FTSE 100 Rises as Miners, Oil Stocks Gain; S&N, BT Fall
The FTSE 100 Index gains 0.7%, or 48 points, to 7064 as gains
for oil and mining stocks offset losses for Smith & Nephew and
BT. Anglo American rises 5% after it reported significantly higher
first-half profit and said it would return $4.1 billion to
shareholders via dividends and share buybacks. Royal Dutch Shell
shares advance 4% after it reported what analysts described as a
strong 2Q. Business publisher Informa lifts 3% after raising 2021
revenue guidance and contract caterer Compass also gains 3% after a
trading update. Still, Smith & Nephew drops 6% amid uncertainty
around the artificial hip-maker's 2H outlook. BT is also off 6%
after 1Q revenue missed expectations.
Companies News:
DiscoverIE Says 1Q Performance Was Ahead of Views
DiscoverIE Group PLC said Thursday that its performance for the
first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022 was ahead of
the board's expectations
---
Spectris Swung to 1H Pretax Profit
Spectris PLC said Thursday that it swung to pretax profit for
the first half of the year as actions taken over the last two years
to simplify its operations led to lower costs, and that it expects
a continuing recovery in the second half.
---
Volex Sees FY 2022 Underlying Profit Ahead of Views After Strong
Start
Volex PLC said Thursday that it expects to deliver underlying
operating profit for fiscal 2022 slightly ahead of current market
expectations after positive trends experienced in the first
quarter.
---
Empresaria Sees 1H Profits Up On-year, Net Fees Increased
Empresaria Group PLC said Thursday that it expects first-half
profits to be significantly ahead of the same time a year prior, on
the back of a rise in net fees.
---
4D Pharma Agrees $30 Million Loan
4D Pharma PLC said on Thursday that it has agreed a secured
credit facility of up to $30 million with Oxford Finance LLC, and
that this strengthened its financial position and increased its
financial flexibility.
---
Oakley Capital Investments to Buy Back Up to 2 Mln Shares
Oakley Capital Investments Ltd. said Thursday that it plans to
buy back up to 2 million of its ordinary shares, which will then be
cancelled.
---
Biome Technologies' 1H Revenue Rose Slightly
Biome Technologies PLC said Thursday that revenue for the first
half of the year rose slightly, and that its expectations for its
performance remains in line with revised market expectations.
---
Salt Lake Potash Shares Drop on Downgraded FY Guidance,
Potential Fundraise
Shares in Salt Lake Potash Ltd. on Thursday fell after it
announced that it has reduced its production guidance for fiscal
2022 and that suspension of the trading of its shares on the AIM
market was lifted.
---
Quixant Expects Double-Digit 1H Revenue Growth
Quixant PLC said Thursday that it expects to report double-digit
growth in revenue for the first half of the year, in-line with
management expectations, as strong demand in the period drove
healthy order intake.
---
Argo Blockchain Chairman Leaves; CEO Appointed as Interim
Chair
Argo Blockchain PLC said Thursday that Executive Chairman Ian
Macleod is leaving the company amid a board reshuffle, and that
Chief Executive Officer Peter Wall has been appointed as its
interim chair.
---
Likewise Group to Raise GBP10 Mln in London IPO
Likewise Group PLC, a floor-covering and matting distributor,
said Thursday that it plans to raise 10 million pounds ($13.9
million) and float on London's junior AIM on Aug. 18.
---
Co-operative Bank Swung to 1H Pretax Profit
Co-operative Bank PLC on Thursday reported a swing to pretax
profit for the first half of the year and said its full-year
performance is in line with guidance.
---
UK Lawsuit Targets Google App Store Charges
Alphabet Inc.'s Google is facing a lawsuit in the U.K. over its
Google Play app store charges in a legal case that claims that
users are entitled to compensation, the claimants said
Thursday.
---
London Stock Exchange Suffers Indigestion From Refinitiv
Deal
London Stock Exchange Group PLC's $15 billion acquisition of
Refinitiv Holdings Ltd. is proving more difficult to integrate than
expected, and shareholders of Europe's biggest exchange operator by
market value are paying an early price.
---
Anglesey Mining Shares Rise on New CEO, Financing Options
Shares in Anglesey Mining PLC rose after it said that it has
appointed a new chief executive and was investigating various
financing routes for its Parys Mountain zinc-copper-lead project in
Wales.
