London close: Stocks end up ahead of Christmas break; Vistry tumbles

(Sharecast News) - London stocks ended in the black on Christmas eve, but housebuilders slumped after yet another profit warning from Vistry. The FTSE 100 ended Tuesday's quiet half-day session up 0.4% at 8,136.99.

On the corporate front, news was scarce but there was no Christmas cheer for Vistry shareholders as the housebuilder slashed profit guidance again, citing delays to expected year-end transactions and completions.

The company now expects adjusted pre-tax profit for the year to 31 December to be around £250m, down from previous guidance of £300m.

Vistry said a number of agreements with partners had taken longer to conclude and forecast these to be finished in fiscal 2025. It also pulled a number of proposed deals where the commercial terms on offer "were not sufficiently attractive".

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "This marks the group's third profit downgrade of the year, a troubling trend driven by a string of poor management decisions and forecasting missteps that have left investors feeling far from jolly.

"Even a late cash influx in December couldn't light up the season, with net debt now expected to close the year at around £200m - a far cry from the neutral footing investors had hoped for.

"As the year ends on a sour note, Vistry faces a long winter of rebuilding trust, leaving investors with little choice but to mull over their options."

Other housebuilders also fell, with Persimmon, Barratt Redrow, Taylor Wimpey and Crest Nicholson all firmly on the back foot.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,136.99 0.42% FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,550.33 0.64% techMARK (TASX) 4,622.40 0.70%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Airtel Africa (AAF) 112.80p 3.87% Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,854.00p 2.23% Anglo American (AAL) 2,381.50p 2.08% Vodafone Group (VOD) 67.76p 1.93% Croda International (CRDA) 3,452.00p 1.62% Smith (DS) (SMDS) 546.50p 1.58% Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 4,309.00p 1.51% Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 2,080.00p 1.46% Melrose Industries (MRO) 549.20p 1.29% Spirax Group (SPX) 6,840.00p 1.26%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Persimmon (PSN) 1,182.00p -2.39% Entain (ENT) 681.40p -1.25% Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 20,710.00p -0.96% BT Group (BT.A) 144.00p -0.55% Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 432.20p -0.55% Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,953.00p -0.50% Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,080.00p -0.46% Beazley (BEZ) 815.00p -0.43% Kingfisher (KGF) 247.90p -0.32% Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 121.80p -0.25%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 135.30p 5.29% Ferrexpo (FXPO) 109.40p 4.99% Harworth Group (HWG) 176.50p 4.44% Mobico Group (MCG) 79.85p 4.17% Ithaca Energy (ITH) 107.00p 3.88% Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 149.50p 3.82% W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 82.20p 3.79% NCC Group (NCC) 149.00p 3.47% RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 3,305.00p 3.12% AO World (AO.) 108.00p 3.05%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Vistry Group (VTY) 547.50p -16.28% FirstGroup (FGP) 164.40p -1.20% JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust (JFJ) 555.00p -1.07% Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 168.30p -1.00% Senior (SNR) 158.60p -1.00% Wood Group (John) (WG.) 65.00p -0.69% European Opportunities Trust (EOT) 780.00p -0.64% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,432.00p -0.62% Tate & Lyle (TATE) 657.00p -0.61% Savills (SVS) 1,042.00p -0.57%