Lloyds leads the FTSE 100 risers in 2012

Lloyds Banking Group shares have made the biggest gain in the FTSE 100 (UKX) this year, at a hefty 80% surge in price, while Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation is the year's biggest faller so far.

As at mid-December, Lloyds has soared 80% year-to-date, with Hargreaves Lansdown the second-biggest climber on the Footsie, at 65%. Aberdeen Asset Management (62.5%) and Whitbread (55%) complete the top four, according to analysis by ETX Capital.

Ishaq Siddiqi, market strategist at ETX Capital, says the strong performance by Lloyds is "surprising". He says the bank performed better than its UK banking peers thanks to meaningful progress in de-risking its balance sheet during 2012.

He adds: "At current levels, the stock is still regarded as fairly cheap and is likely to rise further next year due to its risk/reward profile, which offers attractive returns to investors."

On Hargreaves, Siddiqi says it has surged due to its Vantage platform bumping up revenue and its strong cash position and long-term structural drivers of growth.

He adds: "Aberdeen is regarded by many analysts as a financially strong company with double-digit earnings per share (EPS) growth, however the asset manager this year witnessed lower performance fee revenue, higher marketing and other costs, which has led to EPS downgrades for the year ahead."

According to Siddiqi, investors would have made more money in 2012 by buying shares in Hargreaves and Aberdeen rather than investing in Aberdeen funds or using Hargreaves as their platform.

Meanwhile Whitbread put in a sterling performance, gaining 55%. This was due to strong growth from its Costa coffee chain and steady growth in hotel business.

Looking at the FTSE 100's worst performers in 2012, it was two mining giants that lost investors the most money.

ENRC tanked almost 58% while Evraz shares are down by 31% year-to-date.

For ENRC, net debt has soared from around $150 million (£92 million) in the first half of 2011 to around $3.8 billion by the end of September 2012, which Siddiqi says has worried investors. Analysts expect net debt to increase further in 2013 due to more spending, acquisitions and settlements for the company's African copper business.

Evraz's fall in share price is due to it being highly leveraged and particularly sensitive to the slowdown in China, India and Europe, which has impacted on all mining companies throughout 2012. Indeed shares in fellow miner Anglo American slipped 23%, making it the fourth-worst performer.

BG Group is the third-worst performer of the Footsie, sliding almost 25%, which Siddiqi says is hardly surprising given the downgrades to production and earnings guidance over the past year.