FTSE 100 Drops After Downbeat Asia Trading; Banks Fall
The FTSE 100 drops 0.5%, or 32 points to 6995 after downbeat
trading in Asia, with miners rising and financial stocks falling.
Stocks in mainland China and Hong Kong were firmly lower, though
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose. "Despite new highs on Wall Street Friday,
Asian markets were mostly weaker Monday, led by a slump of more
than 3% in China as regulatory moves concern investors and
U.S.-China trade talks start acrimoniously," says Chris Scicluna at
Daiwa Capital Markets. "Japan bucks trend as the TOPIX plays
catch-up with the US after last week's holidays." Antofagasta, Rio
Tinto and Anglo American lead the risers, while NatWest, Barclays
and Prudential are the biggest fallers.
Companies News:
XLMedia to Cut Workforce by Up to 15% Amid Reorganization
XLMedia PLC said Monday that it is accelerating an internal
reorganization that is expected to lead to a workforce reduction of
up to 15% and that it expects to report higher revenue and adjusted
earnings for the first half.
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Amedeo Air Four Plus Ability to Continue a Growing Concern in
Doubt; FY 2021 Pretax Loss Widens
Amedeo Air Four Plus Ltd. reported Monday a material uncertainty
that may cast significant doubt on its ability to continue as a
going concern, and said that its pretax loss had widened for fiscal
2021 after it booked higher costs.
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Dignity PLC Appoints John Castagno Nonexecutive Chairman
Dignity PLC said Monday that it has appointed John Castagno as
nonexecutive chairman from July 23.
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Block Energy Shareholder Requests Second Meeting to Commission
Investigation
Block Energy PLC said Monday that shareholder Forest Nominees
Ltd. has requested a second general meeting to consider
commissioning an independent investigation into company
affairs.
---
CentralNic Expects Adjusted Ebitda Jumped 32% in 1H
CentralNic Group PLC said Monday it expects to report a 56%
increase in revenue and a 32% rise in adjusted earnings before
interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the first half
of the year.
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Duke Royalty Hits Quarterly Cash Revenue Performance in 1Q
Duke Royalty Ltd. said Monday that its cash revenue for the
first quarter of fiscal 2022 was above management views, adding
that it expects to post a record cash performance in the second
quarter.
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Kingswood Chairman and CFO Both to Leave
Kingswood Holdings Ltd. said Monday that Chairman Kenneth "Buzz"
West is retiring from the role immediately and that Chief Financial
Officer Patrick Goulding will be leaving the business.
---
ECO Animal Health Profit Rose, CEO Marc Loomes to Step Down
ECO Animal Health Group PLC said Monday that fiscal 2021 pretax
profit rose and that Chief Executive Officer Marc Loomes will
retire on Dec. 31.
---
Metal Tiger to Raise A$5 Mln
Metal Tiger PLC said Monday that it is raising 5 million
Australian dollars ($3.7 million) to make further investments.
---
Prospex Energy Appoints Mark Routh as CEO
Prospex Energy PLC said Monday that it has appointed Mark Routh
as chief executive officer and that Edward Dawson, its current
managing director, will stand down with immediate effect from the
company's board.
---
Plant Health Care 1H Revenue Rose, Gross Margin Slipped
Plant Health Care PLC said Monday that its first-half revenue
rose, though so did its operating expenses, and that its gross
margin slipped because of currency effects.
---
Octopus Renewables Infrastructure to Buy Solar Sites from
Statkraft Ireland -- Deal Digest
ACQUIRER: Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust PLC, the
London-listed trust.
---
NewRiver REIT Agrees on Sale of Hawthorn Pub Business for
GBP222.3 Mln
NewRiver REIT PLC said Monday that it has entered an agreement
for the sale of the entire issued capital of its pub business,
Hawthorn Leisure REIT Ltd., for around 222.3 million pounds ($305.6
million).
---
Schroder European Real Estate Collects Majority of 3Q Rent
Schroder European Real Estate Investment Trust PLC said Monday
that it has collected most of the rent due for the third quarter,
and that the value of its portfolio has risen slightly.
---
Mobile Streams Appoints New Chairman, Finance Director
Mobile Streams PLC said Monday that it has appointed Robert
Moore as nonexecutive chairman and Rama Uthayanan as finance
director with immediate effect.
---
Science Group's 1H Pretax Profit More than Doubled
Science Group PLC said Monday that its results for the first
half of the year were ahead of the board's upgraded
expectations.
---
Heathrow Airport 1H Pretax Loss Narrows, Warns of 2021 Passenger
Numbers Below 2020
London's Heathrow airport said Monday that its first half pretax
loss narrowed and that due to the U.K. government's travel
restrictions stemming from the pandemic, the airport could see less
passengers in 2021 than it did in 2020.
Market Talk:
Deliveroo Looks Well Placed for Grocery-Delivery Push
0809 GMT - Deliveroo has a smaller absolute gross merchandise
value than its food-delivery peers, but its first-mover status in
U.K. grocery gives it an advantage and this should now be completed
by a push into dark stores, Jefferies says. The London-based
food-delivery company --which is backed by Amazon-- has put in
place initiatives to accelerate takeaway orders and has a
first-mover advantage in grocery, Jefferies says. Moreover,
Deliveroo's subscription plan is a tool for unifying both
categories, the bank says. "These are conditions for the profitable
migration of [gross merchandise value] from offline to online,
irrespective of what its competitors are doing. Investors shouldn't
fear the fact Deliveroo is 'smaller,'" Jefferies says.
---
Ryanair's Shares Expected to React Positively on 2Q
Prospects
0724 GMT - Low-cost carrier Ryanair's 1Q net loss of EUR272.6
million was better than consensus of a loss of EUR283 million, and
this was mainly driven by better-than-expected cost performance
partially offsetting the pricing pressure, Citi says. The airline
has said that it expects to fly around 70% of pre-pandemic
passenger numbers--or around 30 million passengers--during the
second quarter of fiscal 2022 as it is driven by strong booking
trends, the U.S. bank says. "We expect the shares to react
positively to commentary around 2Q demand recovery and unit cost
performance," the bank says. Citi rates the stock buy with a EUR20
target price. Shares are up 2.8% at EUR16.18.
---
Ryanair Looks Set to Rebound Even Stronger as the Market
Leader
0718 GMT - Ryanair appears to be at a tipping point to rebound
even stronger as the market leader post-pandemic, Davy says. The
airline's close-in bookings are leading to higher volumes as it
raised its guidance to 90 million to 100 million passengers from
its previous guidance for 'lower end' of 80 million to 120 million,
the Irish research firm said. Furthermore, the budget airline will
see more than 60 Boeing 737-8200 aircraft arriving by summer 2022,
which will be allocated to low-cost airport growth deals, thus
growing its airport base. "We continue to believe that Ryanair is
hugely geared to a market recovery and is best positioned," the
research firm says. Davy rates the stock outperform. Shares are up
2.8% at EUR16.17.
Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires;
+44-20-7842-931
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 26, 2021 04:50 ET (08:50 GMT)
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