FTSE 100 movers: DCC gains on MS note; Kingfisher drops on results
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Wednesday 20 Mar 2019
(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was down 0.2% to 7,309.28 in afternoon trade on Wednesday as investors grappled with a seemingly endless stream of Brexit-related headlines.
Kingfisher was the standout loser as the B&Q owner held its full-year dividend steady at 10.8p a share, after saying that profits last year fell less than expected as it completed the third year of its five-year turnaround plan. It also said the search for a new chief executive to take over from Véronique Laury has begun but a departure date has not yet been decided.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said Kingfisher's failure to increase its dividend for a tenth year in a row is the subtlest indication that its turnaround plan is not delivering.
"The decision to change not just its head of IT and also its chief executive is more of a giveaway, as is a change in how the company will measure the success of the ONE Kingfisher project's results," he added.
Housebuilders Persimmon, Berkeley Group and Taylor Wimpey were on the back foot after data from the Office for National Statistics showed house prices rose at their slowest annual rate for nearly six years in January, dragged down by ongoing weakness in the London market.
The ONS said average house prices in the UK increased by 1.7% in the year to January 2019, down from the 2.2% annual rise reported in December and the lowest annual rate since June 2013, when it was 1.5%.
The lowest annual growth was in London, where prices fell by 1.6% in the year to January; in December they declined 0.7%. The second-worst performer was the east of England, where prices fell 0.2% over the year.
On the upside, sales, marketing and support services group DCC was among the risers as Morgan Stanley put out a note on the 15 business service companies now under its coverage, highlighting a preference for DCC, among others.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,338.00p 2.19%
DCC (DCC) 6,690.00p 1.90%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 514.20p 1.74%
Just Eat (JE.) 757.60p 1.66%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,654.00p 1.44%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,927.50p 1.37%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,522.20p 1.26%
Rightmove (RMV) 511.10p 1.07%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,219.95p 0.91%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,295.50p 0.89%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Kingfisher (KGF) 236.40p -3.63%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,238.00p -2.91%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 270.40p -2.42%
Next (NXT) 5,192.00p -2.30%
ITV (ITV) 134.30p -2.26%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 540.40p -2.17%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 181.05p -2.14%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,219.23p -2.07%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,885.00p -2.02%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 279.20p -1.93%
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