MARKET REPORT: Balfour Beatty climbs on £100m buyback plans

Construction group Balfour Beatty soared following a set of solid results as it plans to return £100million to investors.

The FTSE 250 company, which develops and funds public and private infrastructure projects in the UK, US and Hong Kong, said orders improved late last year as interest rates steadied.

Group revenues rose 7 per cent to £9.6billion, while profits fell 15 per cent to £244million. 

Balfour Beatty wants to buy £100million worth of shares back from investors, which means it will have returned more than £750million to them since 2021.

Shares gained 9.5 per cent, or 32.2p, to 372p amid hopes that it can cash in on the green energy transition in the UK alongside its ambitions to strengthen the nation’s power networks.

Buyback plan: Balfour Beatty, which develops and funds public and private infrastructure projects in the UK, US and Hong Kong, said orders improved late last year 

The FTSE 100 rose 0.3 per cent, or 24.36 points, to 7772.17 and the FTSE 250 was down 0.01 per cent, or 1.29 points, to 19,563.92, as figures showed the UK returned to growth as GDP rose 0.2 per cent between December and January.

Anglo American remained optimistic over the industry’s recovery this year.

Its De Beers arm, which mines in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa, estimated it sold £336million worth of diamonds from the end of January to mid-March. 

That would be higher than the £292million it made during the previous sales cycle.

Its shares rose 4.6 per cent, or 85.8p, to 1937p – but fellow miner Ferrexpo has delayed publishing its annual results, saying it needed more time to finalise its accounts following talks with its auditors and a legal case hanging over a business in Ukraine.

The decision comes less than a month after Ferrexpo scrapped its proposed interim dividend due to the court case. Shares plunged 4.1 per cent, or 2.25p, to 52.75p.

Stock Watch –  Keywords Studios

Keywords Studios has said a string of deals will help the video games developer hit £850m of revenues.

It bought five studios for £192million in 2023, and snapped up Digital Media Management, which promoted the summer blockbuster movie Barbie.

It posted a 13 per cent rise in revenue to £667million in 2023, and expects the industry to recover with player numbers rising and the mobile market returning to growth. 

Shares ticked up 0.2 per cent, or 2p, to 1372p.

Rolls-Royce came within touching distance of closing at a record high. 

The jet engine maker’s stock peaked at 396.5p in January 2014 and yesterday climbed 0.5 per cent, or 2p, to 393.8p.

Musicmagpie sales slumped as the electronics reseller’s customers swapped buying DVDs for streaming content online.

Group revenues fell 6 per cent to £136.6million in the 12 months to the end of November while losses widened to £6.8million from £1.5million.That prompted the shares to drop 5.6 per cent, or 0.5p, to 8.5p.

Medical data analytics company Ixico nursed even heavier losses – and dipped by 14.7 per cent, or 1.25p, to 7.25p – after it warned that contract delays from biotech sponsors will hit revenues over the next two years.

And flooring firm Victoria said its annual sales and profits will be lower than expected due to weak consumer demand in Europe. It sank 9 per cent, or 22p, to 222p.

The Gym Group headed in the other direction, rising 4.9 per cent, or 5.4p, to 115p, after it said members were working out more.

It said that it had narrowed losses to £8.3million in 2023 – down from £19.4million the year before – while revenues increased by 18 per cent to £204million.

And it added that sales in the first two months of 2024 are 16 per cent up year-on-year.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk