DX, Inland Homes and Moss Bros

“Blue-chips were down in early trading despite decent gains on Wall Street overnight after President Trump unveiled his much-anticipated tax plan. Investors will be keeping a close eye on the Bank of England conference, starting in London today, with policy makers from some of the world's largest economies due to speak,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“Beleaguered logistics group DX was a double-digit riser in early trading after it clinched a major new contract with IKEA. The deal was a much-needed fillip for DX which has seen its shares hit following a recent warning that an accounting error would knock around £1.8m off of its full-year profits and the collapse of a planned merger with John Menzies’ distribution division. The new deal will take the total value of contracted logistics work for IKEA to approximately £19m per annum. DX’s shares were up by more than 13.6%.

“Inland Homes was an early riser after a robust performance for the year to the end of June. The group was buoyed by a good second half which was driven by continued growth across both the established and newer parts of its business. Inland Homes continues to develop its in-house construction platform, improve margins on home sales and use its skills in successfully bringing land through the planning system. The group’s shares were up by over 1.5%.

“Moss Bros was down in early trading despite an increase in first half like-for-like sales in tough trading conditions. Overall gross margins were down 0.7% due to the fixed depreciation costs on its hire garments which remain constant regardless of the level of sales. The early response to its autumn/winter ranges has been encouraging but the group faces significant cost headwinds, driven by the National Living Wage, the apprenticeship levy and weaker sterling.”

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