From Ocado to Trustpilot and M&S to ITV: Value of dozens of FTSE giants down by a third since start of Ukraine war
Nearly 50 companies in the FTSE 350 have seen their stock market values fall by at least a third since the start of the Ukraine crisis.
The biggest fallers have been technology companies, new data shared exclusively with Morning Wire shows today.
Review website Trustpilot, which listed just over a year ago, has seen its shares fall the most with a 66.2 per cent decline since the start of the year. This has wiped £750m off its market value, according to the figures from City firm Bowmore Asset Management.
This is followed by biotech company Oxford Biomedica with a 60.4 per cent fall and grocery technology company Ocado with a 56.6 per cent drop, knocking £8.5bn off its market value.
Other stocks which have seen big falls include several household names, such as JD Sports (-42.7 per cent), Marks & Spencer (-40.8 per cent), Pets at Home (-40.2 per cent) and ITV (-36.2 per cent).
Discussing the share movements with Morning Wire today, Jonathan Webster Smith, chief investment officer at Bowmore, said “businesses that can continue to grow their revenues each year should rebound quickly once the negative sentiment moves from markets.”
Webster Smith stressed investors have been moving away from growth shares, such as some technology companies, as interest rates have risen.
“Rising interest rates have more of a negative impact on companies whose earnings are further in the future, such as the more speculative technology companies,” he explained.
“Investors have instead been putting money into oil & gas and mining companies that they perceive might do better in the current inflationary environment,” Webster Smith noted.
Pockets of value in tech
However, given the fall in some tech shares since the start of the year, Bowmore says investors may now be able to find stocks in the tech sector which can offer value to investors.
Some companies which have been in favour with the market in recent years have become significantly cheaper since the start of the year, losing almost half of their market value.
This includes software company Kainos, which has fallen 46 per cent since the start of the year, as well as the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, which has seen its shares fall 41.8 per cent and now trade on a discount to net asset value.
Oil and gas big winners
The biggest stock market winners since the Ukraine crisis have been oil & gas and mining companies, which have been benefitted from a rally in commodities.
Surging demand and tightening supply has seen the price of several commodities, including oil, gas and metals, rise sharply this year. Bowmore says five of the top 10 risers on the FTSE 350 this year have been oil & gas companies.
Two of the biggest beneficiaries have been FTSE 100 oil & gas majors BP and Shell, whose share prices have risen 25% and 42.5% respectively since the start of 2022, adding £20bn and £73bn to their market values.