London’s FTSE indexes opened in the red on Wednesday as St James’s Place shares cratered following a disappointing set of results.
The blue-chip index opened 0.29 per cent lower at 7,660.67 while the FTSE 250, which is more aligned with the health of the domestic economy, shed 0.53 per cent to trade at 19,062.42.
Shares in St James’s Place plummeted after it slashed its dividend and warned that costs connected to complaints would be a drag on growth in the coming year.
The firm’s notched a cash results of £68.7m last year, a sharp fall from the £410.1m notched in 2022, which bosses said had been “significantly impacted” by an assessment into its service and provisions to settle a slew of historic complaints.
It was trading nearly 30 per cent lower in early trade.
Analysts at Numis said that opportunities in the sector remained, but “we increasingly have to question how well will SJP monetize that opportunity”.
Reckitt also fell nearly 10 per cent. The firm missed expectations for sales in the fourth quarter due to declining sales of cold and flu products.
Kris Licht, chief executive officer, said: “While our performance in Q4 was unsatisfactory, we look to 2024 and beyond with confidence.”
“The cost-of-living crisis has forced consumers to make cutbacks, and Reckitt, like their peers, have seen customers trading down to store brand alternatives,” Mark Crouch, analyst at investment platform eToro, said.
Shares in Vodafone climbed to near to the top of the blue-chip index after it confirmed it was offloading its Italian arm in a multi-billion deal.
The struggling telecoms firm is being shrunk by new CEO Margherita Della Valle, who marked her first results call with the City last year by admitting the firm’s performance had not been good enough.
Its been a quiet week for markets so far, with few major data releases to generate significant market moves.
Analysts at Deutsche Bank said its been “a bit of a crawl…as we await the all-important core PCE print tomorrow”.