Thursday 06 June 2024 at 10:20
Ocado and St James’s Place have been given the boot from the leading FTSE 100 index in a quarterly reshuffle.
The index includes the 100 largest London-listed businesses by market capitalization and is given a shock every three months.
Industrial and electrical outfit RS Group also fell out of the top ranking.
The firms will be replaced by housebuilders Vistry Group, LondonMetric Property and Darktrace – although the latter will soon exit the London markets entirely as it goes through a buyout by US private equity giant Thoma Bravo.
A reshuffle of the FTSE 250 also saw Mobico – owner of National Express – and Ferrexpo drop out of the secondary index.
XPS Pensions has also been added to the FTSE 250 after rising 14 per cent year on year. RBC analysts Derald Goh and Mandeep Jagpal noted that 2024 has been a “landmark year” for the company. Analysts said “regulatory upheaval” will continue to drive top-line growth with “improved operating leverage” trickling down to the bottom line.
Ocado has seen shares tumble 40 per cent over the past six months, with long-standing Square Mile block of Tomorrow failing to sustain its gains.
And St James’s Place, which has found itself at the front of the business news pages on a number of occasions over the past year, has seen its share price halve over the past 12 months, despite a FTSE 100 of alive
The move reduces the number of asset managers in the main index to one.
The changes will come into effect at trading time on June 24, with the new FTSE 100 constituents trading on the indices on that day.
Analysts were not surprised to see Ocado in the decline zone.
“Although there has been an improvement on the retail side for Ocado, the potential legal action pending with M&S over a withheld performance payment has dented sentiment. Deals are also not being signed as quickly as investors had hoped for its next growth engine, Solutions. It charges third-party sellers to use Ocado’s robotic systems,” said Susannah Streeter at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“There is still great potential here, but the time frames for growth look more questionable and that has brought down the valuation. It has led to speculation that the company may pursue a US listing instead.”
Full list of changes:
FTSE 100 Additions:
- Dark trail
- LondonMetric property
- The Vistry Group
Fall in the FTSE 100:
- The Ocado Group
- Group RS
- St. James’s Place
FTSE 250 Additions:
- Alpha Group International
- The Ocado Group
- Renewal
- Group RS
- St. James’s Place
- XPS Pension Group
Fall in the FTSE 250:
- Dark trail
- Ferrexpo
- LondonMetric property
- The Mobico Group
- Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust
- The Vistry Group
