26th Nov 2020 10:56
(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Thursday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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DCC, up 3.0%. Morgan Stanley raised the Irish support services firm to Overweight from Equal Weight.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Persimmon, down 4.6%, Imperial Brands, down 4.5%, Land Securities down 2.7%. The stocks went ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest payout.
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CRH, down 2.5%. Goldman Sachs downgraded the Irish building materials firm to Sell from Neutral.
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Aviva, down 1.5%. The insurer said it was making progress on its company simplification strategy and announced a new sustainable dividend policy. Aviva declared a 7.0 pence per share interim dividend. The insurer currently expects to recommend a final 2020 dividend of 14p per share, subject to a decision to be taken in March 2021. The expected 2020 total dividend of 21.0p per share is then expected to grow by low to mid-single digits, it said. However, the expected total dividend for 2020 is 32% lower than the 30.9p paid out in 2019. "While the dividend cut is unwelcome for existing shareholders, a reliable yield of around 6.5% may be attractive to new investors. Unfortunately, Aviva remains mired in untangling its historic network of businesses, and that will inevitably distract both investors and management from a core business that is showing some signs of promise," said analysts at Hargreaves Lansdown.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Britvic, up 1.5%. The soft drinks maker reported a small rise in annual profit and has declared a final dividend after skipping its interim payout. In the year to September 30, pretax profit rose slightly to GBP111.2 million from GBP110.3 million. Revenue, however, slipped 9.0% to GBP1.41 billion from GBP1.55 billion. Administration expenses fell to GBP201.1 million from GBP256.1 million. Britvic deferred its decision on distributing an interim dividend, but has chosen to declare a 21.6 pence final dividend - which maintains the firm's 50% payout policy. In financial 2019, Britvic declared a 21.7p final dividend, giving it a 30.0p full-year payout.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Virgin Money, down 10%. The challenger bank was extending losses after reporting a jump in credit impairment charges, which it said reflected a "cautious approach to an uncertain economic environment" on Wednesday. The bank also said it was still unable to give medium-term guidance due to the unprecedented nature of Covid-19 and unclear prospects in the UK. The stock closed down 7.7% on Wednesday. Virgin Money's CET1 ratio ended September at 13.4%, slightly higher than 13.3% a year before. Virgin Money did not declare a dividend in financial 2020, helping to aid its capital buffers. "We continue to see the group loss-making in 2021 with CET1 declining to 11.6% and exposed to higher interest rate risk following the wind-down of the hedge," analysts at JPMorgan said.
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Bodycote, down 5.9%. The thermal coating services firm said the coronavirus pandemic has "severely impacted" its trading. For the four months to the end of October 31, revenue dropped 20% year on year to GBP193.6 million. Bodycote noted the sharp drop in the period still represented a recovery from the 28% decline in constant currency revenue in the second quarter when the Covid-19 related downturn was at its peak. For the 10 months to October 31, revenue was down 18% at GBP500.3 million.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; [email protected]
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Related Shares:
BritvicAvivaBodycotePersimmonDCCImperial BrandsVirgin Money Uk