Housebuilder Vistry found itself at the top of the FTSE-100 this morning following the publication of interim results. Bucking the trend seen across the housebuilding sector, completions were up more than 9%, whilst profitability also followed suite. Management attribute the success to the company’s partnership model, pushing more sales to local authorities as well as maintaining the traditional private buyer business. Full year completions are expected to top 18,000, up 10% from last year’s number. Vistry’s share price was around 3% higher in early trade.
Bookending the FTSE-100 was food and retail play Associated British Foods. A trading update noted company-wide growth as being impressive, but concerns were raised over the sales at Primark as bad weather has acted as a drag on H2 performance in the UK & Ireland. Management also took the opportunity to announce that they would continue share buyback plans, extending the previous commitment by a further £100m, reflecting strong cash generation. ABF’s share price was however down by more than 3.5% shortly after the open.
Fast fashion specialists ASOS published an update this morning including refinancing news, a JV to reinvigorate the Topshop brand and a trading statement. Critically, EBITDA guidance for the full year has been tightened and is now expected to come in at the top end of previous forecasts, whilst sales will be slightly lower than stated. Markets however saw the positives in all this news with the ASOS share price adding more than 13% just over an hour into the day.
Yesterday’s most read news on Investegate
