London’s FTSE 100 cheapens 3.6 points to 7,320.4 early on, ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s latest policy decision and amid chatter that top US trade officials will head to China next week for new trade talks.
Home improvement giant Kingfisher (KGF) cheapens 1.3% to 242.1p on the news chief executive officer (CEO) Veronique Laury is downing tools having struggled to turn around the DIY store chain. The search for her successor has begun, although a departure date has yet to be decided.
Results for the year to January from the B&Q-to-Screwfix owner reveal a disappointing 13% drop in underlying pre-tax profit to £693m, with profit increases in the UK and Poland more than offset by weakness in the French Castorama business and losses in Russia and Romania.
The FTSE 100 is also weighed down by the big mining companies whose shares have been hit by a fall in iron ore prices, with Anglo American (AAL) off 2% at £19.64, BHP (BHP) 2% lower at £17.45 and Rio Tinto (RIO) reversing 3.5% to £41.55. Major rival Vale has cleared a hurdle to restart production at one of its Brazilian mines, which would ease global supply constraints.
Construction outsourcer Kier (KIE), which confessed to an accounting error earlier this month, sheds 9.2% to trade at 439.4p after swinging to a first half pre-tax loss as its costly turnaround programme impacted performance. Kier is maintaining its full year expectations, although it warns the results will be weighted towards the second half of the financial year.
Automotive fluid systems engineer TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) ticks up 6% to 182p after reporting a surge in annual pre-tax profit from €158m to €217.1m aided by lower financing costs. CEO William Kozyra insists ‘2018 was a great year for TI Fluid Systems. Despite a slight softening in global light vehicle production growth, we achieved strong organic growth, solid profit margins and free cash flow generation’. Kozyra is also confident that ‘our business model will continue to deliver consistent, strong financial performance along with attractive returns.’
Content management and language translation software specialist SDL (SDL) improves 4p to 550p on robust full year results and a confident outlook statement from CEO Adolfo Hernandez.
Restaurant operator Tasty (TAST:AIM) slumps 35.3% to 5.5p after posting a deeper annual loss following restaurant closures and saying it won’t open any new restaurants in 2019, with management focused on turning round its fortunes.
Chairman Keith Lassman blames unfavourable weather conditions and the World Cup for the poor 2018 performance. ‘The challenging conditions continue to affect the casual dining sector as evidenced by the well-publicised closures across the market and on the high street,’ he explains, adding ‘we have undertaken a full review of our food offering and customer journey and we continue to take steps to ensure our menu remains relevant and we are able to differentiate ourselves from the competition in the sector.’
Premium performance nutrition specialist Science in Sport (SIS:AIM) skips 2% higher to 52.5p on forecast beating full year results showing a 37% surge in sales to £21.3m, albeit the underlying operating loss widened amid investment in brand awareness and the e-commerce and overseas channels. CEO Stephen Moon is confident of delivering ‘continued strong growth in 2019 and beyond’, with Science in Sport’s growth prospects boosted by December’s transformational £32m acquisition of performance nutrition brand PhD.
