TD customer sells outweigh buys as FTSE 100 rallies

Darren Hepworth, Global Trading and Product Director, TD Waterhouse comments: "Overall trading among TD customers increased by 5% in the week ending Tuesday 11 October, as the FTSE 100 gained over 450 points in the same period. Sells more than doubled on last week, with buys decreasing by nearly 45%; sell trades outnumbered buys by almost 2:1. Premier Foods (PFD) and Barclays (BARC) were top of the buys and sells respectively, as our tables revealed seven new entries from an array of different sectors.

"Premier Foods was this week's most notable new entrant to our tables, taking top spot in the buys, as our customers appeared to see the company's falling share price as an opportunity to pick up a bargain. Premier, which owns brands such as Oxo, Mr Kipling and Angel Delight announced on Friday (7 October) that it would not meet market expectations for its full year profits, which were expected to be between £214m and £232m. Its share price dropped to 4.7p by close of play on Tuesday (11 October) having closed at 9.3p prior to the profit warning on Thursday 6 October.  The company's CEO blamed poor trading for the announcement.

"Tesco (TSCO), which delisted a quarter of Premier's branded products between March and June earlier this year during a dispute about proposed price increases, was seventh in this week's sells table. Meanwhile, fellow retailer and fashion specialist, SuperGroup Plc (SGP), entered the buys table in ninth place. Its share price suffered after the company admitted that distribution problems relating to its warehouse management systems could impact current year profitability by between £6-9 million.

"Petroceltic International Plc (PCI) had more positive news than its top ten counterparts, announcing on Monday (10 October) that it had improved flow rates from one of the wells located at its Ain Tsila operation in Algeria. The company entered the buys table in 10th place, with its share price climbing from below 400p to over 550p in the week ending Tuesday 11 October.

"Another oil and gas explorer, EnCore Oil (EO), was the highest new entry to the sells table as it became subject of a reported £221m takeover bid from its larger rival, Premier Oil (PMO) last Wednesday (5 October). Our customers appeared to capitalise on the announcement of the proposed deal, which led to a hike in EnCore's share price."