Why Petrofac Limited, Thomas Cook Group plc and Cranswick plc Should Beat The FTSE 100 Today

Petrofac Limited (LON: PFC), Thomas Cook Group plc (LON: TCG) and Cranswick plc (LON: CWK) start the week well.

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The FTSE 100 (FTSEINDICES: ^FTSE) lost 19 points last week to record three losing weeks in a row. But by mid-afternoon today it has regained that plus one more point to stand at 6,695. The nuclear agreement with Iran has provided a bit of optimism, with airline shares having risen — not in anticipation of a rush to the golden beaches of Hormuz, but because oil prices fell.

In a day of relatively thin company news, what has been pushing shares upwards? Here are three that have benefited:

Petrofac

Petrofac (LSE: PFC) shareholders deserve a break after project delays led to a price plunge last week, and they got a modest bit of good news today.

The oil & gas engineering firm has landed a refinery improvement project in Oman worth $2.1bn, in a 50/50 joint venture with Korean firm Daelim Industrial. The contract covers engineering, procurement, construction, start-up and commissioning, and is expected to last 36 months.

The work, which includes both renovation and expansion, should boost productivity at the refinery by at least 70%. The shares responded with a 16.9p (1.4%) rise to 1,208p.

Thomas Cook

Once-beleaguered travel agent Thomas Cook Group (LSE: TCG) has been bounding back, and its shares have more than seven-bagged since being branded practically worthless a year ago.

Today the price got a 4.9p (3.3%) boost to 153p, after the firm announced it has agreed to sell Neilson Active Holidays to a private investment firm for £9.15m. The deal, which chief executive Harriet Green described as part of the “continuing rationalisation of our business” should be completed in early December.

Cranswick

Shares in Cranswick (LSE: CWK) gained 55p (5%) to 1,155p today, taking them up more than 40% over the past 12 months, after the food products firm reported a 16% rise in first-half pre-tax profit to £26.1m.

That came from a 15% rise in revenue to £483.5m, and resulted in a bump of 22% in earnings per share to 43.5p. The firm lifted its interim dividend by 6% to 10p per share, with chairman Martin Davey telling us that full-year performance should be in line with expectations.

Should you invest, the value of your investment may rise or fall and your capital is at risk. Before investing, your individual circumstances should be assessed. Consider taking independent financial advice.

> Alan does not own any shares mentioned in this article.

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