Value of NW listed firms fell by £6.4bn in the last three months of 2018

A total £6.4bn was knocked off the value of listed companies in the North West in the last three months of the year.

Listed companies were hit by tough trading conditions particularly in retail with the value of the 63 public businesses in the region falling 14%, according to figures from Deloitte.

Figures from the firm’s latest North West Share Index shows that the total value of the region’s businesses listed on the FTSE, FTSE Small-Cap and the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) fell by £6.4bn to £39bn – down from £45.5bn in quarter three 2018.

It is the first time the value of these businesses has fallen below £40bn since December 2016, when the value stood at £38.9bn.

Similar results were seen across the country as the FTSE All-Share, which includes all listed companies in the UK, suffered an 11% drop in the three months to December 2018.

In particular, the North West’s retail and leisure sectors were affected by low consumer confidence over Christmas, with the value of these businesses falling by 17% and 31% respectively.

Retail, which makes up a large proportion of listed businesses in the North West, saw the most significant setback, as the total value fell from £19.4bn to £16.1bn in the last quarter.

Of the 12 listed retailers in the region, only Auto Trader saw its value increase, with its market capitalisation jumping by two per cent.

In total, only nine of the region’s 63 public businesses grew in the last quarter.

This includes the North West’s largest listed business, United Utilities, which added £200m to its market capitalisation to surpass the £5bn mark.

The combined value of the 38 AIM-listed businesses in the North West decreased by over a fifth, from £9bn to £7.2bn.

Five of these companies witnessed growth, meaning just four FTSE-listed companies increased in value.

Andy Westbrook, senior partner for Deloitte in the North West, said: “As the statistics show, it has been a challenging period for the UK markets, with both consumer and investor confidence being hit by ongoing economic uncertainty.

“Following the high profile collapses of several household names in the latter part of last year, the stats are perhaps.

“However, some businesses have made strong forward steps. As the UK’s economic future hopefully becomes clearer in the coming months, we remain optimistic that we will see more of these success stories throughout 2019.”