B&Q and Castorama owner drops again after cautious trading update, as FTSE 100 edges higher
With markets searching for direction in early trading, investors decided they knew which way Kingfisher should go.
The owner of B&Q in the UK and Castorama in France has fallen 4.3p to 274.7p in the wake of Thursday's disappointing update and ahead of an investor day on Friday. It reported a 6% drop in third quarter profits, and warned the outlook was uncertain in both its key markets, with consumer confidence in France hit by uncertainty over the government's budget proposals.
A number of analysts cut their recommendations following the figures, with UBS moving from buy to neutral and HSBC cutting its target price from 350p to 340p. UBS said:
In most markets DIY demand remains depressed by a mix of low consumer confidence and weak housing markets, affecting big ticket and trade sales in particular. While the UK may show some stability next year if mortgage lending improves, there are no signs yet that continental Europe will follow suit.
Overall the FTSE 100 has edged up 6.47 points to 5876.77 as the German parliament votes on the latest rescue deal for Greece and discussions over the US fiscal cliff continue.
With little in the way of corporate news, broker recommendations were helping to move share prices.
Johnson Matthey added 54p to £24.42 and Croda 23p to £23.74 as Credit Suisse upgraded both companies, saying:
Following third quarter results, we have upgraded Croda from underperform to neutral and Johnson Matthey from neutral to outperform. Both stocks had disappointing guidance and strongly negative share price reactions. We felt negative short-term fundamentals were thus fairly reflected in the share price.
Intertek, the testing company, added 39p to £30.98 as Berenberg moved from hold to buy.
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