3 FTSE-listed stocks to explore amid UK economy contraction warnings

Highlights

• The IMF downgraded Britain’s GDP forecast, predicting that UK’s economy could witness a contraction of 0.6% against the 0.3% growth last October.
• The contraction outlook in the GDP this year leaves Britain behind other G7 nations.

Britain’s economy has been dabbling between controlling inflation and keeping up with the growth chart. However, the soaring cost of living crisis, coupled with rising interest rate hikes, has often pulled the UK gross domestic product (GDP) down.

Now in a fresh outlook, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that UK’s economy could be staring at one of its worst performances compared to other advanced nations. In its latest report, the IMF downgraded Britain’s GDP forecast, predicting that UK’s economy could witness a contraction of 0.6% against the 0.3% growth last October. Having said that, IMF concluded that by 2024, the UK growth might improve to 0.9%. This is a minor improvement considering IMF had previously forecasted UK growth at 0.6%.

The contraction outlook in the GDP this year leaves Britain behind other G7 nations and perhaps the only one to suffer a year of declining GDP. IMF forecasted that comparatively countries such as the US, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Canada are expected to show growth of 1.4%, 0.1%, 0.7%, 0.6%, 1.8%, and 1.5%, respectively.  

This forecast comes at a time amidst weakened consumer confidence and business sentiment. IMF pointed out that with inflation close to 10%, UK households are feeling increased pressure amidst tighter budgets. In response to the latest IMF report, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt hinted that the short-term challenges shouldn’t outweigh the long-term prospects. He added that the latest IMF findings show that the UK and other advanced nations are struggling with inflation.

Kalkine Media® explores three FTSE-listed growth stocks you may keep an eye on.

Nanoco Group Plc (LON:NANO)

The FTSE All-Share constituent, Nanoco Group Plc, holds a market cap of £116.08 million on 31 January 2023. The Manchester-based NANO share on Tuesday was trading at GBX 37.50  and was up by 3.59% when the market opened. NANO’s Earnings Per Share (EPS) stood in the negative category at -0.01. The share has given its investors a YTD and one-year return of -16.59% and 98.90%, respectively.     

ME Group International plc (LON: MEGP)

ME Group International plc, one of the leading vending machine operators, boasted a market cap of £497.14 million as of writing. The FTSE All-Share constituent on 31 January 2023 was trading at GBX 129.00 and was down by -1.90% at the time of market opening. The ME Group International plc gave returns of 77.80% and 15.65% on one year and YTD basis. Meanwhile, MEGP enjoyed a positive EPS (earning per share) at 0.06 as of Tuesday.

Informa Plc (LON: INF)

The FTSE-100 constituent, Informa Plc, at the time of market opening traded at GBX 668.60 on 31 January 2023 and was down by 0.21%. The British publishing, business intelligence, and exhibition group enjoyed a market cap of £ 9,488.12 million, with an EPS of 0.05. As of Tuesday, Informa Plc has given a return of 22.8% and 8.2% on one year and a YTD basis.

Note: The above content constitutes a very preliminary observation or view based on market trends and is of limited scope without any in-depth fundamental valuation or technical analysis. Any interest in stocks or sectors should be thoroughly evaluated taking into consideration the associated risks.