London’s FTSE 100 firms 25 points to 7,159.3 on Tuesday supported by strength in banks, miners and also a 2.4% share price gain for Vodafone (VOD), which tops the FTSE leader board on news it plans to raise circa €4bn through issuing bonds.
Embattled retailer Debenhams (DEB) dives another 12% to 2.8p at the open after coughing up yet another profit warning, the department store operator saying that talks with stakeholders to restructure its balance sheet are ‘likely to be disruptive to our business in the coming months’.
Back in January, Debenhams said it was ‘on track to deliver current year profits in line with market expectations’, yet now says this statement is ‘no longer valid’ amid tough trading conditions, negative like-for-like sales and increased financing costs triggered by additional working capital needs.
Price comparison site GoCompare (GOCO) gains 6.7% to trade at 69p on a show of confidence from chairman Sir Peter Wood, the founder of Direct Line, Esure and Sheilas' Wheels. Wood has acquired the best part of 17.8m shares in GoCompare, upping his stake in the business to 29.9%.
Wood explains ‘my share purchase underlines my view, which is shared by my fellow board members, that the current Gocompare share price does not fully reflect the operational and strategic momentum in the business’. Wood is also ‘particularly excited about our weflip brand and the potential opportunities it offers’.
As for Direct Line Insurance (DLG), its shares edge a mere 1.5p higher to 357.7p on annual numbers showing a 6.4% drop in operating profits to £601.7m. This reflects the fact an increase in own brand insurance policies failed to offset several large white label agreements, while investors are also disappointed by a drop in total dividends for the year.
Online gaming giant GVC (GVC), which completed the takeover of Ladbrokes Coral last year, takes on 1p at 652p as full year results reveal a jump in underlying profits as ‘effective marketing’ and a good World Cup boosted revenues. Investors also welcome news of a positive start to 2019, particularly online.
Equipment hire giant Ashtead (AHT) cheapens 3.1% to £20.02, despite putting up robust third quarter figures with a confident outlook statement. CEO Geoff Drabble says capital expenditure for the year will be ‘towards the upper end’ of Ashtead’s previous £1.6bn guidance. Ashtead is spending heavily now to capitalise on a compelling structural growth opportunity in its markets and expects a similar level of spending in 2019/2020 to boot.
Power switching technology designer XP Power (XPP) sparks up 3.3% to £20.30 after reporting record orders, sales and earnings for 2018 and flagging an encouraging start to 2019 in terms of orders. ‘On this basis, and with the benefit of the Glassman acquisition, we expect further revenue growth in 2019 but this will be weighted to the second half of the year’, says chairman James Peters.
British logistics leader Wincanton (WIN) accelerates 3.2% higher to 239.5p after bagging a new, five year contract with Aggregate Industries to distribute concrete products from the bulk of the customer’s UK manufacturing sites.
Brick maker Ibstock (IBST) cements a 3% gain to trade at 259p on solid full year results together with plans to improve the performances of its UK clay and concrete businesses in the years ahead.
