Here’s a quick rundown on the two biggest risers and fallers on the FTSE 250 for last week.
Renishaw (up 15.2%)
Shares in Renishaw, a precision engineering firm, had a good week following the release of its results for the six months ended 31 December 2023.
They revealed falling sales and reduced earnings for the first half of its current financial year, compared to the same period in 2022.
But the directors expect a better second half and upgraded their full-year profit forecast.
Redrow (up 12%)
On 7 February, shares in Redrow leapt higher following the announcement that the directors had recommended a takeover by Barratt Developments.
The deal is said to value the upmarket housebuilder at £2.5bn. But even with a jump in its share price, the company’s stock market valuation is £300m lower.
Perhaps shareholders aren’t too keen on merging with a larger business that, last week, reported a drop in its gross profit margin for the six months ended 31 December 2023. And cut its interim dividend by more than half.
Close Brothers (down 18.6%)
Close Brothers provides lending, wealth management and financing services to small businesses and individuals.
Its shares performed particularly badly on 9 February — they fell over 7% — following a broker downgrade.
But other than this, there’s no obvious reason for the slump. It appears to be one of those stocks that’s simply out of favour.
Some might be concerned that the company’s a big provider of motor finance. In January, the Financial Conduct Authority announced that it was planning to investigate the industry for alleged malpractice.
It’s been predicted that it could rival the PPI (payment protection insurance) mis-selling scandal, which resulted in over £50bn being repaid to consumers.
Other might be wary that its financial planning division, Winterflood, is currently loss-making due to a “further weakening of investor appetite“.
PZ Cussons (down 23.3%)
PZ Cussons (LSE:PZC) sells hygiene, baby and beauty products across the world.
However, the Nigerian nairu has fallen 70% over the past year. This has resulted in a huge currency loss for the company (£88.2m).
The government has pursued a policy of devaluation in an attempt to attract foreign investment. However, this has now ended so I can’t see the losses continuing.
But with such a large fall in the currency, there’s an increased risk of inflation taking hold. This would damage the company’s sales in a market that accounts for nearly 40% of its revenue.
Following disappointing results, the company’s also decided to write down the value of its Sanctuary Spa brand (£24.4m).
But ignoring these one-off items, the business is profitable.
Adjusting for extraordinary items, the company’s statutory results for the six months to 2 December 2023, show a profit before tax of £26.1m.
And it’s managed to increase its underlying gross profit margin to 39.4%. This compares to 39.2% and 38.4%, respectively, in its 2023 and 2022 financial years.
Even so, the 2024 full-year adjusted operating profit is expected to be lower than in the two previous years.
Although the company has strong brands, I think the uncertainty in Africa — and the 44% cut in its interim dividend — means it will take a while for investor confidence to be restored in the business.
