London’s FTSE 100 ticks 77 points higher to 7,681 on Wednesday, investors evidently regaining confidence with miners, tobacco sellers and drug companies in demand early on.
High-end housebuilder Berkeley (BKG) cheapens 3.5% to £39.93 after warning that profit growth will slow to ‘more normal levels’ from 2018/19, when profits are expected to be around 30% lower.
Results for the year ended 30 April 2018 from the London-focused housebuilder reveal pre-tax profit (PBT) up 15.1% to £934.9m and thanks to robust forward sales of £2.2bn, Tony Pidgley-chaired Berkeley actually raises PBT guidance by £75m to ‘at least £1.575bn’ for the two years ending April 2019, but the news profits have peaked and the London market remains challenging spooks the market nonetheless.
Structural steel play Severfield (SFR) shoots up 6.4% to 87p on strong full year results, showing a 19% increase in underlying PBT to £23.5m and a 13% hike in the total dividend to 2.6p. Severfield, whose recent projects include Tottenham Hotspur FC’s new stadium and the retractable roof for court number one at Wimbledon, also announces a special dividend of 1.7p.
E-commerce technology platform Ocado’s (OCDO) stunning run continues, the shares surging 5.4% higher to 999.8p on a ‘buy’ note from broker Peel Hunt, which upgrades its price target from 610p to a whopping £17 and dubs Ocado ‘The Microsoft of Retail’.
Sirius Minerals (SXX) rises 5% to 33p after securing another binding take-or-pay agreement, this time for 350,000 tonnes per annum of its polyhalite multi-nutrient fertilizer, with Dubai-headquartered ITL.
Sirius also reports that it continues to make good progress on all aspects of its paradigm-shifting North Yorkshire polyhalite project, and that it is in ‘active discussions’ with potential customers in other key markets such as Europe, India and Brazil.
Manchester-based cyber security-to-risk mitigation specialist NCC (NCC) sheds a penny to trade at 212p on the news finance director Brian Tenner is leaving to ‘pursue other interests’.
Agricultural inputs supplier-to-specialist retailer Wynnstay (WYN:AIM) cultivates a 7.5p gain to 465p as half year results highlight good momentum across the group, driving a strong year-on-year profits uplift.
Wynnstay’s performance reflects ongoing recovery in the agricultural sector and Shore Capital’s Phil Carroll believes ‘the improved market outlook and this performance helps underpin our view that the group is now on a much firmer footing to drive profit growth. This gives us the confidence to upgrade our full year forecasts and beyond and suggests rating expansion could follow too.'
