MARKET REPORT: Trainline steams ahead as UK axes ticketing plan

Trainline raced ahead after the Government axed plans to create a state-owned online rail ticket retailer.

The Department for Transport (DfT) outlined proposals for a Great British Railways website and app in May 2021.

But such plans have been shelved, easing fears that the ticketing app could suffer from increased competition in the rail industry. 

Analysts at Peel Hunt said the Government’s decision was ‘inevitable’ but also the correct one, adding that the priority should now be on reforms such as moving to 100 per cent environmentally friendly e-tickets. Shares soared 11.3 per cent, or 32.8p, to 316.4p, taking gains for the year to nearly 20 per cent.

On a lacklustre end to the week, the FTSE 100 fell 1 per cent, or 72,62 points, to 7576.36 and the FTSE 250 dipped 0.3 per cent, or 47.99 points, to 19208.97.

On track: The Department for Transport outlined proposals for a Great British Railways website and app in May 2021

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said the caution shown by the Bank of England on Thursday could be a way of dampening expectations of an imminent rate cut and ‘stopping markets getting ahead of themselves’.

Oil prices rose to record their first weekly gain since October.

DS Smith was among the blue-chip stocks after the paper and packaging firm’s rating was upgraded from ‘underperform’ to ‘buy’. Shares gained 2.4 per cent, or 7.3p, to 309.6p as a result. The upgrade filtered through the rest of the industry. Mondi rose 1.5 per cent, or 22p, to 1534.5p and Smurfit Kappa gained 0.1 per cent, or 2p, to 3144p.

There was also a rally among miners buoyed by higher metal prices. Glencore rose 1.6 per cent, or 7.1p, to 460.85p and Anglo American added 1.6 per cent, or 28.6p, to 1824p. Despite early gains, Antofagasta slid 1 per cent, or 15.5p, to 1616p.

The boss of THG nearly doubled his stake in a small and mid-cap investor that has called for the online retailer to break up its business. Matt Moulding owns 6.06pc of Kelso Group – which holds shares in THG – up from a 3.2 per cent stake. Kelso has called for the beauty, nutrition and commerce businesses to be spun off into separate companies.

Shares in Kelso Group gained 9.7 per cent, or 0.3p, to 3.4p and THG fell 0.4 per cent, or 0.36p, to 86.04p.

Bosses at Molten Ventures snapped up more than £50,000 worth of shares in the tech investor. In a vote of confidence, boss Martin Davis and finance director Ben Wilkinson both bought 10,000 shares at 270p each. Shares rose 4.7 per cent, or 12.4p, to 277p.

Heading firmly in the other direction was Getech. The energy software group warned its revenues for 2023 will be lower than hoped as clients delayed projects until next year amid increased economic uncertainty. Shares tumbled 27.6 per cent, or 2p, to 5.25p.

Shares in XL Media hit a record low after the digital media company warned its North American revenues are likely to fall short on its previous expectations.

The group also considered putting itself up for sale but concluded that its low share price is unlikely to ‘create the most value for shareholders’. Shares slumped 10.3 per cent, or 0.76p, to 6.6p.

Abingdon Health, which made Covid kits during the pandemic, expects to report higher interim revenues than the year before as business boomed. Shares surged 5.7 per cent, or 0.5p, to 9.25p.

The engineer and specialist components maker Chamberlin said its foundry business, which provides cast iron products, in November received its highest level of monthly order intake on record.

This exceeded £1.85m for the first time following new orders in the renewables sector. The group expects to increase its revenue and profit for the year to the end of May 2024. Shares jumped 14.4 per cent, or 0.36p, to 2.86p.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk