Wednesday’s Master Investor Market Report

– The FTSE 100 closed the day at 6,269.61, a decrease of 72.67 points.
– The FTSE 250 fell by 86.52 points to finish at 16,811.51.
– The FTSE All Share dropped by 35.20 points to 3,434.32.
– The FTSE AIM All Share finished at 732.15, down by 2.29 points.

Diageo (DGE) announced the sale of two of its wine subsidiaries to Treasury Wine Estates for a consideration of roughly $552 million (£358.9 million) as management work to get rid of a number of non-core business activities. The proceeds of the sale will be used to pay down debts. The company also suggested that its remaining wine assets are also considered to be non-core and we may therefore see further disposals in this area down the line. The shares dropped by 33p to 1,810p.

Fast food firm Domino’s Pizza (DOM) has said that full year results will be ahead of prior expectations after a strong third quarter. Revenues in the 13 weeks to 27th September were £200 million, up by 14.9% as the chain opened 12 new outlets in the UK. Numis reiterated its “buy” position on the shares and upped its target price to 1,100p. Domino’s shares closed the day at 1,002p, a 13.86% increase.

Online and catalogue retailer N Brown (BWNG) posted pre-tax profits of £19.4 million for the six months ended 29th August, 54.2% lower than the same period of the prior year due to exceptional costs linked to the closure of a number of clearance stores. Total revenues climbed by 4.2% to £415.8 million, driven by increased product sales which outweighed a decline in financial services income. The shares climbed 24p to 340p.

Walker Greenbank (WGB) has upped its interim dividend by 25.7% to 0.44p after a strong showing in the six months ended 31st July. Sales grew by 11.4% to £45.8 million as demand surged in overseas markets and digital fabric printing. Investec said that the news was encouraging, but held on to its full year profit forecasts as the company entered its peak Autumn period. The shares rose by 0.50% to 203.5p..

Tomorrow’s news today

WH Smith (SMWH) and Purewafer (PUR) post their final results tomorrow morning. Booker (BOK) will put out its interims.

Quote of the day

“Fear is the mother of foresight.”
– Thomas Hardy