London’s FTSE 100 rises 33 points to 7,598.5 on Wednesday, boosted by rising oil prices and heavyweight Vodafone (VOD), which rallies 2.7p to 210.25p after confirming reports of its purchase of a chunk of Liberty’s European operations.
Value sausage rolls, sandwiches and coffees seller Greggs (GRG) cheapens 16.7% to £10.55 on a warning full year underlying profits are likely to be flat following a weather impacted March and April and ‘the uncertainties over market footfall’. Like-for-like sales growth slowed to 1.3% in the first 18 weeks of 2018, as weak customer footfall on the high street and bad weather hit demand for Greggs’ food-on-the-go products.
Also on the back foot is luxury goods brand Burberry (BRBY), marked down 7.4% to £17.45 as the market reacts negatively to news Belgian billionaire Albert Frere’s Groupe Bruxelles Lambert has sold its entire 6.6% stake for the best part of £500m.
Unloved sub-prime lender Provident Financial (PFG) rallies 8.5% to 696.8p as CEO Malcolm Le May flags a positive start to 2018. Le May assures Provident’s recovery continues and the company is on track to deliver results for 2018 ‘in line with internal plans’.
Tobacco titan Imperial Brands (IMB) puffs 3.9% higher to £27.21, despite half year results revealing a 2.1% drop in total tobacco volumes. Investors are focusing on Imperial’s optimistic second half outlook, a further 10% increase in the dividend to 56.9p and the fact the cigarettes giant is getting good traction in its Growth Brands and pushing ahead with launching Next Generation Products (NGP).
Catering giant Compass (CPG) reverses almost 6% to £14.92, despite serving up robust half year figures, as investors focus on a decline in the operating margin and meagre 0.5% earnings per share growth, the impact of currency offset higher profits.
Elsewhere, JD Wetherspoon (JDW) firms 15p to £11.9 as the pubs group reports a 3.5% jump in third quarter like-for-like sales. Though the rate of growth slowed slightly in the quarter, chairman Tim Martin still expects his charge to meet full year forecasts.
Metrology-to-healthcare business Renishaw (RSW) sparks up 7.2% to £50.95 after upgrading full year sales and profit targets following a strong nine months to the end of March, the company having enjoyed growth in all regions over the first three quarters of the financial year.
