Bovis Homes, Halfords and Young’s

“Blue-chips tracked gains on Wall Street and in Asia where markets rebounded after Republican Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the US presidential election. Traders are looking to UK house-price data, along with French and Italian industrial production numbers while in the US, jobless claims and the Federal Budget balance will be in focus,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“Bovis Homes is set for another record year as the British love affair with property shows no sign of abating. Sales volumes and prices are up and fundamentals remain strong with demand for new homes running ahead of housing supply. Bovis has reservations in place to achieve over 5% growth in completions while the average price is expected to be around 10% up on last year.

“Halfords has been buffeted by the plunge in the pound since the Brexit vote which has dented the group’s margins. Sales were up by 6.3% but earnings fell by 8.3%. The increase in cost of goods due to the depreciation in sterling was around £6m, which was more than the year on year reduction in profit. Halfords shares were down by more than 3.2% in early trading.

“Pub group Young’s improved its first half pre-tax profits and increased its interim dividend following growth of over 5% for the fifth summer in a row. Young’s continues to innovate to attract existing and new customers to its pubs and hotels. It has rolled out its successful BurgerShack concept to 21 pubs and embracing the newfound British love for brunch.”

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