The FTSE 100 closed Thursday up 0.41% in another positive session for European markets as China’s decision to end its ban on group tours to other countries helped boost travel, leisure and the luxury sector, CMC Markets UK says. The index however somewhat underperformed its European peers as more than 10% of the index went ex-dividend, including the likes of AstraZeneca, Rio Tinto, Shell, NatWest, Barclays, BP, and HSBC–knocking over 30 points off the index, CMC Chief Market Analyst Michael Hewson says in a research note. “On the plus side, house builder Persimmon shares are getting a lift despite see a sharp fall in completions from the same period a year ago,” Hewson says.
NEWS:
Antofagasta Profit Rises on Higher Sales Volumes; Lifts Dividend
Antofagasta PLC said that profit for the first half of 2023 rose, supported by higher sales volumes, backed its annual production target and raised its dividend payout.
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Capita to Sell Travel Businesses to Clarity Travel for GBP16 Mln
Capita said it has sold its travel and events businesses Agiito and Evolvi to Clarity Travel Ltd. for an enterprise value of 36.5 million pounds ($46.4 million), but that it will receive GBP16 million due to work capital and debt liabilities.
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Beazley CFO Sally Lake to Step Down
Beazley Chief Financial Officer Sally Lake will leave the company in 2024, it said Thursday.
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Spirax-Sarco Engineering Pretax Profit Fell on Higher Costs, Missing Consensus
Spirax-Sarco Engineering said its first-half pretax profit fell after booking higher costs, missing consensus, and that China’s weaker economic backdrop was hurting customer demand while broader macroeconomic uncertainty was leading to customers deferring project orders.
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Deliveroo Raises Guidance After Return to Profit; Plans GBP250M Shareholder Return
Deliveroo has raised its preferred adjusted Ebitda guidance for the year as it reported a swing to profit for the same metric for the first half year, and said it will return an extra 250 million pounds ($317.9 million) of surplus capital to shareholders.
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Entain Swings to Pretax Loss as It Sets Aside GBP585.0 Mln for Bribery Probe
Entain swung to pretax loss for the first half after setting aside 585 million pounds ($743.9 million) for a potential settlement of the U.K.’s bribery probe into its legacy Turkish-facing business.
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Watches of Switzerland Backs Guidance on Robust US Performance; Revenue in Line
Watches of Switzerland backed its fiscal 2024 guidance on the back of a first-quarter performance in line with expectations and robust progress in the U.S. market.
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Marks Electrical Four-Month Revenue Rose 31% on Trading Momentum
Marks Electrical reported a four-month revenue jump supported by positive trading momentum.
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Savills Pretax Profit Fell on Reduced Volumes, Real-Estate Market Adjustments
Savills reported lower first-half pretax profit after the group saw a large reduction in trading volumes as real-estate markets adjusted to challenging macroeconomic conditions, and said its expectations for 2023 have been reduced due to uncertainty over the timing of market recoveries.
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OSB Group Pretax Profit Hit by Interest-Rate Adjustment
OSB Group’s first-half pretax profit fell for the first half due to an adverse interest-rate adjustment and backed its loan-book growth target for 2023.
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S&U Says It Is Trading Well Despite Challenging Backdrop
S&U continues to trade well but its growth is being hindered by the U.K.’s economic policies and reduced consumer confidence.
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Derwent London Swung to Pretax Loss on Higher Costs; Backs Guidance
Derwent London swung to a pretax loss in the first half after booking higher irrecoverable property costs, but backed its guidance for the year.
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Aterian Raises GBP1 Mln via Premium Share Issue to Fund Exploration
Aterian has raised 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) via the issue of shares at a premium to its share price and will use the money toward continuing exploration in Morocco and Rwanda, and for general working-capital purposes.
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Jarvis Securities Shares Drop on Performance Below Market Views
Jarvis Securities shares fell after the group said that it is currently performing below market expectations for 2023.
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Silver Bullet Shares Rise After First-Half Revenue Jump; Performance in Line
Silver Bullet Data Services shares rose after the group reported robust revenue growth in the first half and said it is performing in line with expectations.
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Allergy Therapeutics Shares Fall on Lower FY 2023 Revenue, Swing to Loss
Shares of Allergy Therapeutics slid as much as 16% in early trade after the company said that revenue for fiscal 2023 fell due to a pause in production and that it expects to report an underlying operating loss for the year.
