Autumn Statement: Stock Winners and Losers

Brick makers, infrastructure companies, telecoms firms and estate agents all feel the impact of Philip Hammond's Autumn Statement

External Writer 23 November, 2016 | 2:40PM
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Morningstar's "Perspectives" series features investment insights from third-party contributors. Here, Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell predicts the shares that will move as a result of the Autumn Statement. 

A projected total spend of around £10 billion on broadband, roads, railways, homes and innovation may sound like a lot – but compared to the UK economy of some £1.8 trillion is unlikely to provide a major lift to growth.

However, brick makers such as Ibstock (IBST) and Forterra (FORT) are likely to welcome the plan to spend £1.4 billion to deliver 40,000 affordable homes, above and beyond the £3 billion housing fund that has already been announced with a plan to “get Britain building”. The focus on affordable homes may be of less use to the large quoted housebuilders as average selling prices tend to be lower here. Property developers like MJ Gleeson (GLE), St Modwen (SMP) and Henry Boot (BHY) may also benefit as new sites are sought for fresh housing developments.

Infrastructure plays such as WS Atkins (ATK), Kier Group (KIE), Hill & Smith (HILS), Balfour Beatty (BBY) and Renew Holdings (RNWH) will doubtless welcome more spend on road and railways although the news has been so well trailered the stocks did little in the wake of the announcement.

Big Spend on Innovation

The £2 billion pot for research and development and innovation may fire investor enthusiasm for intellectual property incubators like Imperial Innovations (IVO) and IP Group (IPO), as well as venture capital trusts, as they seek to nurture the tech and biotech winners of tomorrow.

Shares in telecommunications systems testing expert Spirent (SPT) are up a fraction on Mr Hammond’s drive to promote the development and roll-out of 5G mobile services, while a £1 billion plan to unlock a ‘gold standard’ of superfast broadband for millions of British homes could bring some comfort to telecoms service providers, if it enables consumers to buy and download more readily. CityFibre (CITY)’s shares are up by some 4% while Sky (SKY), TalkTalk (TALK) and BT (BT.A) will be watching developments here with interest.

The biggest movers on the day, however, all look to be losers, in the form of the quoted real estate agents whose income is under attack from the Chancellor’s plan to abolish letting agent fees. Shares in Belvoir Lettings (BLV), Foxtons (FOXT), Countrywide (CWD), LSL Property Services (LSL) and Martinco (MCO) all found themselves out in the cold, with share price falls in the 6% to 8% range.

Despite the Chancellor’s decision to increase insurance premium tax shares in major insurers like Admiral (ADM), AA (AA.) and Esure Group (ESUR) look unmoved. Meanwhile Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)’s stock drew little succour from the Autumn Statement’s small print, which disclosed that the Government is abandoning plans to sell down its stake in the near term. The shares fell 2.5% to 203p, way below the Government’s 503p a share average purchase price.

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The information contained within is for educational and informational purposes ONLY. It is not intended nor should it be considered an invitation or inducement to buy or sell a security or securities noted within nor should it be viewed as a communication intended to persuade or incite you to buy or sell security or securities noted within. Any commentary provided is the opinion of the author and should not be considered a personalised recommendation. The information contained within should not be a person's sole basis for making an investment decision. Please contact your financial professional before making an investment decision.

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Securities Mentioned in Article

Security NamePriceChange (%)Morningstar
Rating
Admiral Group PLC2,692.00 GBX-2.60Rating
Balfour Beatty PLC361.40 GBX-1.15
Barnes Group Inc35.94 USD-0.90
Belvoir Group PLC250.00 GBP0.00
BT Group PLC104.70 GBX-0.52Rating
Forterra PLC160.00 GBX0.25
Foxtons Group PLC54.60 GBX-1.80
Hill & Smith PLC1,896.00 GBX-1.04
Ibstock PLC147.00 GBX-1.87
IP Group PLC47.25 GBX-0.84
Kier Group PLC130.80 GBX-0.15
LSL Property Services PLC286.00 GBX5.93
MJ Gleeson PLC496.00 GBX-3.31
NatWest Group PLC289.80 GBX1.36Rating
Renew Holdings PLC938.00 GBX-0.21
Spirent Communications PLC195.00 GBX0.21

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