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Chart of the Day: the top rising and falling shares in Q1
It has been a remarkable first quarter for shares, topped off by an eventful March. We reveal the top 20 biggest risers and fallers.
Markets
by Gavin Lumsden on Apr 02, 2012 at 12:23
The UK stock market recovery may have tailed off recently but nevertheless it has still been a positive first quarter for investors, particularly in smaller company shares.
The FTSE All Share rose 4.9% in the first three months of the year. From a New Year starting point of 2,858 the index clawed back much of its 2011 losses to peak at 3,098 on 16 March but has since retreated to close at 3,003 on Friday.
The bounce back has been led by smaller companies with the FTSE SmallCap index advancing 17.7% from 2,164 to 2,547 in the first three months of the year.
Debt drives big movers
They say a rising tide lifts all boats, which is perhaps why a clutch of struggling companies – many of them laden with big debts – achieved some of the biggest gains in the first quarter.
Premier Foods, up 0.5% to 16.75p today, has chalked up nearly 180% gains so far this year. The country’s biggest food manufacturer has laboured under tough trading conditions and rising costs for some time. However, it won itself some breathing space a few weeks ago with a debt refinancing with its banks. The share price has halved in the past year and has been on a downhill path since reaching 320p in 2007.
Shares in Enterprise Inns, the indebted pubs operator, also did well as a sale of pubs raised hopes that it too will refinance its debts later in the year.
Ocado, the online grocer, advanced following an encouraging first-quarter performance but remains below its flotation price
The top 20 risers in March
| Name | Sector | 1 month price change % | 3 months price change % | Market value £ | Dividend yield % | Price-earnings (PE) ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essar Energy (ESSR.L) | Oil & Gas (refining & marketing) | 48 | -9.4 | 2bn | 0 | 0 |
| Premier Foods (PFD.L) | Food Processing | 38.3 | 179.7 | 400m | 0 | 0 |
| Hardy (HDU.L) | Property & Casualty Insurance | 38.2 | 45.5 | 139m | 1.6 | 0 |
| Psion (PON.L) | Computer Hardware | 28.4 | 41.9 | 87m | 7.1 | 0 |
| RusPetro (RPO.L) | Oil & Gas (exploration & production) | 27.8 | 0 | 745m | 0 | 0 |
| Dixons Retail (DXNS.L) | Computer & Electronics Retailers | 25 | 90 | 665m | 0 | 0 |
| EMBLAZE (EBLZ.L) | IT Services & Consulting | 24.4 | 4.9 | 0 | 0 | 24.2 |
| 4imprint Group (FOUR.L) | Advertising & Marketing | 24.4 | 27.8 | 0 | 5.5 | 34.9 |
| Laird (LRD.L) | Electrical Components & Equipment | 24 | 39.6 | 571m | 4.1 | 11.6 |
| Ocado Group (OCDO.L) | Department Stores | 23 | 110.5 | 598m | 0 | 0 |
| Cobham (COB.L) | Aerospace & Defence | 22.2 | 24.9 | 2.5bn | 3.8 | 2.1 |
| Cable & Wireless (CWP.L) | Integrated Telecommunications Services | 21.9 | 109.2 | 930m | 12.3 | 0 |
| JKX (JKX.L) | Oil & Gas (exploration & production) | 20.7 | 17.6 | 271m | 0 | 7.2 |
| Goodwin (GDWN.L) | Industrial Machinery & Equipment | 20.7 | 31.4 | 107m | 1% | 26.2 |
| Ophir (OPHR.L) | Oil & Gas (exploration & production) | 19.7 | 75.7 | 1.9bn | 0 | 0 |
| Anite (AIE.L) | IT Services & Consulting | 19.6 | 39.1 | 387m | 0.9 | 34.9 |
| Goldenport (GPRT.L) | Freight Transportation, Marine | 18.5 | 20.2 | 77m | 4.9 | 42.3 |
| Optos (OPTS.L) | Medical Equipment | 18.2 | 16.4 | 179m | 0 | 12.3 |
| Huntsworth (HNTS.L) | Advertising & Marketing | 17.8 | 48.7 | 132m | 7.5 | 3.8 |
| Sthree (STHR.L) | Employment Services | 17.2 | 48.4 | 405m | 4.6 | 19.9 |
Source: Thomson Reuters
Click on the share tickers to see fact sheets on the stocks
Big quarter losers
This has been a terrible first quarter for CPP Group. Trading in its battered shares resumed last week. They were suspended in February when the company said it was reviewing the financial implications of the Financial Services Authority’s inquiries into its selling of identity fraud insurance. The company is in talks with its lenders over its £80 million credit facility.
UK Coal shares plunged last month after it warned it might have to close Daw Hill, the country’s largest coal mine in the Midlands. The company, which returned to profit last year after years of losses, said it had reached ‘crunch point’ with the mine.
Hornby, the maker of model railways, Scalextric and Airfix, didn’t recover from a gloomy Chistmas trading statement in January.
And Yell, the Yellow Pages publisher, continued to languish, hurt by weakness in both its digital and traditional print directory services.
