Archived article
Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.
UK stocks made up some lost ground at the open on Wednesday after retailers Boohoo and Fever-Tree pleased investors with some rare good corporate news amid the Covid-19 storm.
At 0821, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 52.69 points, or 0.9%, at 5.693.72.
Online retailer Boohoo rose 3.5% to 280.93p after bumper sales underpinned a 54% rise in its annual profit.
Boohoo said its outlook remained cautious, though added that its performance had improved in recent weeks following a slump that had started in the middle of March.
Drink mixer retailer Fever-Tree gained 2.2% to £13.95 after it pledged to pay a final dividend for 2019, while touting its £128.3m of cash holdings.
Fever-Tree's confidence in its balance sheet came even as it reported a relatively modest fall in annual profit, owing to lower sales in the UK offsetting good growth in the US.
Insurance company Hiscox added 0.7% to 803.2p, even as it estimated up to $150m of claims related to Covid-19 lockdowns, should restrictions on travel and mass gathers stay in place for six months from the end of March.
Hiscox also noted that it had a substantial catastrophe reinsurance programme and robust capital, liquidity and funding positions.
Polling and data company YouGov rallied 7.6% to 635p, having reported a 13% rise in first-half profit, buoyed by further growth in the US market.
Suit retailer Moss Bros plunged 41% to 12p after Brigadier Acquisition moved let its £22.6m bid for the company lapse.
Student accommodation developer Unite added 0.5% to 775p, on guiding for its income for the 2019-to-2020 academic year to fall by a lower-than-expected 16-20%.
United had offered students the option to leave their lodgings in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis.
Wind farm investor The Renewable Infrastructure Group shed 1.6% to 122.81p despite it reaffirming its dividend guidance for the year.
The company, however, also cut its power price forecasts due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Marketing services group XLMedia sank 19% to 19.88p on swinging to a full-year loss after it wrotedown the value of its assets following the demotion of its casino websites by Google.