London’s FTSE 100 was broadly flat early on Wednesday as raised tensions between the US and China over Hong Kong helped renew trade war fears and led to subdued investor sentiment. Sterling slipped back amid concern over the fate of a possible Brexit deal, providing a boost to the blue chip benchmark’s overseas earners.
Fallen online fast fashion retailer ASOS (ASC:AIM), which has issued two profit warnings in the past 12 months, rallied 15.7% to £29.62 despite posting a 68% slump in full year pre-tax profits to £33.1m amid warehouse operational issues.
Investors were relieved as ASOS avoided another profit warning and CEO Nick Beighton flagged a ‘solid start’ to full year 2020 and expressed confidence in the ‘substantial global opportunity’ for his charge.
Bombed-out Woodford Patient Capital (WPCT) cheapened 8% to 31.7p following the resignation of Woodford Investment Management as the investment trust’s manager. Beleaguered stockpicker Neil Woodford shut his asset management business on Tuesday, calling it quits hours after administrators stepped in and wound down his flagship Woodford Equity Income fund.
Barratt Developments (BDEV) softened 3.3% to 660.2p despite news the housebuilder has started the new financial year well. Investors focused on the guidance, with Barratt expecting to grow volume towards the lower end of its medium term target range this year.
Private healthcare play Mediclinic (MDC) was marked up 6.7p to 364.7p on a positive first half trading update as the hospitals and clinics operator guided towards revenue up around 6.5% and EBITDA up around 3.5%.
Nanoco (NANO) nudged 4.9% higher to 10.7p as annual losses narrowed on revenue more than doubled to £7.1m. These were the nanomaterials manufacturer’s ‘best ever financial results’ according to CEO Christopher Richards, although the loss of a key US customer kept a lid on the share price advance.
Payments firm Boku (BOKU:AIM) improved 1.5p to 101p after inking a partnership with GoPay to extend mobile payments across populous Indonesia.
Infection prevention and contamination control products maker Tristel (TSTL:AIM) ticked up 3.6% to 304p after posting an impressive 19% rise in full year pre-tax profit to £5.6m, with top line growth largely driven by its overseas operations.
Entertainment AI (EAI:AIM) shot up 12.2% to 46p as the technology and media platform company hailed strong third quarter audience and ad revenue growth.
