(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors - UK) The fallout from last week''s referendum continued on Tuesday as the UK''s big companies diverged in their views of the potential impact of the vote.
Jet engine maker Rolls-Royce Holding PLC (LON:RR.), whose shares rose 18.5p to 670.5p in afternoon London trading, said the decision was not its chosen outcome.
But it said it would not have an immediate impact on its business and the longer-term effect would depend on any new arrangements drawn up between the UK and the EU.
Insurer Old Mutual plc (LON:OML), meanwhile, forecast a potential hit, but said it would not affect its overall plans. The group''s stock increased 6.9p to 185p.
Chief executive Bruce Hemphill said: ''Increased market volatility following the referendum decision does not affect our strategy, although it may impact the performance of the underlying businesses.''
But a boss of luxury car maker Aston Martin was more forthright, slamming the ''Leave'' campaign for not putting more flesh on the bones of its calls for the UK to quit the EU.
Aston Martin''s finance chief Mark Wilson branded Leave''s failure to draw up a plan as ''disappointing,'' according to the Guardian newspaper.
''I would have hoped to see a bit more joined-up thinking but we are where we are,'' the Guardian quoted Wilson as saying. ''We can''t do anything about the fact the political class were ill-prepared.
''There is a lot of confusion and we have EU people who want us to press the button very quickly and most of the government who are slow-walking and saying: ''We want to think about this.''''
Marked deterioration
Meanwhile, credit rating agencies downgraded the UK, although the markets shrugged off the fears.
Both Standard & Poor''s and Fitch slashed the country''s ratings, with S & P lowering by two notches to AA from AAA and Fitch reducing to AA from AA+. They also similarly reduced their ratings on the Bank of England.
S & P warned that the vote to leave the EU threatened the UK''s constitutional and economic integrity.
It said its downgrade reflected the risk of ''a marked deterioration of external financing conditions'' for Britain, which was now set to have a less predictable, stable and effective policy framework.
''The vote for ''Remain'' in Scotland and Northern Ireland also creates wider constitutional issues for the country as a whole,'' the agency said.
The S & P move carried extra significance given that it was the only one of the big three, which also includes Moody''s, not to downgrade the UK''s rating following the financial crisis.
Groundless optimism
The downgrades sent sterling to new 31-year lows, but failed to have much of an impact on markets, which recovered after a battering in the last couple of sessions.
The FTSE 100 Index climbed 131 points to 6113 and the pound steadied as investors regained their nerve.
But traders said the bounce could be due to opportunist buying as punters snapped up stocks sent lower by the turmoil.
Mike van Dulken at Accendo Markets said: ''While equity volumes are picking up, they are still below average and so bargain-hunting may be helping, as opposed to emergence of genuine support.''
Ipek Ozkardeskaya at London Capital Group branded the market performance as "groundless optimism".
''Although the FTSE opened upbeat in London this morning, investors should keep in mind that Moody''s, S & P and Fitch have downgraded the UK''s credit rating," Ozkardeskaya said.
''And even if the UK banks are better-bid at the early hours of trading in London, the market is now pricing in the possibility of a rate cut from the Bank of England (BoE) to temper potential economic damage as the UK prepares to quit the EU."
The political fallout dragged on as defeated Prime Minister David Cameron prepared to meet his EU counterparts in Brussels for a potentially frosty meeting.
The Conservative Party leadership campaign heated up with the news that Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, a ''Remain'' campaigner in the referendum, may stand.
And Labour turmoil continued as MPs prepared to cast a vote of no confidence in leader Jeremy Corbyn, accusing him of contributing to the ''Leave'' vote by running a lacklustre ''Remain'' campaign.
For those hoping the decision could be reversed, though, there was hope as a petition for a second referendum continued to gain signatures steadily, hitting more than 3.9 million by mid-morning.
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