A year that was proclaimed as the great rotation into equities turned out to be more of a gradual shift, but stock markets certainly enjoyed the better of the returns.

Although UK markets have retreated a little from recent highs as investors fret over the impact of tapering in the US, indices have still made double-digit returns, while smaller companies delivered much more.

But which stocks have soared higher than competitors? Among the blue chips, the winners this year have been the airline operators, with both International Consolidated Airlines and easyJet topping the pile, more than doubling in value.

Range-bound fuel prices and tight controls over flight capacity have helped airlines globally, and the UK companies have been no different, with revenues and profits both climbing.

Sponsored

Click here to view our Sponsored Content Hub

Widely tipped to be a winner thanks to the upheaval in the UK’s financial services landscape, Hargreaves Lansdown has not disappointed this year, with shares up 98% year to date.

The huge jump in price is unsurprising following record revenues and profits as investors priced out of advice turned towards self-investing.

Financials struggle to make it into the top ten, but Lloyds bucks the trend after the government’s stake-reduction plan paid off.

Improving profits and a well-received sale of 6% of the shares by UK Financial Investments have all contributed, and helped it outstrip struggling competitor Royal Bank of Scotland, which has gained just 1.5% year to date.

On the downside, the FTSE 100’s contingent of mining stocks have endured an annus horribilis in 2013, as weak commodity prices and slowing growth in China all impacted shares.

Operational problems at individual companies saw them struggle by differing degrees, but the biggest loser is gold and silver explorer Fresnillo, hammered by a steep decline in precious metals prices in 2013.

While miners dominate the fallers in the FTSE 100, financials also appear, with a recent profits warning at Standard Chartered ensuring its place among the worst performing stocks of the year.

Below is the full list of the FTSE 100’s best and worst stocks of 2013 (all data to 19 December 2013, according to Morningstar).

 

Name	Total % Return
International Consolidated Airlines Group	110.61
easyJet	101.37
Hargreaves Lansdown	97.59
Sports Direct International	88.23
ITV	82.51
Travis Perkins	65.35
BT Group	65.12
GKN	63.20
Lloyds Banking Group	61.74
Vodafone Group	58.04
BHP Billiton	-11.84
Standard Chartered	-12.33
RSA Insurance Group	-22.97
Vedanta Resources	-26.98
Petrofac	-27.14
Anglo American	-29.34
Tullow Oil	-32.47
Antofagasta	-34.73
Randgold Resources	-35.41
Fresnillo	-59.77

While the UK’s largest stocks on average saw gains of around 12% this year, smaller companies have done much better.

Both the FTSE 250 and FTSE Small Cap indices have rocketed as bold investors opted to make the most of the surprise turnaround in the fortunes of economies around the globe.

The top performing stock of 2013 in the FTSE All Share is Ocado Group, the home delivery business which has seen a staggering turnaround in its fortunes after signing a £170m deal with supermarket giant Morrisons.

The deal – which runs for 25 years – has sent Ocado’s shares up by a stunning 416% this year, vastly outstripping any other stock.

Turarounds feature throughout the list of the year’s biggest winners, and among them is the world’s oldest travel operator, Thomas Cook.

Plagued by the fallout from the European debt crisis, and lower consumer spending, the business instigated a ruthless cost-cutting programme, closing 208 stores across the UK in the last 12 months.

But the plans have paid off for shareholders, who have enjoyed huge gains of 250%.

On the downside, resources and miners feature heavily once again, including Finnish Nickel miner Talvivaara Mining Company, which takes the top spot in the list.

Struggling with both production problems and a 20% fall in the value of nickel this year, Talvivaara completed a capital raising in the summer but its future remains uncertain and recently there was speculation the Finnish government may yet have to step in to support the business.

 

Name	Total % Return
Ocado Group	416.68
Xaar	299.11
Thomas Cook Group	250.42
SuperGroup	150.09
Topps Tiles	149.50
Photo-Me International	140.94
AGA Rangemaster Group	137.50
Renold	133.33
Bank of Georgia Holdings	128.70
NMC Health	126.73
Imagination Technologies Group	-58.95
Fresnillo	-59.77
EVRAZ	-61.34
African Barrick Gold	-62.34
RusPetro	-62.66
Hochschild Mining	-73.29
Kazakhmys	-74.83
New World Resources	-78.16
Petropavlovsk	-79.64
Talvivaara Mining Company PLC	-93.28