The FTSE 100 (FTSEINDICES: ^FTSE) is rebounding a little after yesterday’s losses, picking up 66 points to 6,296 by midday, boosted by a rise in easyJet after the budget airline announced strong June passenger numbers. But there are still fears surrounding Portugal, whose borrowing rates are rising.
With the FTSE on the up, which shares are falling? Here are three from the various indices having a hard time today:
Dunelm
Shares in soft-furnishings retailer Dunelm Group dipped a little this morning, down 10p (1.1%) to 938p, after the firm released a trading update. Although generally positive overall, the final quarter was mixed.
Total sales in the quarter were up 6.4%, but like-for-like sales were down 2.8% — over the full year we saw total sales up 12.2% and like-for-like up 1.7%. The end of the year was hit by weather — not by bad weather this year, but exceptionally good weather a year ago giving 2012 Q4 sales a boost.
Still, the shares are still up around 85% over the past 12 months.
Low & Bonar
Low & Bonar (LSE: LWB) shares dropped 1.75p (2.7%) to 63p on the release of first-half results, which generally showed falls from the same period last year. The firm, which makes high-performance materials, saw a small rise in revenues from £183.9m to £184.1m, but that turned to a 37% fall in statutory pre-tax profit to £4m. Basic earnings per share (EPS) fell 27.5% to 1.74p, but the company did lift its interim dividend by 6.25% to 0.85p per share.
Chairman Martin Flower told us that “With sales momentum renewed as the Group enters the traditionally stronger second half we remain confident of meeting expectations for the full year“. This expectations suggest a 5% rise in EPS, putting the shares on a P/E of under 10.
Man Group
Man Group(LSE: EMG) shares have been very volatile of late. Having been recovering since the credit crisis, the shares were recently standing at double their price from a year ago. But since peaking at 133p near the end of May, the price has slumped by 38% to 82.4p today, including a 1.1% fall today.
The reason? The revelation in early June that the firm’s flagship AHL fund had lost more than 10% of its value in May, essentially reversing its profits for the year.
Finally, reliable dividends can more than compensate for the day-to-day ups and downs of share prices. So how about a company that’s offering a 5% yield and which could be set for some nice share price appreciation too?
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> Alan does not own any shares mentioned in this article.
