It’s been a nasty year all over, with the FTSE 100 spending December at 28 month lows. But who were the biggest losers of the wider FTSE 350 in 2018?
10. Intu Properties PLC
- 2nd January 2018 Opening Price: £2.56
- 19th December 2018 Closing Price: £1.21
- Percentage Change: -52.7%
An enduring theme of 2018 was retail woe, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise that Intu had a rough one. Though it was consistently bad throughout the year, it saved a big fall for late-November, plunging 39% in a single session as a takeover bid for the firm collapsed.
9. Jupiter Fund Management PLC
- 2nd January 2018 Opening Price: £6.26
- 19th December 2018 Closing Price: £2.95
- Percentage Change: -52.9%
Weaker market sentiment played havoc with Jupiter Fund Management, the company seeing billions pulled from its funds as the year went on. This led to a significant C-suite reshuffle in December, but one that had little impact on its stock price.
8. Galliford Try (LON:GFRD) PLC
- 2nd January 2018 Opening Price: £13.32
- 19th December 2018 Closing Price: £5.91
- Percentage Change: -55.6%
The death of Carillion at the start of the year caused a variety of casualties, including its project partner Galliford Try, which was forced to raise £144 million – short of the £157 million it was aiming for – through a rights issue to cover costs arising from a joint venture with its now-deceased rival.
7. AA Ltd
- 2nd January 2018 Opening Price: £1.75
- 19th December 2018 Closing Price: £0.76
- Percentage Change: -56.6%
The motoring association was in desperate need of some breakdown cover of its own in 2018. The year’s extreme weather – a recurring issue on this list – and bad road conditions put the squeeze on AA’s profits, with its interim results in September revealing a 65% plunge to £28 million.
6. Spire Healthcare PLC
- 2nd January 2018 Opening Price: £2.60
- 19th December 2018 Closing Price: £1.07
- Percentage Change: -58.8%
Spire’s problems really started in early August, the private healthcare company plummeting to an all-time low as it warned its profits would be ‘materially lower’ due to NHS budget cuts. Revenue from its National Health Service division to dropped 9.5% in the first half of its financial year, a huge worry given it accounts for a third of the firm’s turnover.
5. Kier Group (LON:KIE) PLC
- 2nd January 2018 Opening Price: £10.90
- 19th December 2018 Closing Price: £3.90
- Percentage Change: -64.2%
It left it late, but Kier managed to sneak onto this list thanks to an end of November nose-dive as the construction services group – somewhat unsuccessfully – attempted to raise £264 million to pay off its debts through a heavily discounted rights issue.
4. Capita PLC
- 2nd January 2018 Opening Price: £4.10
- 19th December 2018 Closing Price: £1.10
- Percentage Change: -73.2%
It was all-over for the Carillion-adjacent Capita pretty early on in the year. The stock tanked 47% on January 31st after announcing a profit warning, a £700 million rights issue and a major structural shake-up, with CEO Jonathan Lewis claiming the company had become ‘too complex’.
3. Indivior PLC
- 2nd January 2018 Opening Price: £4.15
- 19th December 2018 Closing Price: £1.11
- Percentage Change: -73.3%
The pharma business, spun-off from Reckitt Benckiser at the very end of 2014, had a year that took in record highs of £4.99 in June, and 76p all-time lows in December. Its biggest hit came on November 20th, the stock plunging 44% as the US appeals court ruled a generic version of its opioid treatment, Suboxone Film, could be produced.
2. Thomas Cook Group PLC
- 2nd January 2018 Opening Price: £1.23
- 19th December 2018 Closing Price: £0.29
- Percentage Change: -76.4%
Europe’s intense summer did a number on Thomas Cook (LON:TCG). As holidaymakers decided to stay at home, or pushed their trips abroad into the heavily discounted ‘lates’ market, the company was forced to release multiple profit warnings, fitting in 2 between the end of September and the end of November.
1. Superdry PLC
- 2nd January 2018 Opening Price: £19.81
- 19th December 2018 Closing Price: £4.57
- Percentage Change: -76.9%
Unseasonable weather throughout 2018 repeatedly impacted the firm’s finances, with Superdry’s all-important autumn-winter range taking a costly knock in the final few months of the year. Co-founder Julian Dunkerton, who left the company in March, certainly isn’t happy with his retail child, repeatedly stating the only answer would be to bring him back.
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