Derek Pain: Bah! Humbug! Overseas events have made this a terrible year

The Footsie has this year been undermined by its exposure to various mining and oil stocks

FTSE 100 bosses warn Brexit would threaten investment in UK (AFP/Getty Images)

It has been a rotten year for the stock market. A late Santa rally could transform my view of 2015, but I doubt if any festive rejoicing will amount to much.

The benchmark Footsie index, as I write, is hovering around 6,000 points. Yet in April it hit a new peak, topping 7,100. Since then China, Greece, the slump in commodity prices, the difficulties of the eurozone and a slowdown in the world’s economic performance have, with various other influences, combined to make it a year to forget.

I was hopeful the FTSE 100 would at least hit 7,200 this year. Once again I was wrong, and at the moment it is difficult to get excited about the year ahead.

Still, in some respects, shares as measured by the Footsie have done reasonably well since the index was created, at 1,000 points, in 1984. In this century it has been down to 3,287 and only six years ago, as the great financial crisis raged, it was near to 3,500.

There is little doubt that the Footsie, the acknowledged indicator of London’s share performance, has this year been undermined by its exposure to various resources stocks, with both mining and oil shares contributing acute misery.

The Footsie does not discriminate. It merely opts for the 100 biggest quoted companies, some of which have minimal interests or activities in this country.

There have been suggestions that a new index should be created that would reflect British companies and our own economy. So far, however, such talk has fallen on deaf ears.

The No Pain, No Gain portfolio has, despite its lack of resource stocks, not escaped the carnage. Life has become particularly painful with Whitbread, one of my star performers, as it fell to a year’s low of 4,362p. At one time this year the shares brushed 5,500p.

The latest trading update could indicate a slowdown in sales growth. Many stockbroker analysts seemed decidedly unimpressed. Yet sales were 11.1 per cent higher in the 39 weeks under review and the new chief executive, Alison Brittain, who started in the job this month, said the leisure giant was “on track” to deliver the full-year results the stock market expects (around £540m).

Some analysts obviously wanted more but Whitbread is certainly not resting on its laurels. The Costa Coffee side, which lifted sales by 15.3 per cent, is trying out what is known as Fresco outlets. The idea is to focus on food and the concept is very different from the Costa coffee parlours which have appeared in so many high streets.

Whitbread continues to grow its Premier Inn budget hotel chain, with 5,500 extra rooms planned. The hotel sales growth amounted to 10.8 per cent.

Avation, the aircraft leasing group, is another portfolio stock no longer flying quite so high. The shares are around 128.5p compared with a 52-week peak of 167p. But the group continues to grow. The latest development is a mandate to lease four new Airbus A321 aircraft to Vietjet of Vietnam. A fifth Airbus could be on the agenda. The deal is subject to contract.

It is expected that the aircraft will be leased by Vietjet for 12-year periods. Avation is hoping to be granted European export finance for the purchase of the latest additions to its fleet.

And finally to SnackTime. The vending machine company plans to raise £3m by offering shares to various individuals and organisations. The shares remain suspended at 8p.