For all its talk of recession early on, to welcome rate cuts, to renewed uncertainty ahead most recently, 2024 brought a positive year for both London’s blue chips and mid-caps.
As the turn of the year loomed, the FTSE 100 headed towards 2025 up 5.3% for the year, with the wider FTSE 350 not far behind.
Among blue-chips, Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LSE:RR.) once again rose up the rankings of the biggest annual gainers, alongside NatWest Group PLC (LSE:NWG) and British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (LSE:IAG).
Metro Bank Holdings PLC (LSE:MTRO), CMC Markets PLC (LSE:CMCX) and Trustpilot Group PLC (LSE:TRST) topped the FTSE 350’s biggest winners in the meantime, while a spattering of retailers marked the losers.
Stellar year for FTSE 100’s IAG and Rolls-Royce
IAG’s 93.9% gain since January saw it neck and neck with Rolls-Royce to top the FTSE 100’s biggest risers as the new year approached, with the latter also up 93.9%.
For Rolls-Royce, the year’s gain followed a 197% surge in its share price during 2023 as boss Tufan Erginbligic further pushed on with turnaround efforts at the engine maker.
Both increasing defence demand and the aviation industry’s recovery have coincided with efforts to ramp up profitability, cut costs and simplify operations under Erginbilgic.
IAG has been another clear beneficiary of the improving landscape for airlines, with 2024 finally bringing a delayed recovery within the long-haul sector post-pandemic.
Elsewhere, it was NatWest’s 81% gain which solidified its spot among the blue-chip risers, thanks in no small part to the government sell-down of its stake in the lender.
This fell below 10% earlier in December as the Treasury worked to return the bank to private hands after taking an 84% stake during a global financial crisis bailout.
Winners on the FTSE 350
Outside of the FTSE 100, CMC Markets PLC (LSE:CMCX) topped the FTSE 350 winners, having gained 140% since the start of the year.
It had kicked off the year on a solid footing with a profit upgrade in January and has since flagged millions in savings through cost-cutting.
Metro Bank PLC and Trustpilot came in at two and three among the FTSE 350’s risers with respective gains of 138% and 122%.
Metro is another to have embarked on a turnaround, having secured a £925 million funding package to stay afloat just over a year ago, but guided for a return to profit most recently.
Trustpilot’s September interim results then capped off its recent strong performance, as the review platform unveiled a £20 million buyback on expectation-beating profits.
Retailers dominate FTSE 350 losers
At the other end, retailers were most prevalent among the year’s big losers, as Ocado Group PLC (LSE:OCDO), JD Sports Fashion PLC (LSE:JD.) and B&M European Value Retail SA (LSE:BME) all tumbled.
Heading the drop was John Wood Group PLC (LSE:WG.) though, down 61.7% in a year that saw a takeover bid by Dubai-based Sidara ditched before it reported a US$983m interim loss.
Pandemic winners Ocado and B&M also sat among the FTSE 350’s losers, having both dropped out of the FTSE 100 this year in line with 57.5% and 34.8% respective falls.
A wider backdrop of pressured consumer spending has also provided issues for JD Sports and the FTSE 350’s fourth-largest faller, which dropped 40.8%.
Also among the FTSE 350’s top five losers was Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC (LSE:AML), which, having hit investors with two profit warnings in as many months and highlighted supply chain-fueled delivery delays recently, shed 51.3% over the year.