MARKET REPORT: Centrica shares plunge as energy prices fall

Shares in the owner of British Gas fell almost 10% despite the London stock market recovering after a meltdown in technology stocks on Wall Street.

Centrica fell 9.9 percent, or 14.2 percent, to 128.85 percent after halving profits in the first half of the year. However, the company still posted a profit of £1 billion after revenue fell 35 percent to £13.3 billion.

The FTSE 100 company pointed to a “more normalised environment” as it benefited from rising energy prices following the invasion of Ukraine.

It came on a turbulent day globally, following a massive sell-off in US technology stocks in the previous session.

On Wednesday, more than £500bn was wiped off the value of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ – Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Google-owner Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook parent Meta and Tesla – after disappointing updates from Tesla and Alphabet.

The unrest sparked heavy selling in Europe early yesterday morning, with the FTSE 100 falling to 8056, its lowest since April. Interactive Investor’s Victoria Scholar said markets had become “extremely vulnerable to the fate of a handful of tech giants”.

But Wall Street stabilised, with the Footsie closing 0.40% higher, or 32.66 points, at 8,186.35, while the FTSE 250 was down 0.32% or 66.49 points at 20,884.35. Smoking giant BAT warned that illegal disposable vaping products in the US were hurting its business, even as sales of its new range rose by £165m in the first half, rising 5.3% or 137p to 2,713p.

Relx rose 2.9%, or 101p, to 3,583p after the data and analytics company’s first-half revenue rose 7% to £4.6bn, while profits rose 14% to £1.3bn.

In the telecoms sector, BT said its business division was still struggling with old contracts, while its consumer division faced increased competition.

Group revenue fell 2% to £5.1bn in the quarter to the end of June, while profit fell 3% to £520m. It rose 0.4%, or 0.55p, to 140.3p.

Vodafone’s revenue rose 2.8 percent to £7.6 billion in the first quarter, thanks to strong growth in Turkey, South Africa and Egypt. Revenue rose 2.4 percent, or 1.7 percent, to 72.14 percent.

Trading platform IG Group gained 4.9%, or 41.5p, to 886.5p after resilient results in “slower market conditions”, with revenues down 3% to £987m in the year to the end of May. And CMC Markets rose 0.8%, or 2.5p, to 302p after it reiterated its annual forecasts following a decent first quarter.

Kitchen supplier Howden Joinery said freight costs will also rise in 2024, with prices falling 3.8 per cent, or 35.5p, to 912p.

De La Rue suffered even heavier losses after the banknote printer revealed a “material uncertainty” over its financial future due a loan payment due in July next year. It fell 5.8%, or 5.9p, to 96.6p.

Everyman Media – up 4.7%, or 2.3p, to 51.5p – has welcomed more cinemagoers who paid higher ticket prices and spent more on food and drink. It is optimistic, with premieres including Joker: Folie a Deux, Paddington in Peru and Gladiator II coming up.