Astrazeneca Share News (AZN)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London were higher on Thursday as investors digested a heaping plate of earnings from blue-chip companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, Diageo, British American Tobacco and AstraZeneca, while from elsewhere came results from Facebook, Nestle and Daimler, among many others.Focus in the international economic calendar is on the European Central Bank's latest policy announcement at 1245 BST with a press conference with President Mario Draghi at 1330 BST."No change in monetary policy is expected, and the meeting could be rather uneventful given the unexpected announcement in June regarding the conclusion of QE and the dovish change in forward guidance that accompanied it. A reiteration of the dovish message could in fact send the euro right back towards USD1.17," said Jasper Lawler, head of research at London Capital Group.The FTSE 100 was up 0.2%, or 12.17 points, at 7,670.43 early Thursday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 0.1%, or 28.24 points, at 20,781.84. The AIM All-Share index was flat at 1,100.95.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 13,000.92, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.1% at 18,913.43, while the Cboe UK Small Companies was also 0.1% higher at 12,413.18.In mainland Europe early Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.6% while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt surged 1.2%.Germany's blue-chip index was outperforming its European counterparts as the export-heavy economy was buoyed by Wednesday's meeting between European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and US President Donald Trump.Trump said the two sides would "work together toward zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods.""We will also work to reduce barriers and increase trade in services, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, medical products, as well as soybeans," he said in the White House Rose Garden.The US and EU will set aside trade tensions during talks, with a working group of "our closest advisors" to begin work immediately to achieve their shared goals, according to a joint statement."This of course is on the understanding that as long as we are negotiating - unless one party would stop the negotiations - we hold off further tariffs and we reassess existing tariffs on steel and aluminium," Juncker said.Smith & Nephew was the best performer in London's FTSE 100 early Thursday, up 4.5% after the company said first-half revenue rose 4% to USD2.44 billion, though pretax profit dipped to USD341 million from USD383 million. The medical devices maker proposed an interim dividend of 14 cents, up from 12.3 cents last year.In second place was British American Tobacco, 3.6% higher after the firm said half-year profit grew 31% to GBP3.97 billion from GBP3.03 billion a year prior as revenue rose 57% to GBP11.64 billion. Cigarette volumes jumped 10% to 345.0 billion sticks in the period.AstraZeneca climbed 1.6% despite a fall in interim profit.Total revenue for the first half of the year fell 1% at actual exchange rates, down 5% at constant currencies, to USD10.33 billion. Product sales rose 2% at actual exchange rates to USD10.02 billion but externalisation revenue - which includes royalties and milestone payments - was down 53% to USD318 million.Cost of sales rose 16% to USD2.15 billion, with pretax profit falling 27% to USD786 million from USD1.07 billion last year.Oncology sales grew 42% in the half to USD2.66 billion, with Respiratory up 6% to USD2.40 billion and new Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism up 12% to USD1.87 billion."All in all, this is a relatively benign update from Astra. Key growth drivers are performing well and a return to sales growth is in sight. Product ramp-ups will likely drive continued elevated SG&A spend, but we remain confident of a return to earnings growth in 2019," said analysts at Berenberg.At the bottom of the blue-chip index was contract caterer Compass, down 2.7%. The company said third-quarter organic revenue grew by 5.7%, driven by strong net new business in North America, an acceleration in Europe and good progress in Rest of World.Whilst the margin for the nine months to June 30 was" slightly lower" than last year, Compass said it remains on track to deliver "modest" margin progression for the full year. Royal Dutch Shell 'A' shares were down 1.2% and 'B' shares 1.7% lower despite a sharp rise in second quarter earnings and a significant share buyback.Current cost of supplies earnings attributable to shareholders for the three months to June 30 rose sharply to USD5.23 billion from just USD1.92 billion last year. The oil major announced a second-quarter dividend of USD0.47 per share, in line with last year.In addition to this payout, Shell launched a share buyback of "at least" USD25 billion for the period 2018 to 2022. For the first tranche of this, Shell is to purchase shares up to a maximum consideration of USD2 billion over a period of three months."On the whole this an impressive update which should serve to confirm the Shell's image as a core portfolio constituent...Despite a slightly muted reaction in early trade given broader market weakness, the general view of the shares as a strong buy is most likely to remain intact," said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor.Distiller and Guinness brewer Diageo was down 1.5%. The company - which owns Smirnoff vodka and Captain Morgan rum - said sales for the financial year ended June 30 rose to GBP18.43 billion from GBP18.11 billion last year, as pretax profit climbed to GBP3.74 billion from GBP3.56 billion. The company recommended a final dividend increase of 5%, bringing its full-year dividend to 65.3p."Our financial performance expectations are unchanged, and we expect to continue to invest in the business to deliver our mid-term guidance of consistent mid-single digit organic net sales growth and 175bps of organic operating margin expansion for the three years ending 30 June 2019," said Diageo in a statement.The company also said it has approved a new share buyback programme to return up to GBP2.0 billion during the year ahead.In the FTSE 250, Intu Properties was down 4.9% after it reporting a fall in net asset value to 362 pence at June 30 from 411p at the end of 2017. Net rental income also dropped modestly to GBP223.1 million from GBP226.2 million the year prior.Intu proposed a flat interim dividend per share at 4.6p.In Asia on Thursday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended down 0.7%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 0.6%.