London’s blue-chip stocks continued lower on Thursday, as a slew of mixed earnings reports weighed on the UK’s main index.
Sports Direct International (LON:SPD), which owns the Slazenger, Dunlop, Everlast, Karrimor and Lonsdale brands, said sales for the period were flat at £1.4bn, with retail sales growth slowing to 0.2%.
Cantor Fitzgerald said: "The interim results were a little behind the curve,” and the retailer, owned by Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, saw its stock drop more than 92p, or 14%, to 573p this morning.
Meanwhile, Whitbread (LON:WTB) dropped 1%, or around 47p, to 4,432p after the Costa Coffee and Premier Inn owner said its hotel chain had a good third quarter while the coffee brand was a little softer.
Shore Capital said: “The group states it is on track with its growth milestones with total sales ahead 11% YTD, which is slightly below our full year expectations.”
Both contribute to another down day for the FTSE100, which slipped around 20 points to 6,106.
The index fell despite a rare foray into the green for the miners, after Glencore (LON:GLEN) said it has ramped up its cost-cutting programme as it aims to cut its net debt to US$18bn by the end of next year. Shares rallied 11%, or almost 10p, to 91p.
Also higher was British Gas owner Centrica (LON:CNA), which forecast overall earnings in line with hopes, but said UK retail margins would take a hit from lower household bills. Shares gained 4%, or 8p, to 214p.
Elsewhere, travel firm TUI AG (LON:TUI), Europe’s largest tour operator, said operating profit is likely to rise by “at least 10%” this year following a boost from Northern Europe. Shares flew 5.6% or 63p to 1,184p.
In the small cap space, the big gainer was Forte Energy (LON:FTE) expects to reveal a corporate transaction in the next week or so that will see a recapitalisation.
The company added that the deal would also see a change of business, out of the resources sector. Shares rocketed 32% to 0.007p.
Also soaring was Nanoco Group (LON:NANO), which cheered the market with an upbeat AGM statement
Anthony Clinch, Nanoco's chairman, declared 2016 would be a landmark year for the company, pushing shares 14.3% higher to 120p.
Conversely, Premier African Minerals (LON:PREM), fell around 21.0% to 0.4p after the company issued new shares at that price to a single investor to raise £112,500 to provide funds for development work on its RHA mine.
Meanwhile, cloud and mobile IT investment company Tern (LON:TERN) increased its investment in its subsidiary Cryptosoft.
The tech-investor is investing a further £500,000 in its subsidiary by way of a loan facility for working capital as cash flow continues to increase. Shares eased 20% to 13p.