3 FTSE Shares You Should Have Bought Last Week: NEXT plc, Barratt Developments Plc and Fresnillo Plc

NEXT plc (LON: NXT), Barratt Developments Plc (LON: BDEV) and Fresnillo Plc (LON: FRES) did well.

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The FTSE 100 (FTSEINDICES: ^FTSE) has made a limp start to the New Year, dropping 20 points to end last week on 6,731 — but trading volumes were low, and there was little in the way of company news as we await Christmas trading figures from our big names.

But we did have a few movers. Here are three that saw their share prices rising during the week:

NEXT

NEXT (LSE: NXT) delighted its shareholders by recording fourth-quarter sales “ahead of the top end of our previous guidance” and declaring a special dividend. Sales for the quarter climbed by 11.9% overall, with NEXT Directory grabbing a 21% rise. Year-to-date that adds up to a total 5% sales rise, with NEXT Directory up 12%.

And with cash generation going strong, the firm is set to make a special 50p-per-share payment on 3 February, with an ex-dividend date of 15 January.

The two announcements, both on Friday, pushed the shares to a weekly gain of 615p (11.2%) to end on 6,085p.

Barratt Developments

The UK’s housebuilders are picking up again, as Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV) led the pack last week with a 22p (6.5%) rise to 360.7p.

We’d earlier had Persimmon tell us that ‘Help to buy’ sells were off to a muted start, but last week the Nationwide Building Society reported an 8.4% rise in house prices during the year, with a 14.9% rise in the fourth quarter in London.

Barratt shares are now up 70% over the past 12 months, after the company reported an 80% rise in EPS for the year to June 2013.

Fresnillo

After a prolonged slump, shares in Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) are continuing their tentative recovery with a second week of gains — this time a rise of 36.5p (5%) to 771.5p.

The slump in precious metals prices has hit the silver and gold miner hard, and led to a slashing of the 2013 interim dividend. But a one-off special dividend of 22.39 cents per share announced in October has helped.

There’s still a way to go, though, with the shares on a P/E of nearly 28 on expectations for the year to December 2013.

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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