Bullish builders dodge slowdown in property
It’s a tale of two markets for Britain’s property sector, with housebuilders on the up and estate agents in the doldrums.
Estate agency chain Countrywide reported a 10pc drop in revenue in the first quarter, driven by a slump in house sales.
that probably wasn’t too much of a shock to shareholders: last month it scrapped its dividend as it reported losses of more than £200m. Housebuilder Persimmon, on the other hand, reported ‘robust’ figures for the first three months of the year, with demand for new homes soaring.
the FtsE 100 firm may be facing a revolt from shareholders over executive pay, but it is flying. It reported total forward sales revenue, which includes completions, of £2.76bn – up 8pc year- on-year.
In a note published last week, analysts at broker Peel Hunt said: ‘the February and March results season did little to change our bullish view on the UK’s new housing market. It also did little to change our more cautious view on transactions in the second-hand housing market.
‘ News flow from the housebuilders has been consistently robust, while the estate agents have been struggling with softer volumes.’ Countrywide’s shares slid 3.8pc, or 3.9p, to 98.1p, while Persimmon climbed 0.2pc, or 4p, to 2694p.
the FTSE 100 was dragged lower by basic materials producers and technology stocks, ending the day down 0.62pc, or 46.08 points, at 7379.32, while the FTSE
250 was down 0.87pc, or 176.23 points, at 20,019.08.
Anglo American warned profits would be up to £290m lower in 2018 because a burst pipe in an iron ore mine in Brazil halted production. It is carrying out an inspection at the site and is not expecting production to restart for at least another 90 days. shares fell 4.2pc, or 72.6p, to 1675p.
Antofagasta reported a 10.5pc fall in copper production and a whopping 39.4pc slide in gold production in the first quarter.
But despite the fall, the firm says it is on course to meet full-year production guidance. shares dipped 1.8pc, or 17.4p, to 960p.
A strengthening pound dealt a blow to drugs giant GlaxoSmith
Kline. It reported a 2pc fall in turnover to £7.2bn and a 29pc fall in pre-tax profits to £1.1bn. shares fell 3.4pc, or 50p, to 1412.2p.
In the small caps, shares in struggling Carpetright jumped after it emerged hedge fund Meditor Capital Management had increased its stake in the firm.
Meditor now holds 29.9pc in Carpetright, just shy of the threshold at which it would be forced to make a formal bid. Carpetright shares rose 5.3pc, or 1.9p, to 38p.
On Aim, Crawshaw shares avoided the butcher’s cleaver despite disappointing sales. the butcher posted a £13.5m loss in the year to January 28, resulting largely from a £10.6m writedown in the value of its 40 underperforming high street shops.
But out-of-town factory outlets are doing better and Crawshaw plans more of them. shares rose 11pc, or 0.5p, to 5.05p.
It was a good day of trading for the UK’s small drug firms. Futura
Medical shares rose following ‘highly encouraging’ results for its erectile dysfunction gel. the trial suggests that its gel, MED2002, works faster than Viagra.
someone clearly dumped a bucket of MED2002 on Futura shares, which rose 8.5pc, or 2.75p, to 32.25p. the EU granted Aimlisted drug firm ValiRx a patent for its prostate cancer treatment, and shares ticked up 15.2pc, or 0.48p, to 3.6p.