Updates from Mitie, Bonmarché and Segro
Friday saw little movement from stocks with the FTSE 100 up just five points to 6,334.6. The biggest risers were RoyalMail and OldMutual, up 2.5% and 2.4% to 488.60p and 207p. There was more encouragement for Rolls-Royce also, up 2%. However bank shares suffered again with Barclays down 3.5% to 221.90p and Lloyds Banking Group down 2.1%.
The Dow Jones in the US gained more than 90 points to 17,823.8 with retail players gaining predominantly; Nike surged almost 5.5% and Home Depot climbed 2.6%. For the week the Dow was up more than 3.4%, a 578-point gain.
We start the week with six month numbers from outsourcer Mitie, under profits pressure from its healthcare business: overall revenues climb 2% to £1,123.1m though operating profit slumps 9.5% to £58.1m. Pre-tax profits slip 12.1% to £50.1m.
However there's dividend growth of 3.8%; Mitie also claims strong organic revenue growth in Property Management plus strong contract retention with Rolls-Royce retained for a further five years.
Mitie's also positive on the National Living Wage. Staff will be... "better rewarded and feel more motivated to do the jobs they do, as well as improve retention rates across our business". No material impact on future earnings is anticipated.
We move to the high street next with Bonmarché. The woman's retailer claims store like-for-like sales growth of 2% for the first half of the year though that includes like-for-like growth of 6.1% in Q2. Total revenues climb 6.5% to £97m.
Basic earnings per share are 8.4p (H1 FY15: 10.5p). However there's a quirk in its trading conditions which are described by Bonmarché as "challenging" due to very mild - though wet - weather.
"Our expectations for the full year remain unchanged," says chief exec Beth Butterwick, "provided that trading conditions normalise for the remainder of the financial year."
Finally, real estate player Segro says its picked up three, fully-let logistics buildings in the Netherlands, totalling 104,000 sq m of space, for €92.7m from Dutch developer, Dok Vast.
Segro claims the price equates to a net initial yield of 6.1% for a combined weighted average lease term of five years to the first break. Two of the buildings are currently let to Nokia Solutions and Networks OY and to Tesla Motors Netherlands BV.
"The off-market acquisition," Segro Chief Investment Officer Phil Redding said, "of these properties is in line with our strategy to build scale in modern, big box warehouses in core logistics locations in the UK and Continental Europe."
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