MARKET REPORT: Shares in car dealership Inchcape hit the buffers amid fears over the outlook for the rest of the year
Shares in car dealership Inchcape plummeted as investors worried about the outlook for the rest of the year.
The company, which sells brands such as Audi, BMW and Jaguar, said sales rose 18 per cent to £8.1 billion in 2022.
But it made a loss of £6 million after winning £122 million the year before. And looking ahead, while it said trading was in line with expectations so far, there was little else.
Losses: Car dealership Inchcape, which sells brands such as Audi, BMW and Jaguar, said sales rose 18 per cent to £8.1 billion in 2022
Analysts at JP Morgan warned that the lack of details about the road ahead. Shares fell 12.6 percent, or 109 pence, to 758 pence.
Earlier this week, car dealership Pendragon warned (1.5 percent, or 0.25 pence, to 16.55 pence) that there would be less supply for new and used vehicles this year.
When the Bank of England raised interest rates to 4.25 per cent, the highest level since 2008, the FTSE 100 fell 0.9 per cent, or 67.24 points, to 7499.6 and the FTSE 250 fell 0.2 per cent , or 27.83 points, to 18729.96.
The rate hike will drive up mortgage payments for many, though fixed rate deals are still well below levels in the wake of the fall mini budget.
And Crest Nicholson pointed to signs of a recovery in home sales as demand returns, though he warned that the inability to help more first-time buyers up the real estate ladder was holding back further progress.
The home builder said it had sold an average of 0.52 homes per outlet per week in the 11 weeks from the beginning of January.
This was an improvement on the 0.35 sales it reported in the 11 weeks from early November.
But it said that ‘it is not surprising that those with lower net worth are finding it more difficult to buy their first home and get up the housing ladder’. Shares fell 0.4 percent, or 0.8 pence, to 206.8 pence.
Pharmaceutical company Puretech Health has secured a lucrative royalty deal for a drug being developed to treat schizophrenia.
The group has sold part of its royalties in Karuna Therapeutics’ KarXT to Nasdaq-listed company Royalty Pharma. Shares rose 10.8 percent, or 22 pence, to 225 pence.
At Energean, the oil and gas group praised a positive start to the year with a goal of ramping up production in the Karish gas field off the coast of Israel. Shares rose 9.1 percent, or 102 pence, to 1,219 pence.
Private equity firm 3i pushed higher after a positive start to the year for the most successful company in its portfolio.
It said Action, a Netherlands-based discount retailer that supplies household items from bird tables to micro-USB cables, reported a turnover of £1.85 billion in the first three months of this year.
That was an increase of 37 percent compared to the same period in 2022.
3i shares rose 0.9 percent, or 14.5 pence, to 1583.5 pence. Meanwhile, gambling software group Playtech warned of a challenging year following tough trading conditions in the UK.
UK sales fell 4 percent last year due to a fall in revenues from Ladbrokes owner Entain and a slowdown in online business amid uncertainty over gambling regulations. Shares fell 1.6 percent, or 9 pence, to 540 pence.
C&C said sales for the year to February 28 appeared to be up 18 per cent to £1.5 billion.
The Dublin-based drinks company behind Bulmers, Magners and Tennent’s added it expects to report a profit of £74 million.
This would be in line with the £74m to £78m range it gave in January. The group’s previous financial year was plagued by a weaker Christmas period and train strikes. Shares rose 3.6 percent, or 5.4 pence, to 155.2 pence.
Trading in Inland Homes shares will be suspended from April 3 after the homebuilder said it will miss the deadline to publish its 2022 results. Shares fell 13.8 percent, or 1 pence, to 6.25 pence.