(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened mixed on Thursday on a busy day of company news, with Coca-Cola HBC leading the FTSE 100 after well-received interim results, while Network International boosted the FTSE 250.
The UK flagship index was down 1.70 points at 7,505.41. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 29.75 points, or 0.2%, at 20,327.48. The AIM All-Share index was up 3.91 points, or 0.4%, at 923.69.
The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.2% at 749.77. The Cboe 250 was up 0.1% at 17,660.65. The Cboe Small Companies was up 0.1% at 14,342.20.
In Paris, the CAC 40 stock index was up 0.2%, while in Frankfurt, the DAX 40 was 0.4% higher.
In the FTSE 100, Coca-Cola HBC was the best performer, up 3.0%. The soft drinks bottler said it achieved strong interim results in the face of macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty and expects to generate positive organic revenue growth for 2022.
For the six months to June 30, net sales revenue was EUR4.21 billion, up 30% from EUR3.25 billion last year, but net profit was EUR152.9 million, down 34% from EUR233.1 million, hit by a charge from exiting Russia.
Looking ahead, it reinstated guidance for 2022 and expects to generate comparable earnings before interest and tax in the range of EUR740 million to EUR820 million. Jefferies highlighted this was higher than consensus of EUR727 million. Comparable Ebit was EUR462.5 million in the first half, up 32% from EUR350.3 million a year before.
Entain was up 2.0% after the gambling firm said it will pay an interim dividend alongside its half-year results, as it diversified into Europe.
For the six months to June 30, net gaming revenue was GBP2.12 billion, up 18% from GBP1.79 billion a year before, and revenue was GBP2.09 billion, up 19% from GBP1.77 billion.
Underlying Ebitda was GBP471 million, up 17% from GBP401.1 million. Pretax profit was GBP39.5 million, down 70% from GBP130.6 million last year.
Turning to returns, Entain said it was implementing a new dividend policy. It is proposing a progressive dividend, starting with a total dividend of GBP100 million for 2022, to be paid to shareholders in equal instalments in respect of the first half and annual results. Entain declared an interim dividend of 8.5 pence per share.
Separately, Entain said it has partnered with EMMA Capital, an investment firm based in the Czech Republic, to establish a new venture, Entain CEE, to drive expansion in Central and Eastern Europe.
Entain will own 75% of the economic rights in Entain CEE, with EMMA Capital owning the other 25%. Entain CEE will acquire the SuperSport Group, the gaming and sportsbook operator in Croatia from EMMA for EUR600 million in cash at completion.
Conversely in the FTSE 100 early Thursday, Rio Tinto was down 3.5% after the stock went ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest payout.
Antofagasta was down 0.6%. The Chilean copper miner slashed its interim dividend as lower copper prices dented interim results.
For the six months to June 30, revenue dropped 30% to USD2.53 billion from USD3.59 billion a year before, due to lower copper and by-product sales volumes and lower realised copper prices. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 48% to USD1.24 billion from USD2.36 billion, and pretax profit was down 62% to USD679.6 million from USD1.79 billion.
Antofagasta declared an interim dividend of 9.2 US cents, down 61% from 23.6 cents paid out last year.
In the FTSE 250, Network International was the standout performer, up 17%, after the payment solutions provider reported strong interim results and launched a substantial share buyback programme.
For the six months to June 30, pretax profit more than doubled to USD37.3 million from USD17.0 million last year on revenue of USD205.0 million, up 31% from USD156.4 million.
Turning to returns, the Dubai, UAE-based firm said it intends to commence a share buyback programme of up to an aggregate purchase price of USD100 million.
Looking ahead, Network International still expects annual revenue growth of 27% to 29%.
"Our market entry into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is progressing well, having recently secured a second new customer this year. We also see an opportunity to return excess cash to shareholders through a share buyback programme, whilst retaining our existing flexibility to take advantage of additional growth opportunities which may arise," said Chief Executive Nandan Mer.
Harbour Energy was up 4.5% after Goldman Sachs started coverage on the North Sea-focused oil and gas firm with a 'buy' rating. Harbour Energy was formed from the merger of Premier Oil and Chrysaor Energy last year.
New York ended higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.6%, S&P 500 up 2.1% and Nasdaq Composite up 2.9%.
In Asia on Thursday, financial markets in Tokyo were closed for the Mountain Day holiday. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 1.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 2.2%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney ended up 1.1%.
The dollar was higher across the board. The pound was quoted at USD1.2221 early Thursday, down from USD1.2253 at the London equities close Wednesday.
The euro was priced at USD1.0311, down from USD1.0349. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was trading at JPY132.68, up from JPY132.41.
Brent oil was quoted at USD97.35 a barrel Thursday morning, up from USD94.77 late Wednesday. Gold stood at USD1,786.44 an ounce, lower against USD1,799.85.
The economic events calendar Thursday has US producer prices and jobless claims numbers at 1330 BST.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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