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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened higher on Friday on a quiet day for UK company news, though the FTSE 250 was bookended by Babcock International and Avon Protection after announcements.
The FTSE 100 index was up 22.57 points, or 0.3%, at 7,215.52. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 55.05 points, or 0.2%, at 23,801.82. The AIM All-Share index was up 0.1% at 1,271.61.
The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.3% at 718.80. The Cboe 250 was up 0.1% at 21,609.35, and the Cboe Small Companies flat at 15,546.34.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and DAX 30 in Frankfurt were up 0.5% and 0.1% respectively.
In the FTSE 250, Babcock International was the best performer, up 7.5%, after the defence outsourcer said it will sell subsidiary Frazer-Nash Consultancy to US science and technology company KBR for GBP293 million.
Babcock said the sale forms part of its disposal programme, which aims to generate at least GBP400 million over the next twelve months.
Babcock said Frazer-Nash Consultancy is an "outstanding business" which provides independent advice to its customers and has operated largely independently from Babcock. Cash from the sale will be used to reduce net debt.
Languishing at the foot of the midcaps, Avon Protection was down 29% after the personal protection systems maker cut revenue guidance due to order delays.
The company, formerly known as Avon Rubber, said order intake in the ten months to July 31 was USD221 million. This represents order growth, excluding its US helmet business Team Wendy, of 13% from the same time last year, giving a strong order book of USD146 million. When including recent acquisition Team Wendy, order growth was up 21% year-on-year.
However, Avon said delays in the receipt of orders, supply chain disruption and a tight US labour market has increased significantly through the second half of the financial year.
Avon said that, although it expects this Covid-19 related disruption to be temporary, it has resulted in a reduction in revenue guidance for financial 2021 to between USD245 million to USD260 million. The company posted revenue of GBP168.0 million for the year ended September 30.
Elsewhere in London, Thungela Resources was up 7.5%. The coal producer posted a significant increase in interim earnings as it reported for the first time as an independent company, having been spun off from Anglo American in June.
The stock was up 2.5% in Johannesburg.
For the six months to June 30, revenue jumped to ZAR10.05 billion from ZAR1.66 billion last year, and it swung to a profit of ZAR351 million from a ZAR122 million loss. Its operating profit surged to ZAR1.89 billion from ZAR52 million.
Thungela Resources said it was cash positive and well positioned after the spin-off and expects positive adjusted operating free cash flow for rest of 2021. As a result, it expects to declare maiden dividend at 2021 annual results at 30% of adjusted operating free cash flow.
Anglo American was down 0.2% in London but up 0.2% in Johannesburg.
Singapore-based agricultural firm Olam International said it has chosen London for the initial public offering of its food ingredients business.
Olam is in the process of demerging its two units - Olam Food Ingredients and Olam Global Agri. OFI supplies ingredients and products made from cocoa, coffee, nuts, spices, and dairy. The IPO is planned for the first half of 2022 and will be joined by a secondary listing on the Singapore Stock Exchange.
OFI is planning to raise about GBP2 billion, Reuters reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Olam International closed up 3.5% in Singapore, giving it a market capitalisation of SGD5.55 billion, about GBP2.96 billion.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.1% on Friday. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 0.9%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney ended up 0.5%.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3806 early Friday, down from USD1.3829 at the London equities close Thursday.
The euro was priced at USD1.1740, up from USD1.1729. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was trading at JPY110.39, little changed from JPY110.35.
Brent oil was quoted at USD70.90 a barrel Friday morning, down from USD71.22 late Thursday. Gold was trading at USD1,758.20 an ounce, higher against USD1,750.13.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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