MARKET REPORT: Cosmetics house plunges 37%
The Santa rally fell short in the final session before Christmas as the FTSE 100 dipped 11.32 points, or 0.2per cent, to 7592.66 points from its all-time high of 7603.98 on Thursday.
The rally typically caps the trading year off and is believed to be driven by shareholders reinvesting their bonuses and fund managers preparing for the new year.
The FTSE 250, however, finished 58.34 points higher, up by 0.3 per cent, at 20481.07.
Healthcare company Integumen slumped after revealing it would be reviewing its product lines to identify products that have the best commercial opportunities.
The Santa rally fell short in the final session before Christmas as the FTSE 100 dipped 11.32 points
The company, which did not identify which, or if, it would be cutting its cosmetics lines, said some of its product lines were taking longer to generate the level of sales expected, while others have the potential to outperform.
It is banking on Stoer, a range of male cosmetics it acquired last month, and premium anti-aging brand Visible Youth to be best-sellers.
Stoer is named after a small village on Scotland’s west coast and makes skin products to combat different environmental factors such as pollution, adverse weather and environmental aggressors such as sun damage.
It is already available in Harvey Nichols while Visible Youth is set to enter the market.
Integumen has signed a non-binding letter of intent with Champion Shave, a men’s grooming company backed by sporting superstars Usain Bolt and Ronaldinho, to use its branding to distribute its products online and in shops in the UK.
STOCK WATCH – YOLO LEISURE
Investors were singing over the potential of Yolo Leisure and Technology’s stake in a digital karaoke business.
The investment firm, which targets tech and leisure companies, jumped 5.6 per cent, or 0.02p, to 0.48p amid fresh hopes for the future of Magic Media Works, which sells an electric jukebox that lets users stream music, sing karaoke and play trivia games.
Yolo, setup by former Thomas Cook European high flier Simon Robinson, now has a 42.4 per cent stake in Magic Media.
But the news that it was reviewing its cost base sent shares plummeting 36.6 per cent, or 0.85p, to 1.48p. Investors in Carillion breathed a sigh of relief after the firm was given extra time to push back the test dates for its loan agreement.
The construction company, which has seen its shares plummet more than 92 per cent this year after a string of profit warnings, said it is continuing discussions with stakeholders over how to reduce its debt. Keith Cochrane, interim chief executive, said: ‘We believe that our lenders’ decision to defer the test date demonstrates their continuing support.’
Shares were initially up 1.5 per cent in early trading, but finished flat at 17.25p at close.
The Government’s crackdown on crippling ground rents took a toll on Ground Rents Income Fund. Leasehold homes make up 11 per cent of its portfolio and, of that, 18 per cent of the homes are subject to doubling ground rents.
The controversial scheme, which in some instances sees ground rents double in ten years, had left some householders unable to sell ‘unmortgageable’ homes because banks were refusing to offer loans to would-be buyers.
The company dropped 1.5 per cent, or 1.75p, to 115.75p, after it said it would delay the roll-out of its asset management programme, which gave owners with doubling groundrents a way out of their contracts, to ‘digest the statements’ from the Government.
It said it welcomed steps taken on poor practices concerning leasehold houses, with directors backing a White Paper ‘Fixing Our Broken Housing Market’.
Narrowing losses and booming demand in India failed to stop shares in KSK Power Venture dropping 10.1 per cent, or 4p, to 35.5p.
And specialist security and services firm Westminster Group soared 73.3 per cent, or 6.88p, to 16.25p, after an agreement with a Middle Eastern client.
Westminster said its chief executive, who has recently returned from an extended visit to the region, had ironed out ‘all but a few’ minor issues relating to the deal expected to generate around £21.2million a year.