Three stock market-listed firms hit by double-digit share price drops
A shopping centre owner, luxury car manufacturer and funerals provider all endured a torrid day on the stock market as investors reacted to poor performances and fragile forecasts.
Although the FTSE 100 touched an 11-month high this week, this momentum is much less thinly spread among mid-cap stocks.
Merry Hill owner intu Properties lost nearly one-third of its value, as the 32% drop in its share price wiped off £300m from its market value.
It hit an all-time low after its chief executive Matthew Roberts admitted “radical transformation is required” and he set out a five-year plan to “reshape” the business.
The property giant has now lost around 80% of its value since the start of 2018.
Aston Martin’s share price also sunk to an all-time low yesterday – albeit the maufacturer only floated last October. It lost 12% on Wednesday, taking its total fall to 74% – a reduction in value of more than £3bn – after its latest figures showed a £79m loss in six months.
It is less than two weeks since Italian private equity firm InvestIndustrial said it would pay £10-per-share to increase its stake. Last night its shares closed at just under half that price.
The unhappy trio was completed by Sutton Coldfield-based Dignity, which saw its share price slump to a nine-year low.
Down more than 9% yesterday, it has lost 77% of its value in less than two years.
The sector has been affected by competition problems – first, the entry of a cut-price disruptor, followed by a CMA investigation into potential anti-competitive practices – while in recent months there have been fewer deaths nationally than forecast.
Dignity’s pre-tax profits were down 61% although its chief executive Mike McCollum remains hopeful it will “generate sustainable growth in the medium to long-term”.
