BP Share News (BP.)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open flat on Tuesday after BP and Just Eat reported positive earnings. IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open up 1.85 points at 7,702.70 on Tuesday. The FTSE 100 index closed flat at 7,700.85 on Monday.In early corporate news, oil major BP reported a doubling in profit for the first half of 2018, with its Upstream business putting in a particularly strong performance.For the six months to June, BP's replacement cost profit came in at USD4.18 billion, up from USD1.97 billion in the same period a year prior. On an underlying basis, the figure was USD5.41 billion, up from USD2.19 billion.In the second quarter of 2018, RC profit was USD1.79 billion from USD553 million a year before and on an underlying basis was USD2.82 billion from USD684 million.BP posted revenue of USD143.61 billion for the six months to June, up 28% from USD112.37 billion a year prior.BP last week announced its second quarterly dividend would rise 2.5% to 10.25 US dollar cents, the first time it had increased the figure since the third quarter of 2014. "We brought two more major projects online, high-graded our portfolio through acquisitions such as BHP's US onshore assets and invested in a low-carbon future with the creation of BP Chargemaster. Given this momentum and the strength of our financial frame, we are increasing our dividend for the first time in almost four years. This reflects not just our commitment to growing distributions to shareholders but our confidence in the future," said Chief Executive Bob Dudley. British Gas parent Centrica said it is confident of meeting its annual targets as it reported stable interim results. The company also said Chief Financial Officer Jeff Bell will depart in July 2019 to be replaced by Smiths Group CFO Chris O'Shea. For the half-year ending June 30, Centrica said revenue rose 7% to GBP15.30 billion compared to GBP14.30 billion last year. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 3% at GBP1.32 billion from GBP1.29 billion last year. However, adjusted operating profit was down 4% to GBP782 million and consumer adjusted operating profit declined 20% to GBP430 million. The company said rising wholesale energy costs put pressure on UK energy supply margins and extreme cold weather resulted in additional costs in UK services.The energy supplier maintained its interim dividend at 3.6p, and expects the full-year payout to stay at 12p. "We continue to make progress on implementing our strategy. We have developed new propositions and delivery capabilities in both customer divisions and our cost efficiency programme is on track. Although we are awaiting the final outcome of regulation to impose a temporary cap on all default tariffs for residential customers in the UK, we have plans in place to manage this. Our focus remains on performance delivery and financial discipline," said Chief Executive Officer Iain Conn. Online takeaway platform Just Eat reported a strong first-half performance with a rise in revenue and orders.For the half year ending June 30, revenue was up 45% to GBP358.4 million compared to GBP246.6 million last year - up 46% on a constant currency basis. Orders were up 30% to 104.4 million against 80.4 million last year. Pretax profit was down 3% to GBP48.1 million against GBP49.5 million last year, due to costs associated with the acquisition of rival Hungryhouse.Just Eat paid no interim dividend, unchanged, as it raised its investment plan for long-term growth to a range of GBP55 million to GBP60 million from GBP50 million. Revenue guidance for 2018 was raised to between GBP740 to GBP770 million, up from the previously guided range of GBP660 to GBP700 million. Underlying EBITDA guidance for the full-year remains unchanged between GBP165 to GBP185 million. "Our increased investments in technology, brand and delivery are on track to make our service even easier to use, whilst expanding our customer's choice. I'm pleased with the strong start to the year and excited by our opportunity to help many more people enjoy more of their takeaway moments through our platforms," said Just Eat CEO Peter Plumb. Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered reinstated its interim dividend as profit, return on equity and solvency ratio all improved, amid growth across its key areas.For the six months ended June, pretax profit rose 35% to USD2.37 billion from USD1.75 billion the year prior. This was after operating income increased by 6.0% to USD7.65 billion from USD7.22 billion the year before.Return on equity expanded to 6.7% from 5.2% the year prior. Common equity tier 1 ratio also improved to 14.2% from 13.8% the year before.The Emerging Markets lender proposed a 6.0 US cents interim dividend per share, having not paid one since 2015.Sterling was slightly lower quoted at USD1.3129 early Tuesday, versus USD1.3146 at the London equities close on Monday.In domestic political news, Britain is ratcheting up warnings over the damage a no-deal Brexit could do to both the EU and UK as Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt launches a diplomatic offensive on the Continent.Fresh from an embarrassing slip-up in China, Hunt is visiting France and Austria on Tuesday and Wednesday to again insist London and Brussels could have to face the fall-out of an "accidental" UK exit from the EU without an agreement.The move comes as the food industry issued new warnings about the impact a no-deal scenario would have on supplies.The economic events calendar on Tuesday has Germany retail sales and unemployment data at 0700 BST and 0900 BST, respectively. There are also Italy inflation readings at 1000 BST and eurozone unemployment and inflation data at 1000 BST.In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending down 0.6%, the S&P 500 down 0.6% and Nasdaq Composite closing 1.4% lower.In the US earnings calendar iPhone maker Apple reports after the market close in New York.In Asia on Tuesday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed flat. In China, the Shanghai Composite is up 0.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 0.3%.The Bank of Japan retained its massive monetary stimulus and announced its plan to bring flexibility in bond operations.The central bank said it intends to maintain the current extremely low levels of short and long-term interest rates for an extended period of time. The bank will purchase government bonds so that the yield of 10-year Japanese government bonds will remain at around zero %.The board retained the -0.1% interest rate on current accounts that financial institutions maintain at the bank.The inflation outlook was downgraded while maintaining growth projections. The inflation forecast for fiscal 2018 was trimmed to 1.1% from 1.3%. Likewise, projection for fiscal 2019 was lowered to 1.5% from 1.8% and that for 2020 to 1.6% from 1.8%.Elsewhere, China's manufacturing gauge slumped to a five-month low in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said.The manufacturing purchasing managers index came in at 51.2, compared to 51.5 in June. A figure above 50 indicates growth.