2nd Nov 2022 11:05
(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers among London Main Market small-caps on Wednesday.
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SMALL-CAP - WINNERS
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Metro Bank PLC, up 12% at 81.62 pence, 12-month range 67.7p-147.8p. The high street lender returns to profit in September and said it has not yet seen signs of borrowers struggling with repayments amid the cost-of-living crisis. The group sets aside another GBP10 million for loans expected to turn sour as the economic outlook darkens, but stressed there has been no worsening of "early warning indicators" that borrowers are in distress. It expects retail margins to improve further throughout 2023, in part boosted by expectations for more rate hikes as the Bank of England tackles soaring inflation.
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Anglo-Eastern Plantations PLC, up 4.1% at 812p, 12-month range 670p-972p. The palm oil and rubber producer updates on the nine months to Sepember. The company says crude palm oil prices were 27% higher during the period at USD1,471 per metric tonne compared to a year before, but warns they remain volatile. It also benefitted from higher palm kernel prices, which were 35% higher year-on-year. "CPO prices are expected to be weak for the remaining part of the year as the industry enters into the high production season. In addition, the Indonesian government's decision to waive the export levy until the end of October 2022, in its effort to flush out and reduce its stockpile of palm oil, could push prices even lower," Anglo-Eastern says.
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SMALL-CAP - LOSERS
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Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust PLC, down 1.6% at 164.95p, 12-month range 143.8p-355p. The investor in US equities edges lower after stocks on Wall Street closed Tuesday in the red. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.2%, the S&P 500 down 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.9%
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By Elizabeth Winter; [email protected]
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