Telegraph – While the FTSE 100 finished the week on the front foot, punters betting that William Hill shares are in for a rough ride over the next 12 months ensured the bookmaker missed out on the broader market’s winnings.
The gambling group slumped 13.3, or 3.2pc, to 403½p – the heaviest faller in the blue-chip index – after analysts at JPMorgan Cazenove cut the bookie to “underweight” from “overweight”, a double downgrade that skipped out the “neutral” rating altogether.
William Hill, which warned on profits earlier this month, will come under pressure in the coming year partly because of the slow pace of its mobile gaming product development, the JPMorgan experts said. The group is also expected to compete “aggressively” with rivals in free bets and advertising and promotional activity, which may not result in upgrades to analyst forecasts despite boosting market share, they argued. JPMorgan added that the benefits of the company’s recent expansion into Australia are unlikely to be felt for at least six months.
All of that ensured the bookie moved against the trend in the wider FTSE 100, which rose 46.42 to 6,622.58, a 0.7pc gain that took it to its highest close in a month, boosted by encouraging Chinese economic data. As the world’s biggest metals consumer, the good news from China lifted the miners: Glencore Xstrata added 4.4 to 334.9p and BHP Billiton gained 17½p to £18.61½. Anglo American was the only blue-chip miner to fall, sliding 21p to £15.32 after a disappointing production update. The miner said iron ore output tumbled 24pc during the third quarter, adding that it would not meet its export sales forecast for the full-year.
Insurer Prudential, which is heavily exposed to Asia, was buoyed by a positive update from Hong Kong-based AIA and jumped 50p to £12.64. The Pru, the biggest FTSE 100 riser today, attempted a takeover of AIA in 2010.
