The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers among London Main Market small-caps on Wednesday.
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SMALL-CAP - WINNERS
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Capita PLC, up 4.0% at 20.82 pence, 12-month range 15.28p-44.92p. The outsourcing, consulting and digital services business extends and expands customer experience contract as strategic partner with an unnamed ‘major European telecoms provider’. ‘The deal is worth up to £220 million from now to 2030 with £55 million of additional scope, and a £165 million renewal in the period from 2027 to 2030 with an option to extend for a further three years. This is in addition to the existing deal, which is worth circa £200 million from now to 2027,’ Capita explains. Says it has worked with this client for 25 years, and its remit is expanding to include supporting the client’s retention of mobile business and consumer customers.
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Gulf Marine Services PLC, up 4.5% at 17.56p, 12-month range 4.19p-18p. The provider of self-propelled and self-elevating support vessels for the offshore oil, gas, and renewable energy sectors extends a contract for one of its vessels which is currently operating in the Middle East. Also receives letter of award for a separate vessel in the region. The two awards span a combined period of 5.2 years, it says. Total backlog now reaches $373 million, which represents 2.45 times its revenue in 2023. Given the improved visibility, the firm raises its guidance for adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in 2024 to a range of $92 to $100 million, from the prior range of $87 to $95 million.
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SMALL-CAP - LOSERS
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Halfords Group PLC, down 26% at 148p, 12-month range 147.2p-244.8p. Halfords cuts its annual profit forecast, after seeing ‘further material weakening’ in three of its four core markets, which has resulted in a ‘significant’ drop in like-for-like revenue growth in its Retail business. It now expects underlying profit before tax for the 52-week period to March 29 to be between £35 to £40 million, a downgrade from its guidance of £48 to £53 million last month. Halfords explains Cycling and Retail Motoring were hit by ‘weak customer confidence and unusually mild and very wet weather’, which hit footfall and sales of categories such as winter and car cleaning products. ‘Our [profit] forecast assumes the same challenging market conditions continue for the rest of Q4, including through our peak Easter cycling period in March. We have continued to take decisive action on cost, but in the short period between now and the end of the financial year this will not be sufficient to offset the significant market deterioration we have seen,’ the retailer says.
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