(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened higher on Wednesday with ITV leading the FTSE 100 as it forecast a record annual performance, while Marks & Spencer rose sharply in the FTSE 250 after raising profit guidance.
The UK flagship index was up 25.66 points, or 0.4%, at 7,299.70 early Wednesday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 82.72 points, or 0.4%, at 23,449.86. The AIM All-Share index was up 1.41 point, or 0.1%, at 1,242.75.
The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.3% at 723.00. The Cboe 250 was up 0.4% at 20,974.10 and the Cboe Small Companies up 0.2% at 15,661.29.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 stock index in Paris was up 0.1%, but the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 0.1%.
In the FTSE 100, ITV was the best performer, up 7.0%, after the broadcaster said it saw an "outstanding" nine months with strong performances from its Studios and Media & Entertainment businesses driving revenue growth.
For the nine months to September 30, revenue was GBP2.79 billion, up 29% from GBP2.17 billion at the same time last year. Total advertising revenue came in at GBP1.36 billion, rising 31% from GBP1.04 billion.
Looking ahead, ITV said total advertising revenue for 2021 is expected to be the highest in the company's 66-year history.
Aveva was up 1.1% after the industrial software provider said it saw a good first half performance, delivering a "solid set of results" and laying foundations for future growth.
For the six months to September 30, revenue rose to GBP480.9 million from GBP332.6 million last year, but its pretax loss widened to GBP80.3 million from a GBP24.2 million loss.
Aveva said the loss was due to the amortisation of intangible assets relating to its combination with the Schneider Electric industrial software business and its OSIsoft acquisition. Aveva declared an interim dividend of 13.0 pence, up 4.8% from 12.4p paid out last year.
The Cambridge-based firm said the integration with the OSIsoft businesses has progressed well. It said growth is expected to continue in the second half of the year on an organic constant currency basis, supported by a good contract pipeline and improving market conditions.
Shares in oil majors BP, Royal Dutch Shell 'A' and Shell 'B' were up 2.2%, 1.3% and 1.2% respectively, tracking spot oil prices higher.
Brent oil was quoted at USD85.20 a barrel Wednesday morning, up sharply from USD84.08 late Tuesday.
In the FTSE 250, Marks & Spencer was the standout performer, up 16%. The food, clothing and homewares retailer raised its annual profit outlook for the second time in less than three months after a sales rebound.
M&S reported pretax profit of GBP187.3 million in the six months to October 2, swung from a loss of GBP87.6 million a year earlier at the height of the pandemic, and up 18% on two years ago before Covid-19 struck.
M&S said it expects full-year underlying profit to beat expectations, now guiding for around GBP500 million - having already upgraded its guidance in late August to above GBP350 million.
For the half year to October 2, revenue rose to GBP5.11 billion from GBP4.09 billion last year as the retailer swung to a pretax profit of GBP187.3 million from a pandemic-driven loss of GBP87.6 million.
Food sales rose 10% in the first half of the year, but clothing and home sales continued to trail, slipping by 1%.
At the other end of the midcaps, JD Wetherspoon was the worst performer, down 4.0%, after the pub operator said like-for-like sales fell in the first quarter.
For the 15 weeks to November 7, like-for-like sales were 8.9% lower than the record sales achieved in the same period in 2019. Wetherspoon said supply chain issues have occurred from "time to time" but have usually related to a minority of items.
The pub chain said problems have eased in recent weeks, but the busy Christmas period is yet to come.
Babcock International was down 3.9% after Barclays downgraded the defence contractor to Equal Weight from Overweight.
In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.6%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong ended up 0.8%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.1%.
China's factory-gate inflation hit a 26-year high in October while fresh virus outbreaks and soaring food and energy prices sent consumer prices up more than forecast, official figures showed.
The producer price index has been rising for four straight months, putting pressure on authorities to stop costs from running out of control, just as officials battle to kickstart a recovery in the world's number two economy.
The reopening from lockdowns around the world has ramped up energy demand just as stockpiles are low, with supply struggles exacerbated by China's drive to meet environmental targets.
The PPI, which measures the cost of goods at the factory gate, jumped a bigger-than-expected 13.5% on-year in October, said the National Bureau of Statistics.
The consumer price index, a key gauge of retail inflation, meanwhile picked up more than expected in October after four months of decline. CPI rose 1.5% in October annually, accelerating from 0.7% in September.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3570 early Wednesday, up from USD1.3530 at the London equities close Tuesday.
The euro was priced at USD1.1570, soft from USD1.1577. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was trading at JPY113.07, firm from JPY112.94.
Gold stood at USD1,825.35 an ounce, little changed against USD1,825.74 late Tuesday.
The economic events calendar on Wednesday has US inflation readings at 1330 GMT.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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