Calamity strikes newspaper group Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT) on Thursday, which slumps into the red. Pubs groups are a mixed bag, and there’s a profit warning from energy services firm Lamprell (LAM).
But a nasty set of full year results by the Daily Mail newspaper publisher stands out. Shares in the company crashing more than 20% to 550p, by far the biggest faller on the FTSE All Share index today.
The figures show headline pre-tax profits for the year to 30 September falling 13% to £226m.
However, the underlying picture is far worse with statutory pre-tax figures showing £206m of asset write-off, or impairment charges, against several business units. That triggers a pre-tax slump £112m in to the red versus the £202m profit chalked up the year before.
PUBS PERFORMANCE SPLIT
Greene King (GNK), the brewery and pubs chain famous for its IPA and Abbot Ale, sees adjusted pre-tax profits fall 8% to £127.9m in the 24 weeks to 15 October. Group revenues of £1.03bn are down 1.2% and operating profits before exceptional and non-underlying items fell to £188.4m.
Shares in the group slide more than 6% in early trade to 511p, slicing around £100m off the market valuation.
This is in stark contrast to pub and restaurant group peer Marston's (MARS), also a FTSE 250 stock. Its share price shoots more than 10% higher to 115.6p as figures for the year to 30 September show underlying profit before tax up 2.9% to £100.1m.
Driving the profit performance is a slew of new pubs and bars and a strong brewing performance. Total underlying revenue increased 10% to £992.2m.
ILL WIND BLOWS FOR LAMPRELL
A profit warning hits energy services firm Lamprell on Thursday, with the stock slumping 7.5% to 64.75p. The company says it expects 2017 earnings to be materially below market expectations, hurt by losses stemming from a contract for an East Anglia offshore wind farm project.
Analysts had already been anticipating losses for the 12 months to 31 December, of around $0.04 per share, but investors can expect those deficit forecasts to widen now.
Analysts had already been anticipating losses for the 12 months to 31 December, of around $0.04 per share, but investors can expect those deficit forecasts to widen now.
BUMPER DIVIDENDS FROM INSURER
British insurer Aviva (AV.) expects to spend £3bn in excess cash over the next two years, the bulk of it in 2018, the insurer says on Thursday. The extra cash will go to bolstering growth but will also see improved dividend payouts, which investors clearly like.
Shares in the insurance giant rally close on 3% to 522.5p, valuing the business at £21.3bn.
UK defence group BAE Systems (BA.) reassures investors that its transition to a new accounting standard is not expected to have a material impact for its 2018 year and beyond.
The change relates largely to the group's pension scheme. The news gets buyers exited, egging the stock close on 3% higher at 559.5p.
INVESTORS WARM TO HOLIDAYS WEBSITE
Holidays in the sun booking website On The Beach (OTB) reports a 33.8% jump in adjusted pre-tax profit to £28.5m in the year to 30 September.
Increased market share and a 13.6% rise in the number of daily unique visitors to its site are given most of the credit for the big profits hike, although they do exclude £2m of costs run up from the collapse of airline Monarch.
On The Beach shares are up more than 5% at 420.75p.
COMMODITIES AND EX-DIV STOCKS
Gold on Thursday held close to a one-week low hit in the previous session, pressured by upbeat US growth data for the third quarter and Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen’s bullish view of the economy.
Oil markets remain cautious on Thursday ahead of an OPEC meeting in Vienna, with producers set to debate an extension of the supply-cut agreement that came into effect in January with the goal of tightening supplies and propping up prices.
Finally, there are a host of significantly-sized companies going ex-dividend today, when new investors lose the right to the next payout.
Today’s list includes British Airways-owner International Consolidated Airlines (IAG), chemicals and materials developer Johnson Matthey (JMAT), property company Land Securities (LAND) and Severn Trent (SVT), the water utility.
That trims around 1.3 points off the FTSE 100 performance today, according to Reuters calculations. The blue-chip index is down around 30 points in early trade at 7,362.38.