The 20 fallers in March
| Sector | Sector | 1 month price change % | 3 months price change % | Market value £ | Dividend yield % | Price-earnings (PE) ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresnillo (FRES.L) | Precious Metals & Minerals | -15.9 | 4.6 | 11.6bn | 4.5 | 19.7 |
| Yell Group (YELL.L) | Publishing | -16.1 | -29.3 | 89m | 0 | 1.2 |
| Weir Group (WEIR.L) | Industrial Machinery & Equipment | -16.2 | -13.2 | 3.8bn | 2 | 12.5 |
| IFM (IFL.L) | Specialty Mining & Metals | -16.9 | -14.7 | 97m | 0 | 0 |
| Avocet Mining (AVM.L) | Precious Metals & Minerals | -17.9 | -0.1 | 368m | 3.8 | 6.7 |
| Kazakhmys (KAZ.L) | Specialty Mining & Metals | -18.1 | -2 | 4.8bn | 2.1 | 8 |
| ABG (ABGL.L) | Precious Metals & Minerals | -18.3 | -16.3 | 1.6bn | 2.9 | 8.9 |
| Trinity Mirror (TNI.L) | Publishing | -18.5 | -21.9 | 97m | 0 | 1.2 |
| FirstGroup (FGP.L) | Passenger Transportation | -19.2 | -29.7 | 1bn | 10.6 | 9.5 |
| Bumi (BUMIP.L) | Coal | -19.9 | -28.8 | 1bn | 0 | 0 |
| Thomas Cook (TCG.L) | Leisure & Recreation | -20.4 | 52.5 | 199 | 18.5 | 0 |
| New World (NWRR.L) | Coal | -21.9 | -3.5 | 1.1bn | 4.5 | 0 |
| Petropavlovsk (POG.L) | Precious Metals & Minerals | -22.5 | -9.4 | 1bn | 2.4 | 6.9 |
| Mothercare (MTC.L) | Other Specialty Retailers | -23 | -0.15 | 145m | 9.3 | 0 |
| Heritage Oil (HOIL.L) | Oil & Gas (exploration and production) | -23.3 | -27.2 | 347m | 0 | 0.5 |
| Centamin (CEY.L) | Precious Metals & Minerals | -24.3 | -16.6 | 754m | 0 | 0 |
| Randgold Resources (RRS.L) | Precious Metals & Minerals | -25.4 | -18.4 | 4.9bn | 0.2 | 20.2 |
| Exillon Energy (EXIL.L) | Oil & Gas (exploration and production) | -28.6 | -32.6 | 273m | 0 | 0 |
| CPPGroup (CPPG.L) | Business Support Services | -41.7 | -46.4 | 109m | 4.5 | 5.6 |
| UK COAL (UKC.L) | Coal | -45.9 | -42.1 | 49.5m | 0 | 0 |
Source: Thomson Reuters
Click on the share tickers to see fact sheets on the stocks
More winners and losers in March
And it was debt negotiations at Essar Energy, the Indian-focused oil exploration company, that spurred it to a good March, making up for its demotion from the FTSE 100.
Hardy Underwriting soared as CAN Financial agreed to buy the Lloyds insurer which put itself up for sale after being hit by rising catastrophe claims.
Fresnillo, the silver mining group, fell in March after analysts cooled on the stock following a strong run ahead of its 2011 results
Weir, the pump and values manufacturer that is a member of Citywire Top Stocks, had a tough month as short traders sought to push down the share price on the back of falling gas prices in the US.
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Look up the shares
- Essar Energy PLC (ESSR.L)
- Premier Foods PLC (PFD.L)
- Hardy Underwriting Group PLC (HDU.L)
- Psion PLC (PON.L)
- RusPetro PLC (RPO.L)
- Dixons Retail PLC (DXNS.L)
- Emblaze Ltd (EBLZ.L)
- 4imprint Group PLC (FOUR.L)
- Laird PLC (LRD.L)
- Ocado Group PLC (OCDO.L)
- Cobham PLC (COB.L)
- Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC (CWP.L)
- JKX Oil & Gas PLC (JKX.L)
- Goodwin PLC (GDWN.L)
- Ophir Energy PLC (OPHR.L)
- Anite PLC (AIE.L)
- Goldenport Holdings Inc (GPRT.L)
- Optos PLC (OPTS.L)
- Huntsworth PLC (HNTS.L)
- SThree PLC (STHR.L)
- Fresnillo PLC (FRES.L)
- Yell Group PLC (YELL.L)
- Weir Group PLC (WEIR.L)
- International Ferro Metals Ltd (IFL.L)
- Avocet Mining PLC (AVM.L)
- Kazakhmys PLC (KAZ.L)
- African Barrick Gold PLC (ABGL.L)
- Trinity Mirror PLC (TNI.L)
- Firstgroup PLC (FGP.L)
- Bumi PLC (BUMIP.L)
- Thomas Cook Group PLC (TCG.L)
- New World Oil and Gas PLC (NEW.L)
- Petropavlovsk PLC (POG.L)
- Mothercare PLC (MTC.L)
- Heritage Oil Plc (HOIL.L)
- Centamin PLC (CEY.L)
- Randgold Resources Ltd (GOLDyq.L)
- Exillon Energy PLC (EXIL.L)
- CPPGroup PLC (CPPG.L)
- UK Coal PLC (UKC.L)
1 comment so far. Why not have your say?
snoekie
Apr 02, 2012 at 17:41
Of the fallers, I only have one (and none of the risers), IFM, but I still have faith in them, but it requires a pick up in the finished steel products, requiring stainless steel, perhaps still some months off.
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