With the dual shocks of Brexit and Trump there was plenty of movement on the FTSE 100 last year – who, then, were 2016’s biggest winners and losers?
Winners
5. Rio Tinto PLC
2016 Opening Price: 1979.5
2016 Closing Price: 3158.5
Percentage Change: 59.56%
You’ll begin to notice a pattern with the FTSE’s best performers pretty quickly. The first of 5 mining entrants on the list, Rio Tinto, like its peers, surged on the general upward swing in commodity prices as the year went. The company’s near 60% increase translated to a points-movement of 1179, a potentially big money maker if you had got in early at the start of 2016.
4. BHP Billiton PLC
2016 Opening Price: 760
2016 Closing Price: 1306.5
Percentage Change: 71.91%
Not only dealing with the commodity slump, BHP Billiton also was hit by the Brazilian mining disaster at the end of 2015, where 17 people died when a dam collapsed. That had left the stock circling sub-£6 multi-year lows at the beginning of 2016; yet this just gave BHP more room to grow, closing out the year back above £13 as both metal and oil prices rose.
3. Fresnillo PLC
2016 Opening Price: 708
2016 Closing Price: 1221
Percentage Change: 72.46%
Fresnillo benefited from a more specific commodity increase in 2016: silver’s comeback. However, the year also ended up being a bit of a disappointment. Though it ended 2016 just above £12, up from £7 at the start of January, in July it had hit highs of £20 only to sharply tumble across the back end of the year as silver lost its lustre.
2. Glencore PLC
2016 Opening Price: 90.48
2016 Closing Price: 227.35
Percentage Change: 206.53%
At points in 2015 it looked like Glencore was going to be worth nothing by the end of the year, the stock’s value falling as low as 67p thanks to an eye-watering $30 billion debt pile. However, the company was rescued from such an ignoble fate by the rise in commodity prices, a plan to tackle its debt and, finally, the restoration of its dividend.
1. Anglo American PLC
2016 Opening Price: 299.45
2016 Closing Price: 1160
Percentage Change: 287.38%
Even when one factors in the huge gains seen across the mining sector in 2016, Anglo American’s comeback was remarkable. Like Glencore Anglo had a nightmarish 2015, culminating in an all-time low at the start of December that year. However, the aforementioned commodity climb, alongside a robust restructuring plan, saw the stock rocket 287% high as the year progressed, an astonishing run that makes it, without question, the FTSE 100’s best performer of 2016.
Losers
5. Dixons Carphone PLC
2016 Opening Price: 500
2016 Closing Price: 354.6
Percentage Change: -29.08%
If the winners are dominated by miners, then the losers list is largely made up of British stocks that suffered in the aftermath of the Brexit. Despite consistent sales growth, and unrivalled sector dominance on the high street (if not online), Dixon Carphone’s exposure to sterling was its undoing in 2016, dragging the stock nearly 30% lower as the year went on. The brunt of that loss was felt in the week following the referendum, with Dixons at one point touching £2.41 on the day the result was announced.
4. Mediclinic International PLC
2016 Opening Price: 1108
2016 Closing Price: 711
Percentage Change: -30.42%
Mediclinic is a bit of an anomaly on this list. The stock actually surged following the Brexit vote, with cheaper sterling an attractive proposition for a company that operates internationally. However, that was all lost in the second half of the year, the worst moment being a 15% fall following the announcement of a 26% drop in underlying half year earnings in November.
3. Next PLC
2016 Opening Price: 7290
2016 Closing Price: 4983
Percentage Change: -31.65%
Next’s 2016 performance epitomised the UK retail reaction to the Brexit result, and how this exacerbates the pre-existing problems affecting the high street (RIP BHS). Yet the company also had some issues of its own, as evidenced by the sub-par showing it managed over the crucial Christmas period.
2. easyJet PLC
2016 Opening Price: 1740
2016 Closing Price: 1005
Percentage Change: -42.24%
Like retailers, travel stocks were heavily impacted by UK’s decision to leave the EU and the pound’s subsequent struggles. They were also hurt by the litany of terrorist attacks that were scattered across the year, with easyJet being the sector’s most troubled stock on the FTSE 100.
1. Capita PLC
2016 Opening Price: 1208
2016 Closing Price: 531
Percentage Change: -56.04%
And the worst FTSE 100 performer of 2016 was....DRUM ROLL PLEASE...Capita! A gentle decline across much of the year suddenly became quite deadly in September, with a shock, Brexit-inspired, profit warning causing a near 27% single session fall. The company followed that up with another toxic statement in December, the stock plunging 14% as it revealed it would be selling its asset services division AND cut profit forecasts for a second time in the space of 3 months.
