A Sneak Peek Into Results Of Three Diversified FTSE Stocks – Cairn Homes Plc, Keller Group Plc And Ashtead Group Plc

Even though the markets continue to reel under the effects of the coronavirus, a number of UK stocks were looking to make a comeback in the first week of March. Some of these FTSE listed stocks announced their annual and quarterly results, which displayed operational as well as financial improvement in these companies. The following is a brief overview of some of these stocks, along with their stock price performances.

Cairn Homes Plc

Cairn Homes Plc (LON:CRN) is a house construction company based out of Dublin in Ireland. The company engages in the construction of new homes from the green and brownfield sites it acquires in the Dublin area.

CRN Preliminary Results

Cairn Homes Plc declared the preliminary results in reference to the period that ended on 31^st December 2019 on 3^rd March 2020. It was reported that the revenue for the period increased by 29 per cent year on year to €435.3 million from €337.0 million in FY 2018. The gross profit also increased by 23 per cent year on year from €69.1 million in FY 2018 to €85.30 million in FY 2019. The operating profit also increased by 28.00 per cent year on year and was reported to be at €68.00 million in FY 2019 as opposed to €53.20 million in FY 2018. The earnings per share for the period was reported to be at 6.50 Euro Cents, an increase of 63 per cent year on year as compared to the EPS reported during FY 2018 at 4.0 Euro Cents. The board of the company proposed the dividend to be at 5.25 Euro Cents per share, in line with the dividend policy of the company. The company also reported that they generated approximately €99.20 million during the period, as opposed to €40.10 million in FY 2018.

CRN Stock Price Performance

(Source: Thomson Reuters) Daily Chart as on 03-March-20, before the closing of the LSE Market

As on 3^rd March 2020, at 01:30 P.M (Greenwich Mean Time), by the time of writing this report, the Cairn Homes Plc share was trading at a price of EUR 1.256 per share on the London Stock Exchange market, an increase in the value of 2.11 per cent or EUR 0.026 per share, in comparison with the price of the share on the previous trading day, which had been reported to be at EUR 1.23 per share. As of the time of reporting, the market capitalisation of Cairn Homes Plc has been reported to be at a value of GBP 814.54 million, with respect to the current trading price of the company’s share.

It was also reported that the Cairn Homes Plc share had given a negative return of around 4.12 per cent in value, in the previous one year, since March 04, 2019, when the share was trading at a price of EUR 1.31 per share at the time of the close of the market.

The beta of the share of the company has been calculated to be at 0.68 by the time of writing this report.

Keller Group Plc

Keller Group Plc (LON:KLR) is engaged in providing geotechnical services to construction companies and takes on other engineering challenges across 40 countries across the world.

KLR Preliminary Results

Keller Group Plc announced its preliminary results for the period ended 31^st December 2019 in the morning of 3^rd March 2020. In terms of IAS 17 basis, the revenue was reported to be at £2300.50 million, an increase of 3 per cent year on year as compared to 2,224.50 million in FY 2018. The underlying operating profit also increased by 5 per cent year on year and was reported to be at £101.80 million, as compared to £96.60 million in FY 2018. The underlying profit before tax was reported at £83.60 million in FY 2019, as opposed to £80.50 million in FY 2018, depicting an increase of 4 per cent year on year. Underlying diluted earnings per share for FY 2019 was reported by the company at a value of GBX 83.50 per share, an increase of 6 per cent year on year, as opposed to the underlying diluted earnings per share in FY 2018 at GBX 79.1 per share. The board of the company proposed the dividend for the period at GBX 40.00 per share, as opposed to a dividend of GBX 35.90 per share in FY 2018, an increase of 11 per cent year on year.

KLR Stock Price Performance

(Source: Thomson Reuters) Daily Chart as on 03-March-20, before the closing of the LSE Market

As on 3^rd March 2020, at 01:35 P.M (Greenwich Mean Time), by the time of writing this report, the Keller Group Plc share was trading at a price of GBX 768.00 per share on the London Stock Exchange market, an increase in the value of 7.56 per cent or GBX 54.00 per share, in comparison with the price of the share on the previous trading day, which had been reported to be at GBX 714.00 per share. As of the time of reporting, the market capitalisation of Keller Group Plc has been reported to be at a value of GBP 514.58 million, with respect to the current trading price of the company’s share.

It was also reported that the Keller Group Plc share had given a positive return of around 20.00 per cent in value, in the previous one year, since March 04, 2019, when the share was trading at a price of GBX 640.00 per share at the time of the close of the market.

The beta of the share of the company has been calculated to be at 1.66 by the time of writing this report.

Ashtead Group Plc

Ashtead Group Plc (LON:AHT) is a London, the United Kingdom based company that provides industrial-grade rental equipment especially utilised in the construction industry, and to a wide range of other industries

AHT Q3 2019 results

On March 3^rd, 2019, Ashtead Group Plc announced its third quarter and nine months results for the period ending on 31^st January 2020. In terms of the Q3 Underlying results, it was reported that the rental revenue grew by 8 per cent year on year and was reported to be at £1.121 billion in Q3 2019, as opposed to £1.049 billion in Q3 2019. The company also reported the EBITDA for the period to have increased by 10 per cent year on year and was reported to be at £584.00 million. The profit before tax for Q3 2019 was reported to be at £257 million, which was an increase of 6 per cent year on year. The earnings per share for the period were declared to be at GBX 42.30 per share, an increase of 11 per cent, as compared to Q3 2018, when the EPS was reported to be at GBX 40.00 per share. For the nine months period ended on 31^st January 2020, the underlying earnings per share stood at GBX 154.30 per share, which was also an increase of 11 per cent year on year.

AHT Stock Price Performance

(Source: Thomson Reuters) Daily Chart as on 03-March-20, before the closing of the LSE Market

As on 3^rd March 2020, at 01:45 P.M (Greenwich Mean Time), by the time of writing this report, the Ashtead Group Plc share was trading at a price of GBX 2432.00 per share on the London Stock Exchange market, an increase in the value of 1.04 per cent or GBX 25.00 per share, in comparison with the price of the share on the previous trading day, which had been reported to be at GBX 2407.00 per share. As of the time of reporting, the market capitalisation of Ashtead Group Plc has been reported to be at a value of GBP 10.849 billion, with respect to the current trading price of the company’s share.

It was also reported that the Ashtead Group Plc share had given a positive return of around 17.72 per cent in value, in the previous one year, since March 04, 2019, when the share was trading at a price of GBX 2066.00 per share at the time of the close of the market.

The beta of the share of the company has been calculated to be at 1.11 by the time of writing this report.