Supermarket chain Morrison (MRW) gets the UK sector reporting off to a firm start as it reports solid growth during the Christmas period.
Today's trading update, covering the 10 weeks to 7 January shows a decent 2.8% increase in like-for-like sales, excluding fuel. Trading was even better over the shorter six weeks to 7 January spell, with like-for-likes up 3.7%.
This is going down well with investors, with shares in Morrison adding 2.3% to 232.1p, making them the second biggest riser among FTSE 100 stocks on Tuesday.
That helps bolster the performance of the blue-chip index, which reverses declines yesterday to add 24.2 points and head back over the 7,700 mark, to 7,720.71.
TOPPS DOES BETTER
Kitchen to bathroom tile outfitter Topps Tiles (TPT) gains 9% to 87.2p after achieving revenue growth of 3.4% in its first quarter ending 30 December.
This is a large improvement on last year when like-for-like sales only grew by 0.3%.
Environmentally focused asset manager Impax Asset Management (IPX:AIM) ticks up 5.5% to 181.25p on revealing its assets under management hit £8.2bn by the end of December. This equates to a 13% increase since the end of October.
Agriculture and engineering company Carr’s (CARR) rallies 12.9% to 140p after saying both its divisions have started the year positively. It UK manufacturing business is trading well ahead of the previous year and the order book for the business ‘remains strong’.
US BOOSTS DECHRA
Pharma company Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) rises 1.8% to £20.42 after releasing a strong set of half year numbers. From 1 July to 31 December revenue increased 10.5% with its North American division leading the way with a 20% hike in sales. Its European revenue grew by 5.5%.
Marketing company 4imprint (FOUR) jumps 10.9% to £20.80 after releasing a positive statement on the impact of US tax reforms on the firm. The majority of the company’s operations are in the US (97%) and the board expects the tax reforms to have a positive impact on the company.
EXPECTED STRONG STAFFING
International recruiter Robert Walters (RWA) retreats 1.5% to 648p despite reporting strong end of year trading.
Fee income is up 22% year-on-year with the majority coming from overseas operations. But a solid outcome to the year had been widely anticipated by the market, judging by the near 10% share price run since 2 January.
Embattled support service company Carillion (CLLN) is down 9.8% to 21.54 following a recent share price rally. The company issued a statement saying it does not know why there was a share price increase, effectively quashing news reports of a deal the company had struck with its creditors.
