Mid-cap firms outperform big companies amid stall in sales
AVERAGE sales growth at UK companies remains sluggish, with profit margins under pressure, leading retail stockbroker The Share Centre said yesterday.
The overall weak figures, however, conceal a strong disparity between different sized companies, with UK mid-caps outperforming their blue chip counterparts, according to the company’s latest Profit Watch UK report.
The total annual revenues for companies with year-ends up to the end of June 2014, and who reported them during the third quarter, totalled £93.9bn. Factoring in the companies that left and entered the FTSE 350, the figure represented an increase of 1.6 per cent on the same period last year.
Nonetheless, gross profits fell 0.1 per cent on a like-for-like basis, meaning UK companies sold more only by reducing prices.
The FTSE 250 substantially outperformed the FTSE 100. Mid-cap sales expanded 11.3 per cent, while blue chips experienced a 5.8 per cent drop to £61.9bn after adjusting for index changes.