Market Talk:
Indivior Seen as Strongly Positioned
0958 GMT - Indivior enjoys a solid position in an industry
forced into expansion by a raging opioid crisis, according to Numis
Securities. With the opioid crisis accelerating in the U.S. and
worldwide and being exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, the
pharmaceutical company remains a key part of the fight against
opioid addiction, Numis says. Meanwhile, lower costs allowed for a
better first-half profitability, the brokerage says. Numis has a
buy rating on the stock and a target price of 320.0 pence. Shares
are up 3.6% at 153.6 pence.
---
UK June Business Borrowing Looks Encouraging
0951 GMT - The flow of U.K. business borrowing in June was
encouraging, as companies showed signs of increased resilience,
according to money and credit data. Small and medium-sized
businesses repaid GBP0.3bn of bank loans, suggesting that they
don't need to keep borrowing just to remain afloat, says Kieran
Tompkins, assistant economist at Capital Economics. Large
businesses, however, borrowed an additional GBP0.8 billion from
banks in June, but they have been paying back loans for much of the
past year, he says.
---
AstraZeneca 2021 Outlook Should Reassure, Jefferies Says
0941 GMT - AstraZeneca's 2021 outlook was broadly as expected
and implies around $0.30 to $0.40 earnings-per-share accretion from
the July 21 closing of the Alexion acquisition, Jefferies says.
This should calm some nerves and prompt a modest share rise,
according to the investment bank. The Anglo-Swedish pharma major
also posted sales which were above consensus on the back of key
growth drivers such as diabetes drug Farxiga, lung-cancer medicine
Tagrisso and lymphoma treatment Calquence, Jefferies says. Earnings
per share, however, came in shy of consensus as did gross margin,
which was largely due to no-profit supply of the Covid-19 vaccine,
Jefferies says. AstraZeneca trades up 0.2% at 8279.00 pence.
---
Rentokil Initial's Focus on Expansion Seen Prompting More
Growth
0939 GMT - Rentokil Initial delivered a strong first half, while
the continued focus on expansion bodes well for further growth,
according to Peel Hunt. With anticipated full-year M&A spend
increasing by GBP50 million to GBP100 million and momentum in the
business, the pest-control group enjoys further upside potential to
forecasts, Peel Hunt says. The brokerage has an add rating on the
stock and a target price of 573.0 pence. Shares are up 4.8% at
552.6 pence.
---
Shell Says Stopping North Sea Oil Exploration Won't Serve
Climate
0927 GMT - Royal Dutch Shell says calls for stopping oil-and-gas
exploration in the U.K.'s part of the North Sea wouldn't serve the
climate. "As long as the U.K. still needs oil and gas in its
consumption for its society, it's better to produce in its own
backyard--it's better for the climate, it's better for the balance
of payments," Chief Executive Ben van Beurden says. "To just import
oil and gas--which would be the alternative--from around the world
would obviously not serve the climate at all," he says.
---
BAE Systems Earnings Top Hopes in 'Pretty Clean' 1H
0926 GMT - BAE Systems 1H results topped expectations and the
defence group maintained its FY guidance despite currency
turbulence, Citigroup says. BAE produced a "pretty clean set of
results," Citi says, with pretax earnings before interest beating
market expectations by 8%. "We continue to believe that following
several years of limited cash conversion, profit and cash are now
aligning positively and we reiterate our buy and 670 pence target
price," Citi analyst Charles Armitage says. "The GBP500 million
share buy-back, maintaining FY guidance despite FX headwinds and
three-year cash target should help the shares up today, despite
recent good performance." Shares rise 2% to 575p.
---
Shell Says Selling Or Closing Refineries Will Help Meet Court
Ruling on Emissions
0925 GMT - Royal Dutch Shell PLC says it is working to see
whether it can meet a Dutch court ruling to reduce its carbon
emissions by 45% by 2030. "Of course divestments and closures and
conversions etcetera will help, particularly of our refineries,
because most of our scope 1 and 2 emissions are in refining and in
chemicals," Chief Executive Ben van Beurden says. Oil and gas
production assets are a small minority of the company's emissions
so "divestment is not necessarily an option," he says.
Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires;
+44-20-7842-931
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 29, 2021 06:18 ET (10:18 GMT)
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