LONDON (ShareCast) - Industrial stocks were among the worst performers of the day on Thursday after a gloomy trading update from RPC Group weighed on the sector.

FTSE 250-listed rigid plastic packaging manufacturer RPC saw shares drop as much as 12% after saying this morning that foreign exchange and challenging economic conditions have dampened revenues and profits this financial year (ending March 31st).

The company, whose products include food and drink containers, cosmetics packaging and paint cans, said that trading has been tough in the fourth quarter with the upturn seen in January having not been sustained.

RPC also warned that organic growth next year would be “limited” as a result of subdued economic growth and a harsh trading environment.

Sector peer Rexam, which produces plain packaging mainly for the beverages market, was also under the weather today, trading down 0.4%.

Meanwhile, Vesuvius, the metal flow engineering firm that was formed from the demerger of Cookson last year, edged lower a day after announcing that it has offloaded its non-core Precious Metals Processing division to concentrate on its core molten metal engineering operations.

Investec cut its target price for Vesuvius from 400p to 385p today, but upgraded its rating from ‘hold’ to ‘buy’.



Top performing sectors so far today
Aerospace and Defence 4,798.75 +1.88%
Food Producers & Processors 7,528.96 +1.69%
Real Estate Investment Trusts 2,217.88 +1.58%
Fixed Line Telecommunications 3,272.54 +1.42%
Travel & Leisure 6,084.53 +1.35%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Personal Goods 21,199.05 -0.95%
General Industrials 3,762.41 -0.93%
Industrial Transportation 2,631.79 -0.66%
Mining 17,760.29 -0.47%
Automobiles & Parts 6,149.11 -0.30%

BC

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