With the long weekend looming many in the City had their minds on sunnier climates and travel agent Thomas Cook soared.
But it wasn’t summer getaway plans that sent the package holiday provider climbing: investors were cheering an outlook upgrade from ratings agency Standard & Poor’s.
The bump up from stable to positive marks another significant step in boss Harriet Green’s turnaround of the company. Green called the forecast change “another milestone in the rapid delivery of our strategy of sustainable profit growth.”
Thomas Cook put on 5.3p to 169.4p — shares were changing hands at around 14p when Green came in as chief executive in July 2012.
Volumes were light today, with many traders already checked out for Easter. Those still left in the office were reluctant to send the market higher after bad news from America overnight.
Andy McLevey, head of dealing at Interactive Investor, said: “Disappointing figures from both Google and IBM and continuing tensions in Ukraine has damped investor enthusiasm ahead of the Easter break.” The FTSE 100 was 11.70 points lower at 6572.47.
Shell announced a gas find off the coast of Malaysia today, but the company slid 16.5p to 2368p.
Synergy Health tumbled after admitting “lower than anticipated” revenue growth over the past three months. The group blamed the slowdown on bad weather across Europe and the US causing surgery delays and unfavourable currency movement. Synergy fell 18p to 1232.5p.
Swiss-headquartered iron miner Ferrexpo updated on production and sales today. Despite a 9.2% increase in iron production and falling costs, the Ukrainian-focused miner fell 1.6p to 148.8p over concerns in the region.
Yuen Low at Shore Capital said: “The ongoing crisis in [Ukraine] can be expected to weigh on the share price until there are clear indications of resolution, even if production continues to remain unaffected.”
Wheelie bin-maker Straight managed to turn a profit of £820,000 last year, after a loss of £240,000 in 2012. Chairman James Newman said: “2014 has started well with a strong order book already in place. The Board is confident that it will be able to deliver further profitable growth over the coming year.” Straight, headed by eccentrically moustached businessman Jonathan Straight, was flat at 54.5p.
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AIM-listed technology firm blur Group, which lets companies tender service contracts online, warned 2013 revenue is likely be lower than expected as complex projects take longer to complete. Although it also revealed strong momentum in the first quarter, with 1031 projects already submitted compared to 359 a year earlier, it failed to placate investors. Blur tumbled 142.5p to 310p.
Car manual publisher Haynes said revenues fell 7% in the third quarter because of “softer conditions” in the UK. The firm fell 10.5p to 200.5p.
