FTSE 100 Competition Results week 3

FTSE_100_WEEK_THREE_RESULTS.pdf

The index opened on Monday at 7712 and closed on Friday at 7706. While the index opening and closing values levelled, there was a real shuffle in prices with gains and losses giving our competition a wee bit of a shake. Over half of our entrants actually made gains this week.  Currently 46 out of 57 of our competitors are up on their £50,000.

AstraZeneca revealed early successes in the trial of one of its drugs to treat lung cancer to be one of the better performers on the FTSE 100.

Tuesday brought bad news for the mining sector as a rate cut from China’s central bank underwhelmed markets.  Add to that the results from Glencore and Rio Tinto which caused the miners’ shares to fall towards the bottom of the FTSE 100.

HSBC joined the gloom on Wednesday when its profits missed market expectations after a hit in recent months because of its ties to China’s struggling property market. They lost 6.5% of their value this week.

Thursday saw earnings-driven news push Rolls-Royce and Lloyds Bank close to the top of the table.  Lloyds Banking Group announced a 57% hike in pre-tax profit, hitting £7.5 billion last year and beating expectations.  Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce finished up 9.2% on the week after it said it had swung to a £2.4 billion profit last year. 

The share price of Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered was the highlight on Friday contributing to a 6.8% gain on the week. It followed the company reporting a 22% rise in its pre-tax profit for 2023, compared with the previous year, as the latest lender to reveal stronger earnings helped by higher interest rates.

A third place best performer on the FTSE this week was Beazley, which soared 10.0% after the business announced plans to return an extra £300 million to shareholders.  At the bottom of the index were advertising giant WPP, whose results appear to have disappointed investors lost 6.65%.

Best Performers this week

Inter Continental Hotels +12.8% (profits rise at hotel chain)
Barclays plc +11.6% (lender plans bumper share buyback)
Beazley +10.0% (insurer launches cybersecurity arm)
Rolls Royce Holdings +9.2% (strong results push engineer higher)
Standard Chartered +6.8% (profit surge boosts bank)

Poorest Performers this week

Centrica plc -8.2% (price cap fall hits British Gas owner)
WPP plc -6.6% (profits slump at advertising giant)
HSBC Holdings -6.5% (China woes weigh on bank’s profits)
Glencore -5.9% (bleak results and dividend cut at miner)
Rio Tinto -5.8% (mining group slides as profits drop)

So this week, Mover of the Week was Jean Spriddle whose gain of £1624 led to her jumping 31 places. Slider of the Week was Alastair Noble who lost £847 in value this week and 25 places.  Alastair was not the one losing the greatest value though, that honour went to Petroc Properties who managed a loss of £1386 this week. With a loss to date of £1682,  Dolphin Square continues to have the privilege of last place. 

Making the most this week was Sandy Paton whose portfolio added £1859.  That took him to fifth but it was his wife Zona who took over top spot with a near £3000 improvement on her initial notional £50,000 investment.  After two weeks at the top Mac Scot 9 loses pole position and now sits eighth. 

Chester Green moves up two places to second. Spider is joined by Barry and Maureen in the top six.

Lots more ups and downs to come next week.