Irish building materials firm CRH (CRH) tops the FTSE 100 leader board in early trade on an otherwise quiet Thursday as the group confirms pans to buy US cement maker Ash Grove Cement. The $3.5bn deal to expand CRH’s exposure to the North American market is widely well-received by investors, driving the share price more than 4% higher to £27.67.
Read Shares exclusive take on the deal here.
Budget airline Ryanair (RYA) continues to irk travellers as a significant number of its pilots reject substantial bonuses for extra flights to help ease cancellation pressures on the company. Ryanair stock drifts around 1% lower on Thursday to €16.36, marking a 9% decline for the stock during the past week.
Construction and services company Kier (KIE) is a firm riser among the midcaps, the stock rallying nearly 7% to £11.69, in response to robust annual results. The group reports a 3.5% rise in pre-tax profit to £146m for the year to 30 June helped by a hefty order book.
This is well news for shareholders who have watched the stock lose more than a fifth of their value since March, when the share price hit £14.99 highs.
CAPITA PROFITS UP, BUT DOWN
Going the other way, outsourcing group Capita (CPI) worries investors despite reporting a 46% underlying pre-tax profit hike to £196m for the six months to 30 June. But that figure masks a swelter of one-off restructuring charges and disposal costs.
Adding these figures back in and pre-tax profits actually decline by £9m to £28m, figures which cause concerns for the market and see the stock marked down by almost 8% on Thursday to 594p, the biggest faller among FTSE 350 stocks.
Elsewhere, management change at the top is putting the squeeze on catering blue-chip Compass (CPG) and biomass energy generator Drax (DRX).
Compass chief executive Richard Cousins takes investors by surprise by announcing his intention to stand down on 31 March 2018, and retire at the end of the following September. He will be replaced by Europe chief operating officer Dominic Blakemore but the shares still nudge 2.5% lower to £15.72.
In Drax’s case, the departure of Dorothy Thompson after 12 years at the helm will mean the stock market will lose one of its few female chief executives. Finance chief Will Gardiner will step into Thompson’s shoes. Drax shares ease about 1% to 312.2p.
TOUGH IN THE PUBS GAME
British pubs group Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) reports a 2.9% rise in sales for the 51-week period to 16 September despite poor weather in recent weeks. But there is no word about profits in the short trading update, sending the share price 3.2% down to 239.2p.
Mining group Vedanta (VED) remains largely unmoved at 832.5p as its founder Anil Agarwal unveils plans to up his personal stake in peer Anglo American (AAL) by £1.5bn. Read more on the stake building here.
Trading and spreadbettng firm IG Group (IGG) nudges close on 2% higher to 630p as the company reports a rise in first quarter revenue. Expanding its client base is helping offset largely quiet markets and trading volumes.
