Evraz shares suspended after Abramovich sanctions announced
Shares in FTSE listed steel giant Evraz have been suspended after significant shareholder Roman Abramovich was added to the UK sanctions list.
The Financial Conduct Authority suspended trading at 11am “in order to protect investors pending clarification of the impact of the UK sanctions.”
Abramovich, who owns just under a third of Evraz, was today added to what the Government said was a “£15 billion sanctions hit”, with assets frozen and a UK travel ban imposed.
Evraz shares dropped 12.5% before the trading halt. As recently as yesterday the company was reassuring investors it was unaffected by sanctions.
Profits soar at Savills
Savills reported record sales and profits for the year just gone. The property giant — which does everything from consultancy and sales to property management— saw revenue rise 23% to £2.1 billion. Profits more than doubled to £183 million.
Savills enjoyed strength across most of the business, with particularly strong demand for commercial property and houses in the UK. Demand for warehouse and logistics space has been “phenomenal”, Ridley said.
The group announced dividends totalling 55.4p for the year, including a special dividend meant to make up for a cancelled payout at the start of the pandemic. Ridley called it “a thank you to shareholders who supported us”.
Read the full story.
Capita boosts revival hopes as revenues grow
Six years of declining revenues at ULEZ operator Capita finally ended today as boss Jon Lewis declared the start of a new era of growth for the outsourcing giant.
Capita’s shares rose as much as 7% in the FTSE 250 after Lewis said his exhausting four-year transformation plan was now over following a series of disposals to restore balance sheet strength.
Shares had been trading at 400p prior to Capita’s debt crisis in 2018, when it needed an emergency £700 million rights issue to survive. The pace of the subsequent restructuring has left the stock languishing at just above 20p, but Lewis believes there’s now a platform for growth based on its Public Service and Capita Experience divisions.
The company, which carries out Royal Navy training work and manages the London congestion charging scheme, reported an increase in revenues to £3 billion and £88 million rise in adjusted profit for 2021.
Shares lifted 0.7p to 22.5p but the boost for its shares has come too late to keep its place in the FTSE 250 in this month’s reshuffle. Other second-tier companies making progress in the wake of results today included motorway gantries firm Hill & Smith and 5G testing services business Spirent Communications after gains of 6%.
The FTSE 250 index still retreated 110.97 points to 19,958.23 and the FTSE 100 lost some of yesterday’s big gains as oil market volatility continued.
The top flight declined 67.80 points to 7122.92, with Russian steel producer Evraz down another 12% after major shareholder Roman Abramovich was named on the UK’s updated Russian sanctions list.
Rio Tinto dropped 6% as shares began trading without the right to the company’s recent record dividend, but other miners including Antofagasta and Glencore were 2% higher.
Boohoo shares jumped 16% on AIM after the online fast-fashion business stuck to City forecasts following 7% sales growth in the final quarter of its financial year. Shares rose 13p to 91.88p but had been above 250p in September.
FTSE 100 falls, Brent crude back to $117
The FTSE 100 index is back under pressure after oil prices resumed their upward momentum.
Brent crude rose 5% to trade near $117 a barrel, having fallen sharply yesterday after the United Arab Emirates said it supported an increase in OPEC+ production.
London’s top flight, which closed 3.3% higher last night on relief at lower commodity prices, fell 0.9% or 64.88 points to 7125.84.
Mining giant Rio Tinto was the biggest faller, dropping 6% after shares began trading without the right to the company’s latest bumper dividend payment. Other miners including Antofagasta and Glencore were more than 2% higher.
The FTSE 250 index has continued this week’s outperformance after limiting its fall to 0.2%, down 36.11 points to 20,033.09.
Motorway gantries business Hill & Smith led the way, with shares up 7% after its upbeat guidance on 2022 trading and 16% hike in dividend. Outsourcing firm Capita also rose 6% as it declared its transformation complete after reversing six years of declining revenues and reporting a good start to 2022 trading.
Bonus return for John Lewis staff
John Lewis Partnership is paying a bonus equivalent to 1.5 weeks’ pay after reporting a 38% rebound in underlying pre-tax profits to £181 million for the financial year to January.
The department store division achieved its highest ever sales of £4.93 billion, up 8% on a like-for-like basis, while the figure for supermarket Waitrose rose 1% to £7.5 billion.
The return of bonus payments with an award equivalent to 3% of pay came after the partnership met thresholds on profit and debt. This year’s pay review has been set at 2%, worth £54 million overall.
Plans for this year include investing £119 million in John Lewis shops, digital services and distribution capabilities. It will also spend £55 million to complete a further 23 major refurbishments of Waitrose stores.
FTSE 100 steadies after 3.3% jump
European markets are poised to consolidate most of their big gains from yesterday, when a fall in commodity prices encouraged investors to sweep up cheap-looking stocks.
The FTSE 100 index rose 3.3% and benchmarks on the continent staged even bigger rises during the best session for European markets since March 2020.
The improved sentiment came as the price of Brent crude fell sharply, having hit a 14-year high of almost $140 a barrel on Monday. Hopes of more supplies after the United Arab Emirates called on OPEC+ members to boost production meant the price fell as far as $111 a barrel on Wednesday.
Trading this morning saw Brent rise back to $115 a barrel but wheat futures were softer after this week’s multi-year highs.
Asia stock markets followed Wall Street higher in overnight trading, but CMC Markets expects a more subdued session in Europe after forecasting a fall for the FTSE 100 index of 30 points to 7160.
The quieter session reflects uncertainty ahead of the European Central Bank’s latest interest rates decision and this afternoon’s release of US inflation figures, which are expected to show a further increase in CPI to 7.8% or possibly 8%.
CMC’s senior markets analyst Michael Hewson thinks the figure will seal a quarter point rise in US interest rates later this month.
The ECB, meanwhile, will have to balance a slowdown in GDP, a surge in inflation and the prospect of fiscal stimulus to help Europe navigate away from Russian energy.
He added: “Recent events in Ukraine will mean that inflation, far from being transitory, is not only likely to remain high but is also set to go even higher over the course of the next few months.
“CPI inflation is already well over 10% in the Baltic states, but likely to go even higher in the coming months.”
Credit: Source link
