By Nick Kostov
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index broke a
three-day losing streak on Wednesday, with well-received earnings
from companies such as EasyJet PLC and Kingfisher PLC boosting
sentiment.
The benchmark gained 0.4% to 6,620.43 after posting a 0.4%
decline on Tuesday. Read commentary: Five ways to bet on a British
economic recovery.
Posting the biggest gain in the index, EasyJet jumped 3.7% after
the low-cost airline reported revenue for the third quarter was up
10.5% to 1.14 billion pounds ($1.75 billion), buoyed by an increase
in capacity and improvement in revenue per seat. The airline now
expects profit before tax for the year to be between GBP450 million
and GBP480 million, up on the GBP317 million recorded last
year.
Public-transport operator National Express PLC added 3.7% after
reporting record nonrail results, but posted a 13.8% reduction in
first-half pretax profit as it was hit by cost inflation,
government cuts and the end of a rail contract.
Other large companies to report were home-improvement giant
Kingfisher PLC , whose shares rose 3.1% after reporting its
comparable sales for the 10 weeks to July 13 rose 2.5%.
Also on investors' mind on Wednesday, shares of GlaxoSmithKline
PLC (GSK) rose 0.5%, as the British pharmaceuticals firm posted a
2% increase in sales during the second quarter. Net profit was
GBP1.05 billion, below analyst expectation of GBP1.27 billion, and
16% down on the same period last year. Separately, Glaxo's chief
executive officer Andrew Witty said the firm will commission an
independent review to investigate the allegations some of its
senior executives had broken the law in China.
In the food industry, shares of Compass Group PLC gained 1.1%,
as the contract food-service company reported its expectations for
the full year remain unchanged after strong third-quarter growth in
North America and its emerging markets.
Sugar manufacturer Tate & Lyle PLC added 3.6% after saying
its outlook for the year remains unchanged and reporting operating
profit for the quarter in line with expectations.
On a more downbeat note, property-investment firm British Land
Co. PLC slipped 0.9% after reporting encouraging demand for its
space but adding retail remains a challenge.
ARM Holdings PLC (ARMHY) lost 1.1% after posting a drop in
first-half profit although revenue rose 27%. The Cambridge-based
company has benefited from exponential growth in the mobile-device
market in recent years, but is now facing increased competition,
particularly from Intel Corp. (INTC).
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