Exclusive new data from Stockopedia.com reveals an enduring North-South divide in pandemic financial performance, with listed companies in the North of England showing signs of a longer and slower recovery than those registered in the South.
Stock market valuations have fluctuated throughout 2020 as economies and investors worldwide react to the COVID-19 pandemic. While some companies have experienced an uplift in financial performance during COVID-19, many more have struggled to stay afloat.
But where has seen the most dramatic declines in collective share price value of some of the UK’s largest businesses? And where is experiencing the slowest recovery?
To answer this important question, Stockopedia.com - the UK’s leading stock market research service - has analysed its exclusive market data to compare the average share price performance of publicly listed companies in the English regions and the biggest UK cities over the course of 2020.
Diving into the data and analysing at a city level, companies in Sheffield have seen the strongest recovery outside of London when compared against their average share prices on 1st January 2020. But, importantly, share prices are yet to fully recover and remain down by -4.34 percent.
At the other end of the rankings, publicly listed companies in Birmingham and Leeds have been slower to recover to pre-COVID-19 performance levels, with Q4 share prices still down by 25 percent and 20.7 percent respectively.
Manchester’s companies weren’t far ahead, with Q4 share prices down 17.8 percent. N Brown (retail) and Nanoco (tech equipment), based in the city, have been hit the hardest during the pandemic and their share prices show no signs of improvement in the near future. The performance of the Manchester-based Genedrive (healthcare) is another story though, with its share price in Q4 up 153 percent compared to year start – impressive!
At a regional level, the worst hit region in England is the North East, with the collective share price value of its listed companies down -23.72 percent in Q4 compared to year start. This figure has improved slightly from Q3 (-25.98 percent), but it remains significantly lower than other regions, even in the North of England.
Of the 23 listed companies in the North East of England, six are in the financial sector (especially lending and real estate) which has seen a turbulent 2020 thanks to uncertainties over COVID-19, Brexit and the U.S elections. Consumer cyclical companies based in the region – such as SCS Group, Vertu Motors and Greggs - have also been hit hard by a drop in spending confidence and disposable income.
You can explore the findings in more detail here.
Edward Croft, CEO of Stockopedia.com commented on the findings:
“Covid-19 brought the most volatile stock market environment we’ve seen in years, and with it some clear sector winners and losers. But the virus has also been hitting some regions harder and longer than others. This study shows the impact this has had on the typical company’s share price across regions, and the regional disparity is clear to see.”
