60 2GM Saturday November 14 2020 | the timesBusinessMarkets
Retail bosses decide to cash in
T
he FTSE 100 may have ended
the day down slightly, but that
didn’t deter two of the retail
sector’s most prominent
directors from cashing in shares.
Leading the way was Lord Wolfson
of Aspley Guise, the long-serving chief
executive of Next, who sold shares in
the fashion retailer worth more than
£10 million after a strong recovery in
its price since March. He sold 150,000
shares at £67.87 each, after a similar-
sized disposal last year. The company
said that the sale had allowed Lord
Wolfson “to spread his investments
into other non-retail areas”. Next
shares closed down 160p, or 2.3 per
cent, at £60.70.
Asos shares also closed lower, down
27p, or 0.6 per cent, at £45.50, as
Nicholas Robertson, its co-founder,
disposed of shares worth £13.6 million
a few weeks after the online fashion
retailer reported that it had more than
quadrupled its pre-tax profit in its
latest financial year.
Still, there were some bright spots
yesterday, not least an upbeat trading
statement from Galliford Try that
sent shares in the construction group
surging by more than a quarter. After
announcing a loss for its last financial
year, Galliford Try said that it was on
track to “emerge strongly from thepandemic” by returning to
profitability in the first half of this
financial year. It said that all its
projects had been “fully operational”
since the start of its financial year on
July 1, with productivity at “near-
normal levels”. Galliford Try shares
rose 21½p, or 26.1 per cent, to 103½p.
In the FTSE 100, Rolls-Royce was
among the biggest risers as analysts
assessed the aircraft engine maker’s
prospects after a volatile week in
which it was buoyed by the Pfizer
vaccine news and completed its
£2 billion rights issue.
Rolls is paid by airlines for hours
flown, so has been hit hard by the
collapse in air travel because of the
pandemic. Analysts at Jefferies said
that “the equity story is still mired inCovid, but the refinancing and Covid
vaccine should remove the most
extreme downside”. While they
lowered their price target from 140p
to 110p, they reiterated their “buy”
rating, arguing that “Rolls-Royce will
mature steadily but gracefully”.
Analysts at JP Morgan offered a
more downbeat view, arguing that
Rolls “still has the weakest balance
sheet in the sector by far.” Despite
reiterating a “sell” rating on the stock,
they raised their price target to 50p
from only 30p previously. The shares
rose by 4.1 per cent, or 3¾p, to 93¾p.
The FTSE 100 ended the day down
22.5 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 6,316.69,
as the rally triggered by the Pfizer
vaccine hopes lost momentum and as
the stronger pound weighed ondollar-earners such as Experian,
down 103p, or 3.25 per cent, at £30.68.
Brent crude oil prices were trading
down about 1.5 per cent at less than
$43 a barrel after Thursday’s
International Energy Agency warning
that the vaccine was unlikely to
bolster oil demand until the second
half of next year, weighing on Royal
Dutch Shell, whose B shares fell
10½p, or almost 1 per cent, to £11.15.
The FTSE 250 ended the day down
32.17 points, or 0.17 per cent, at 19,270.
Investors checked into Whitbread
after analysts at Barclays said thatthey believed the Premier Inn owner
was strongly placed to gain market
share from Travelodge, its rival. They
increased the price target by 34 per
cent to £33.50. Its shares rose by
3.6 per cent, or 96p, to £27.81.
Elsewhere, Electra Private Equity
said that it had appointed bankers
from Stifel to “conduct early
preparation for the realisation of its
investment in Hotter”, a shoes brand
it bought in 2014. Its shares closed up
25½p, or 12.4 per cent, at 232p.Wall Street report
Upbeat company earnings reports
and hopes of a working coronavirus
vaccine lifted indices at the end of a
volatile trading week. The Dow
Jones industrial average rose 399.64
points, or 1.4 per cent, to 29,479.81, a
weekly gain of 4.1 per cent.Company Change
Galliford Try Positive trading update 26.1%
Electra Private Equity Prepares to sell Hotter shoes 12.4%
Legal & General Citi analysts reiterate “buy” after capital markets day 4.2%
Rolls-Royce Some positive broker comments 4.1%
Whitbread Upgraded to “buy” by Barclays 3.6%
Experian Stronger pound hits dollar earnings -3.3%
WH Smith Vaccine rally subsides -3.5%
Georgia Capital Sell-off after investor day -5.6%
Tullow Oil Lower oil price -5.9%
Premier Oil Brent crude price falls -6.8%The day’s biggest movers
Name Pre-tax figure
Profit (+) loss (-)DividendCastings (engineering HY) -£0.6m (£7.3m) 3.57p p Jan 7
6 Results in brief are given for all companies valued at more than £30 million. f = final p = payableResults in brief
news in brief
Wework revenues fall
Wework drained more than half a
billion dollars from its coffers in the
third quarter as the pandemic hit
demand for shared offices. Revenue
fell by 8 per cent to $811 million
between July and September and the
company burnt through $517 million.
Its outflow, which was lower than the
$671 million recorded in the previous
quarter, leaves the start-up, founded
in 2010 and once valued at $47 billion,
with $3.6 billion in the bank.Greggs to cut 820 jobs
Greggs is to cut 820 jobs in its shops
as it expects trading to remain below
normal for the foreseeable future, a
spokeswoman said. The high street
bakery chain, which employs 25,000
people and is best known for its
sausage rolls, steak bakes and vegan
snacks, said in September that it had
launched a consultation with union
and employee representatives and
was aiming to minimise job losses by
negotiating reduced staff hours.Google makes apology
The boss of Google has apologised to
the European commissioner leading a
reform of technology regulation in
the bloc after a document with a plan
to undermine his efforts came to
light. Sundar Pichai, 48, told Thierry
Breton, 65, that he had been unaware
of the plan to single out the French
commissioner in an attempt to
undercut the legislation, according to
the Financial Times. The new rules are
expected to impose tough restrictions.Emily Gosden
Market report