UK mid-cap stocks powered ahead on 'Brexit day' with the FTSE 250 index gaining 86 points or 0.4% to 21,378. The pound also gained to €1.19, which is good for domestic stocks.
Meanwhile the FTSE 100 was down 0.3% or 25 points to 7,362 as Asian-exposed stocks including Diageo (DGE), HSBC (HSBA), Rio Tinto (RIO) and Standard Chartered (STAN) weighed on the index.
US tech shares advanced overnight led by Amazon and IBM on better cloud revenues, but European markets were subdued as the World Health Organisation declared the outbreak of the coronavirus a global health emergency and the US and Japan warned citizens not to travel to China.
Utility firm SSE (SSE) reiterated its full year earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 83p to 88p, straddling the Refinitiv consensus estimate of 85p, and said it ‘remained committed’ to its plan to pay out 80p or almost all of its earnings in dividends. Shares were unmoved at £14.98.
Investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) revealed a 9% drop in net new business in the first half of the year although total assets under administration still grew 22% to £105.2bn thanks to market movements. Shares slid 4.4% to £18.02.
Gold miner Polymetal (POLY) approved a special dividend payment of $0.20 per share, representing a total pay-out of $94m, thanks to its ‘significant free cash flow’ position. The dividend will be paid on 5 March. Shares added 0.8% to £12.76%.
Aerospace engineering firm Senior (SNR) warned that due to Boeing’s decision to suspend production of the 737 MAX aircraft this month, 2020 revenues in its Aerospace division would be around 20% lower than 2019 and margins would also be lower.
The firm went on to say that thanks to one-off benefits from cost-cutting and a lower tax rate, full year adjusted earnings per share (EPS) would be ahead of previous expectations. However investors were more concerned about the Boeing news and sent the shares down 6.4% to 156p.
Soft drinks-maker Britvic (BVIC) reported a 2.6% like-for-like increase in first quarter revenues and said it ‘remained confident of achieving market expectations for the year.’ Discussions with bottling firm Refresco over the potential sale of assets in France are on track and a deal should go through later in the year. Shares gained 4.4% to 915p.
Telecoms group TalkTalk (TALK) reported a slight dip in third quarter revenues to £383m but maintained its full year profit outlook underpinned by the sale of its FibreNation subsidiary for £200m and a strong performance at its fibre and Ethernet unit. Shares firmed 0.5% to 113.6p.
Shares in sports car-maker Aston Martin Lagonda (AML) raced ahead 24% to 500p after it announced it would issue £500m of new shares in two tranches to ease the ‘severe pressure on liquidity’ caused by its high leverage.
Canadian businessman Lawrence Stroll will lead a consortium to take up £182m of new shares at £4 each, after which the firm will issue a further £318m of new shares after the full year results have been published.
Employment firm Staffline (STAF:AIM) warned that due to a review of its balance sheet it needs to take further writedowns which means full year 2019 operating profits will be ‘materially below our previous guidance’.
Analysts at Liberum cut their 2019 earnings per share (EPS) forecast by 84% and increased their net debt assumptions for the company. Shares fell 15% to a new low of 62.9p.
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