Daily Stock Market Report (Tue 31 Dec): FXPO, WIZZ

Good morning and Happy New Years Eve!

Will the markets look to end the year on a high after what has been a pretty disappointing year on the domestic front...

... but an altogether more positive one overseas.

It's been quiet on the news front for the last few days, but we're still adding to our 12 stocks of Christmas (companies we're positive about heading into 2025): 

• Garmin
• International Personal Finance
• Impax Asset Management
• Character
• MONY
• Tristel
• Relx

Mark has also reviewed 2024 through the lens of a value investor. You can read that here ahead of the publication of his four stock picks for 2025. 

Companies reporting 

Name (Mkt Cap)	RNS	Summary	Our view
Wizz Air Holdings (LON:WIZZ) (£1.5bn)	Commercial agreement	Commercial support agreement with US aerospace group Pratt & Witney while aircraft remain grounded
Ferrexpo (LON:FXPO) (£615m)	Letter to shareholders	An emotional summary of the year from the perspective of a company operating out of Ukraine.
Netcall (LON:NET) (£180m)	Long term incentive plan	A total of 5.3m shares (3.2% of the total share capital) have been awarded to the CEO and CFO, exercisable from 30 December 2026 and subject to certain performance criteria.

Ferrexpo (LON:FXPO) 

Down 1% to 102p (£615m) - Letter to shareholders 

Ferrexpo’s exposure to Ukraine (its iron mines are all located there) made it one of the biggest winners from the election of Donald Trump in November. The shares have climbed steadily since the re-election of a president who vows to end the war with Russia.

Today’s end of year letter highlights the extent to which the company and its people are struggling with the ongoing geopolitical situation. Within the last few months another two members of staff have been killed while serving in the Armed Forces, taking the company’s total loss of life because of the war to 45. Lucio Genovese, executive chair, writes that the company will “continue to support our employees and local communities through the Ferrexpo Humanitarian Fund, as well as offer psychological support for returning veterans.”

Although the letter is mainly one of praise and pride for the Ukrainian people who have contributed to a strong recovery at Ferrexpo this year (which culminated in its re-admission to the FTSE 250 last week), the letter also admits that the first quarter was the strongest for the company. Iron ore prices have weakened since the start of the year meaning the two-fold increase in sales that the company reported back in April hasn’t been sustained throughout the year.

Keelan covered Ferrexpo in more detail in his review of the base metal miners here, summarising that this remains one of the highest risk/reward opportunities on the market.

Wizz Air Holdings (LON:WIZZ)

Flat at 1423p (£1.5bn) - Commercial agreement for grounded planes

For more than a year Wizz Air has had to battle with fleet issues after aerospace group Pratt & Witney grounded its planes and said that 1000 of its engines needed to be removed. That fleet grounding contributed to the bigger than expected drop in first half profits for the Hungary-based budget airline operator, which were reported in November.

Today the company has confirmed that Pratt & Witney are providing commercial support while the planes remain grounded, but no certainty of when the end of the engine woes will come. 40 of Wizz Air’s planes are expected to stay grounded through the year to March 2026.

Wizz Air is attempting to combat these problems by taking delivery of new vehicles, but that brings with it additional pressures as the company’s balance sheet is the weakest in the sector.