Recession, inflation, and two PMs: How shares in UK fared this year   

While retail, car manufacturing, restaurants and pubs performed poorly, pawn brokers and publishers were winners

Recession, inflation, two prime ministers resigning and a wave of strikes have sparked selloffs in domestic shares in Britain.

For Britain, recession, inflation, two prime ministers resigning and a wave of strikes have sparked selloffs in domestic shares. 

The cost-of-living crisis has been a dream for pawnbrokers, but a disaster for pubs and some retailers. 

Meanwhile, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has contributed to rampant energy prices but also created huge demand for defence spending. The Ftse-250 midcap index is down 20% year-to-date, the most since 2008. 

Below is a look at some of the best and worst-performing British stocks of the past 12 months:

In retail, the cost-of-living crisis is taking its toll on online retailers, with traffic on the websites of firms like Asos dropping considerably this year, according to JPMorgan Chase analysts. Asos, down by almost 80%, is the worst-performing stock on the Ftse-350 Retail Index this year. Its woes are in stark contrast to Frasers Group, which has significantly outperformed the index.

In car manufacturing, Aston Martin Lagonda, which has fallen almost 70%, it has been a volatile ride since its high-profile 2018 public offering. Orders have been robust but production has been hit by higher costs and delays in obtaining parts for cars. 

In gambling, shares in 888 Holdings have been hit by investor concerns over the financing of its acquisition of William Hill's international assets. In December, 888 and its lenders were still looking to offload debt.

Unfortunately for Moonpig, which straddles both tech and retail, birthday cards aren’t recession-proof. A tough economic outlook combined with UK postal strikes have hit the firm, which is raising prices and cutting marketing spend. 

And for restaurants and pubs, there seems to be no end to Wetherspoon's  Covid hangover. After the pandemic, older customers in particular failed to return to the British pub chain in previous numbers.  

Stock winners

Among the stock winners is a pawnbroking business H&T. Inflation and rising energy prices have resulted in more people looking for ways to get cash, and H&T has been one of the best-performing stocks on the AIM junior market.

Shares in British defence company BAE Systems spiked in March following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the war forcing governments to boost their defence spending. Peer QinetiQ has also risen strongly.

In publishing, Pearson's pivot toward digital learning is bearing fruit at a time when it is pressured by weaker book sales in its higher education segment. 

Balfour Beatty, in engineering and construction, has benefited largely thanks to a series of big projects such as a Hong Kong International Airport contract and the High Speed Two rail programme in the UK. The British construction group has enjoyed robust margins, generated high revenues and improving profitability, which are set to continue through to 2023.

And booming demand for passport pictures amid a resumption of travel lifted self-service photo booth operator ME Group, formerly known as Photo Me. Trading in Asia continues to be subdued due to some pandemic measures remaining in place, the firm said last month. 

• Bloomberg