FTSE 250 races ahead to wipe out Brexit vote loss
THE FTSE 100 finished the week with a flourish, climbing 0.79pc, or 53.31 points to a 12-month high of 6793.47.
Pharma giant Hikma bounced back from a poor performance the day before to be the index’s highest riser, soaring 7.9pc, or 175p to 2395p.
Housebuilders rallied on strong results from Bellway. The firm moved up 5.3pc, or 108p to 2137p as it reported an increase in house completions and said revenue is expected to rise 27pc to £2.2bn.
Persimmon advanced 3pc, or 51p to 1723p, Berkeley bounced up 3pc, or 76p to 2658p and Barratt gained 2.7pc, or 11.3p to 436.7p.
Meanwhile the FTSE 250 broke its pre-Brexit level and climbed to an eight-month high as it marched forward 1.28pc, or 221.03 points to 17,465.35. Ibstock was the highest climber on the mid-market for the day, advancing 7.7pc, or 10.9p, to 153p. The brick maker said revenue had climbed 3.3pc to £210m in the six months to June 30.
Specialist motor finance company S&U surged on a strong half year update. The firm said customer applications are at a record high and the number of customers it has is up 39pc on last year at 38,000. S&U said collections and repayments were within expected levels, with the net amount due from customers almost £175m.
Chairman Anthony Coombs said the group is confident about the future regardless of the current economic uncertainties. Shares soared 1.7pc, or 39p to 2377.5p.
The update came as figures from Finance & Leasing Association revealed consumers took out loans worth more than £1.5bn for new cars in June, up 10pc from a year ago.
Some 88,531 new cars were purchased in the month and 105,025 used vehicles. Drivers borrowed £17.5bn in car finance in the 12 months to June, an increase of 17pc from the year before. Holiday site On the Beach slipped after a share placing. The firm sold 10m shares in an accelerated book build, which is a type of speedy share placing with little or no marketing. The placing raised £21.5m for the firm, which has been keen to reassure investors of its financial health in recent weeks following the collapse of rival Low Cost Holidays. Shares plunged 8.9pc, or 21p to 216p, making it the greatest small-cap faller on the day.
Star fund managers are believed to be some of the big names backing AIM-listed telecoms software firm CloudCall. The business climbed yesterday as it revealed its £3.8m fundraising had been oversubscribed by investors. Renowned AIM investor Gervais Williams, who runs the Miton UK Smaller Companies fund is believed to be one of the experts who have invested in the firm, along with Monaco-based David Newton who runs the Helium Special Situations fund.
Lack of funding over recent months is thought to have been holding CloudCall back. The firm wants to expand into the US, where it says there are big opportunities for the business, but has lacked the manpower to do so. The company wants to use the money it raises to build a sales team over the pond.
In an interim update CloudCall said revenue has increased 62pc to £2.3m in the first six months and its user base had increase 35pc to 13,299. Operating losses have narrowed to £1.8m, from £2.5m in the same period a year ago. Shares shot up 9.9pc, or 5.5p to 61p.
PHSC plunged on its preliminary results. The health, safety and hygiene consultancy said underlying earnings had fallen to £368,000 in the year to March 31, compared to £818,000 the year before. Revenue slipped to £7m, from £7.7m.
The group said the effect of the EU referendum result on the business will take time to become apparent, but warned there would be a direct impact to its securityrelated subsidiaries which import their electronic products.
A weaker pound has also hit margins. Overall the business mad a loss after tax of £414,000 compared with a profit of £349,000 a year ago. The firm is maintaining a final dividend of 1.5p a share. Shares sank 10.9pc, or 2.5p to 20.5p.