed
Noel Lamb as independent nonexecutive chairman with immediate
effect, while Interim Chairman Simon Pyper will return to his
nonexecutive director role.
---
GetBusy Sees 2021 Revenue Slightly Ahead of Market Views
GetBusy PLC said Thursday that its revenue for 2021 is expected
to be slightly ahead of market expectations, and that it expects
its adjusted pretax loss for the year to be in line with views.
---
Netcall Sees 10% Rise in 1H Revenue
Netcall PLC said Thursday that it expects a 10% rise in revenue
for the first half of fiscal 2022, and that adjusted Ebitda is
expected to increase by 17%.
Market Talk:
Countryside Properties Seen as Well-Placed, But Facing
Issues
1319 GMT - Countryside Properties faces hurdles despite positive
prospects in its partnerships business, says Peel Hunt, cutting its
recommendation on the U.K. house-builder to hold from buy.
"Following last week's profit warning, we're reducing our EPS
estimates by 49%, moving our target price from 560p to 330p and
downgrading our recommendation to hold," Peel Hunt analysts say.
"While we believe Countryside remains well-placed as the largest
player in the structurally-growing partnerships sector, the company
is clearly facing some operational issues. Assessing the trajectory
of the group's recovery post the ongoing internal review is a tough
call at this stage, but we're optimistic it will be more rapid than
[that of] others in the sector." Shares fall 2.9% to 319p.
---
Rentokil Initial's Terminix Deal Might Boost US Prospects
1316 GMT - Rentokil Initial's proposed acquisition of U.S. group
Terminix Global Holdings Inc. bodes well for the pest control and
hygiene company's U.S. prospects, Citigroup says, raising its
rating on the group to buy from neutral. The deal could propel
Rentokil into the number-one slot in U.S. pest control with an
estimated market share of 25%, Citi says. "Based on state-by-state
branch footprint analysis, we feel confident that Rentokil can
significantly outperform management's synergy target, possibly 2x.
We upgrade our rating to buy," Citi analysts say.
---
PayPoint's 3Q Seen in Line But Some Businesses Saw Net Revenue
Decline
1203 GMT - PayPoint's 3Q performance was in line with
expectations, but the payments company saw different results across
its businesses, Liberum says. Parcels and Handepay businesses were
the star performers but a number of its businesses showed a decline
in net revenue, such as ATM's which saw a 5.3% fall in net revenue
to GBP2.4 million, the U.K. brokerage says. Liberum maintains its
fiscal 2022 Ebitda estimates of GBP59.3 million for PayPoint,
saying the continuing progress at Handepay and the strong
performance at Parcels is offsetting mild weather elsewhere.
"PayPoint is expanding its addressable universe and growth business
lines could be 70% of group in three years," the brokerage says.
Liberum rates the stock buy and has a 1,000 pence target price.
---
Wincanton Cost Headwinds Seems to Be Moderating
1151 GMT - Wincanton's concern over possible labour shortages
and driver costs has proved to be excessive as these headwinds
appear to be weakening, Liberum says. The U.K. road-haulage and
warehousing company currently expects a full-year profit above
market expectations boosted by a strong peak season, while
headwinds didn't appear to be as severe as expected by Wincanton
due to its exposure to open-book contracts, the U.K. investment
bank says. Liberum raises 2022 EPS forecast by 7% and has a buy
rating on the stock with a target price of 520.0 pence. Wincanton
shares are up 13% to 394.0 pence.
---
Spirent Communications Starting to See Benefits of Its
Investments
1150 GMT - Spirent Communications' investments in technologies,
solutions, customer segments and geographies over the last five to
six years look to now be paying off, and that should lift growth
levels higher going forward, Jefferies says. "With the 5G
investment cycle still at an early stage and new customer segments
like hyperscalers opening up, we believe the stock is attractive,"
equity analyst Will Kirkness says. Orders for 2021 are anticipated
to have increased at a double-digit rate, supporting a healthy
outlook into 2022, the U.S. bank says. Jefferies has a buy rating
with a target price of 340 pence. Shares in the FTSE 250 provider
of test, assurance, and analytics services trade up 6.6% at 245.6
pence.
---
AJ Bell AuA Increase Could Give Room to Upgrades
1115 GMT - AJ Bell's total assets-under-administration increase
over the first quarter above forecasts gives room for further
upgrades, Shore Capital says. The U.K. investment firm says AuA was
2% higher than expected, but market performance and flows were
slightly weaker than forecast. "We expect upgrades to flow through
as a result of the higher AuA and the market taking this moment to
reappraise how the company benefits from higher interest rates,"
Shore says. The brokerage has a buy rating on the stock. AJ Bell
shares are up 0.23% to 347.4 pence.
---
N. Brown Needs Further Visibility on Details For Clearer
Forecasts
1111 GMT - Retailer N. Brown's 3Q update confirms that its very
strong sales growth in clothing & footwear was broadly offset
by a weaker performance in home & gift, Shore Capital says. The
company's active customer numbers returned to growth for the first
time in almost four years, ending the period at 2.9 million, and it
is carrying out major work that will have an important effect in
its medium-term earnings, Shore says. Still, it has several notable
moving parts and forecasting the company to the extent that Shore
Capital's analysts would like remains challenging as visibility
still needs to come through. "With much heavy lifting now
undertaken [albeit not yet completed], we see significant value in
the N. Brown stock," Shore says
---
Entain Dividend Payment Could Restart Soon, Says Interactive
Investor
1107 GMT - Entain continues to benefit from growth momentum
despite pandemic-fueled prior-year comparatives and there are also
hopes that the dividend payment will start again soon, Interactive
Investor says. While online net gaming revenue has fallen, ending
more than 20 consecutive quarters of double-digit growth, retail
net gaming revenue has jumped by around 60% as open high-street
outlets replace the largely shuttered stores during restrictions,
it says. The fall in online NGR is also better than analysts
expected. "In all, and with growth ongoing and sector M&A still
a feature, analyst consensus opinion continues to point to a strong
buy," investment analyst Keith Bowman says. Entain shares trade up
1% at 1,727.5 pence.
Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires; Write to Sarka
Halas at sarka.halas@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 20, 2022 12:28 ET (17:28 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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