The FTSE 100‘s (FTSEINDICES: ^FTSE) strong week is turning down today, with the index of top UK shares dropping 44 points to 6,638 by mid-afternoon. There have been a few mixed earnings reports today, and there’s a little nervousness ahead of US jobs data. Still, with an overall gain so far of 83 points, the FTSE looks set to end the week ahead, barring any last-minute calamity.
But which shares are falling? Here are three set to slip behind the FTSE today:
Royal Bank of Scotland
Royal Bank of Scotland shares fell 14.3p (4.3%) to 319p on the day the bailed-out bank revealed a first-half pre-tax profit of £1,374m. The bank’s crucial core tier 1 ratio is up to 11.1%, or 8.7% on a fully loaded basis, with the firm saying it should have the full-loaded ratio up over 9% by the end of 2013.
Outgoing boss Stephen Hester, who is to be replaced by Ross McEwan, said that “The business challenges ahead lie principally in improving future operating trends and sustaining the focus and consistency needed to make further progress. RBS can be a “really good bank” for customers and shareholders“. We shall see.
William Hill
William Hill shares were up nearly 75% over the past 12 months, before this morning’s interim results. But today the price has turned downwards, dropping 33p (6.7%) to 461p, despite a 20% rise in net revenue to £751.6m with pre-exceptional pre-tax profit up 4% to £156.2m. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) rose 16% to 16.2p, and the interim dividend was lifted a similar 16% to 3.7p per share.
Chief executive Ralph Topping said “Profits have held up well even without a major football tournament and with the business being hit by additional tax. As the UK economy improves and consumers generally feel more confident, we remain confident Retail will continue to prosper“.
Asian Citrus Holdings
Asian Citrus Holdings (LSE: ACHL) has had an interesting few years, with its shares soaring to more than 88p towards the end of 2010. Since then it has slumped, and a further fall of 1.8p (8.3%) today took the price down to 19.4p. The firm, which basically grows oranges in China, released a profit warning this morning telling us that turnover for the year to 30 June is expected to be 20% down on last year, after a previous update in June told us of poor harvests.
Forecasts before today suggested a 40% fall in EPS for the year, and put the shares on a P/E of just 5.5.
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> Alan does not own any shares mentioned in this article.
