LONDON — The recent bullish optimism continued to run out of steam, and the FTSE 100 suffered its second weekly fall in a row, ending the week at 6,583 points and finishing below 6,600 for the first time since May 9. But despite the dramatic headlines, the index of top U.K. stocks is still up 25% over the past 12 months and up 12% since the start of 2013.
But which individual companies were heading up and down? Here are four of the week’s movers.
Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON:LLOY)
Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON:LLOY) saw its price pick up 2 pence (3.3%) to 62 pence in the week the bailed-out bank announced the disposal of some “non core assets.” In this case, it was a portfolio of U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities. The sale generated 3.3 billion pounds for Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON:LLOY), giving it a 540 million pound gain over book value, and boosted its core tier 1 capital ratio by 47 points (1.4 billion pound capital equivalent). At the same time, the bank’s pension trust sold its share of the portfolio, with a 360 million pound gain going to reduce its deficit.
Fresnillo Plc (LON:FRES)
It’s been a mixed week for miners, but those delving for precious metals didn’t do too badly. Fresnillo Plc (LON:FRES), which produces gold and silver in Mexico, with its main interest being the Fresnillo Plc (LON:FRES) silver mine, enjoyed a 75 pence (7%) rise to 1,153 pence. But that’s still only a modest respite for stockholders, who have seen the value of their holdings fall by around 40% over the past six months as the shiny stuff has been losing its attraction in favor of more rationally valued things like stocks.
Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO)
The price of Britain’s biggest supermarket has risen more than 20% over the past 12 months, but it’s been falling a little of late in advance of first-quarter results due on June 5, and it lost 15 pence (3.9%) to 365 pence over the week. The company, famously bought into by Warren Buffett in early 2012, had a bad 2011 Christmas trading period. But a turnaround plan brought a better 2012 festive season, and February year-end results were in line with expectations. With forecasts suggesting a dividend yield of 4% from stock on a P/E of 11, we might still have a bargain here.
Associated British Foods plc (LON:ABF)
Associated British Foods plc (LON:ABF) saw its price slip by 120 pence (6.2%) to 1,812 pence, despite having released an “excellent set of interim results” in April. The company, which also owns the Primark discount clothing chain, reported a 22% increase in adjusted earnings per share and lifted its interim dividend by 10% to 9.35 pence. Though it reached 1,999 pence on results day, the price since has fallen 9.4%. But at a forward P/E of 19, it’s not looking undervalued.
The article FTSE Shares That Soared and Plunged This Week originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Alan Oscroft.
Alan Oscroft has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Associated British Foods and Tesco and owns shares of Tesco.
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