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Hostelworld’s Pretax Loss Narrows as Revenue Surges on Strong Key Markets Performance
Hostelworld Group said its pretax loss narrowed for the first half as revenue rose on a strong performance across key regional markets, and backed its guidance for the year.
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Lancashire Holdings to Launch in the US; Pretax Profit Rose
Lancashire Holdings said it intends to launch in the U.S. as it reported a rise in pretax profit for the first half of 2023 on higher insurance and investment results.
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Tullow Oil Sells Orinduik License Interest in Guyana to Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas
Tullow Oil said that it has agreed to sell its subsidiary Tullow Guyana, which holds a 60% operated interest at the Orinduik licence in Guyana, to a subsidiary of Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas for an initial payment of $700,000 and further considerations upon certain conditions.
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Capital & Regional Launches GBP23.4 Mln Open Offer; to Buy Scottish Shopping Center
Capital & Regional has agreed to acquire the Gyle Shopping Centre, located in Edinburgh, Scotland, for 40 million pounds ($50.9 million), and is launching a discounted open offer of around GBP23.4 million in conjunction with this, it said Thursday.
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TBC Bank Group Lifts Mid-Term Targets After 2Q Pretax Profit Rose
TBC Bank Group upgraded its mid-term targets as it reported a rise in pretax profit for the second quarter of 2023 on higher net-interest, fee and commission income.
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Checkit’s Land and Expand Strategy, High Retention Rates Boost Earnings
Checkit said that its ‘land and expand’ strategy and high net retention rates have boosted annual recurring revenue over the first half of the year.
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Network International Pretax Profit Rose on Middle East Performance
Network International Holdings posted higher pretax profit for first half of 2023 as its revenue rose on good performance in the United Arab Emirates and Jordan and growth its merchant services division.
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Capital & Regional Net Profit Fell Against Tough Comparative
Capital & Regional said net profit for the first half fell compared with last year’s, when it benefited from significant one-off gains, and that it will continue exploring selective opportunities to grow the business.
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Trifast Appoints Serena Lang Chair-Elect, Chair Jonathan Shearman to Step Down in September
Trifast said it has appointed Serena Lang chair-elect effective Aug. 10, and that current Chair Jonathan Shearman will step down on Sept. 14.
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Petrofac Swung to Net Loss on Onerous Contracts; Almost Doubles Orders
Petrofac Ltd. reported a swing to net loss in the first half of 2023 driven by legacy contracts, while it benefited from a major increase in its order book.
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Tern CFO Sarah Payne Steps Down Amid Cost-Cutting, Restructuring
Tern PLC’s Chief Financial Officer Sarah Payne is stepping down from the role and from her company secretary position on or before Sept. 30 to join another company, as the group changes its management structure and implements measures to reduce costs.
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Persimmon Misses Pretax Profit Forecast; Tightens Sales Guidance Upward — Update
Persimmon first-half pretax profit fell short of market forecasts after the company sold fewer houses, though it expects to deliver on profit expectations for the full year, and tightened sales guidance upward.
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JPMorgan exec in charge of Nutmeg quits — Financial News
Sanoke Viswanathan, who runs JPMorgan’s international consuming banking division, will take on Somani’s CEO role.
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National World Will Consider Participating in Telegraph Media Sale Process
National World said it will consider participating in the Telegraph Media Group sale process as and when it starts and that the board continued to evaluate accretive opportunities to grow the business.
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Harbour Energy to Sell Vietnam Business for $84 Mln
Harbour Energy has agreed to sell its business in Vietnam to Big Energy Joint Stock Co. for $84 million, it said Thursday.
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MARKET TALK:
Derwent London Delivers Sustained Occupier Momentum Though Portfolio Slips
1220 GMT – Derwent London’s first-half results confirmed the operating resilience of its business model and the continuing occupier demand for premium, well-located and sustainable London office assets, Shore Capital says. Though the property-investment-and-development company’s portfolio valuation slipped further, its geographical positioning and lack of exposure to core city and docklands markets is something to like, Shore analyst Andrew Saunders says in a research note. The current development pipeline should also help drive uplifts to net tangible assets, though this is likely to take some time, he says. “That said, the shares remain good value on a longer-term view considering potential future upside and management track record of delivering value through the cycle,” the investment group says. Shore retains its hold rating on the stock. Shares are flat on 2,162.0 pence. ([email protected])
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Derwent London’s Share Price Looks Attractive
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
August 10, 2023 12:23 ET (16:23 GMT)
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