Sector review: Food producers down as Glencore warns of UK softness

The food producers sector was the worst performing in London on Tuesday, as the FTSE 100 ended over 1% lower.

A 30% decline in shares of Irish sandwich maker Greencore dragged the sector down after a profit warning.

Firstly, 2018 adjusted earnings per share were guided to a level 6% below market expectations, blamed on softer UK volumes due to weather and a restructuring of the US-based Peacock acquisition as well as the timing of new business and a headwind from the recovering pound hitting US earnings. A US management shake-up adds to the risks, with group CEO Patrick Coveney now committing half of his time across the Atlantic in an effort to fix things.

With investors needing to wait until the second half of 2018, analyst Mike van Dulken said: "In this new era of short-termism, a quarter or two’s wait can be viewed as too long to wait for a gamble on positive news from across the pond, especially for those already nursing 2yr losses of circa 50%."

A bounce for GKN led to the auto parts sector outperforming, with few other sectors in positive territory as the pound weighed on most of London's blue chip stocks.

GKN was higher a day after it rejected a sweetened offer from Melrose Industries.

Miners were up as Antofagasta and Glencore both notched up solid rises, the former on the back of a 177% hike to its annual dividend.

Top performing sectors so far today

Automobiles & Parts 9,861.71 +1.23%
Mining 17,922.67 +0.65%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Food Producers & Processors 7,085.25 -3.86%
Fixed Line Telecommunications 2,629.40 -3.22%
Mobile Telecommunications 4,452.73 -2.19%
Tobacco 44,759.27 -2.14%
Chemicals 14,722.69 -1.90%