The FTSE 100 (FTSEINDICES: ^FTSE) has had a few torrid sessions, losing 272 points between opening on Thursday morning and closing last night at 6,551, as multiple fears gripped the markets — overheating in China, disappointing economic data in the USA, worries about the end of QE… But today, at least, it’s recovering a little with a rise of 25 points to 6,576 by mid-morning.
Which individual shares are picking up ahead of the index? Here are three from the various FTSE sectors:
AMEC
News of a new contract gave AMEC (LSE: AMEC) shares a boost of 15.7p (1.5%) in early trading, taking them to 1,036p — but they’re still more than 5% down over the past 12 months.
The AMEC Tekfen Azfen consortium has been picked by BP to for the second stage of development of the Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian Sea, with AMEC providing the project and construction management. The whole deal is worth $974m, and should be completed in four years, starting this year.
British Land
British Land Company shares gained a modest 4p (0.6%) to 666p after a quarterly update told us of “Improving operational performance in Offices and Retail“. Like-for-like occupancy is up a little to 97.1%, with overall occupancy at 96.5% including new developments — and that looks pretty good.
British Land shares have picked up approximately 18% over the past 12 months, to outstrip the FTSE. But they are perhaps looking a bit pricey now, with a forward P/E of around 22 based on forecasts for the year to March 2014.
Galliford Try
Galliford Try (LSE: GFRD) shareholders have had a rewarding 12 months, with their shares up more than 40% despite a small fall since the beginning of January.
The driver today was the news of new contracts worth a total of £55.2m. Galliford Try’s Partnerships business is to build the Earlsdon Park retirement village in Coventry in a deal worth £32m, and has also been selected by Central Bedfordshire Council for its £13.4 million Priory View development in Dunstable. And to bring up the total, there’s another £9.8m for the Creechbarrow affordable homes development in Taunton.