LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen lower on Friday ahead of US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech later during the day, while in a quiet day for UK company news several companies reported positive interim results. In early UK corporate news,
Shire has had a new drug approved while IT services firm
Computacenter reported a solid rise in both interim profit and revenue and insulation firm
Kingspan revealed a "record" first half performance as revenue breached the EUR2 billion mark. IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 8.0 points lower at 7,551.40 Friday. The blue chip index closed 0.2% down, or 11.02 points, at 7,563.22 on Thursday. Later Friday, at approximately 1500 BST, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is expected to speak at Jackson Hole. "Following the Federal Open Market Committee minutes, which suggested the Fed were looking to tighten rates again soon, investors will closely scrutinise where Fed Chair Powell stands on the pace of interest rate hikes," said London Capital Group's Jasper Lawler. "Powell's speech could also contain fresh hints as to how the Fed view the escalating trade tensions. The Fed expressed some concerns over trade tensions stemming economic growth in the FOMC minutes released on Wednesday."Elsewhere in US economic news, China's Ministry of Commerce said Friday it had held "constructive meetings" with officials from its American counterpart, despite the fact the summit failed to prevent a further escalation in tariffs.Chinese officials led by Vice Minister of Commerce & Deputy China International Trade Representative Wang Shouwen met with US Treasury officials on Wednesday and Thursday in Washington DC.On Thursday, however, both the US and China each imposed 25% duties on USD16 billion worth of goods - bringing the total value of tariffs imposed by each side to USD50 billion since their trade war kicked off in July.Xinhua reported on Friday the officials had pledged to "keep in contact" in the future.In other US foreign policy news, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday he plans to travel next week to North Korea with Washington's newly named envoy for Pyongyang.At the State Department, Pompeo introduced Stephen Biegun, a former White House staffer under president George W Bush and Ford Motor executive, as US special representative for North Korea.Biegun will "direct US policy towards North Korea and lead our efforts to achieve President Trump's goal of the final, fully verified denuclearisation of North Korea, as agreed to by Chairman Kim Jong-un."Pompeo said that the trip with Biegun is planned "to make further diplomatic progress towards our objective."In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.3% lower, the S&P 500 down 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite closing 0.1% lower. In China, the Shanghai Composite is 0.4% higher in late trade. The pound was lower against the dollar quoted at USD1.2823 early Friday compared to USD1.2830 at close Thursday. Turning to UK company news early Friday, FTSE 100-listed biotechnology company
Shire said Thursday the US Food & Drug Administration has approved its Takhzyro drug to treat a rare genetic disease.The disease, hereditary angioedema, causes attacks of swelling in different parts of the body and can be life-threatening.Approval from the FDA follows a phase III study of 125 patients in which Takhzyro reduced monthly attacks by, on average, 87% in patients when compared with a placebo. In the FTSE 250,
Computacenter posted a 9.5% rise in statutory pretax profit for the six months to June to GBP52.0 million while adjusted pretax profit was up 24% to GBP52.1 million.Revenue climbed to GBP2.01 billion, rising 18% year-on-year, going past the GBP2 billion mark for the first time.Computacenter's core Technology Sourcing division has done particularly well, increasing revenue by 26% to GBP1.43 billion, while Services rose 2.3% to GBP574.8 million. The company is paying an 8.7 pence per share interim dividend to its shareholders, higher than the 7.4p paid out for the same period last year. Computacenter has maintained guidance for 2018, which was upgraded in July, and though the second half of 2018 will be more difficult to predict due to a strong comparable the company said it is making "significant" progress. Also in the FTSE 250, energy firm
Petrofac said it has sold its 20% stake in the Greater Stella Area in the UK North Sea for USD292 million to Ithaca Energy, with the deal set to bring a USD55 million impairment charge.Chief Executive Ayman Asfari said: "This disposal marks a further milestone in our journey back to a capital-light business and, along with recently-agreed transactions in Mexico and Tunisia, marks the significant progress we are making on our stated strategy."Elsewhere,
Kingspan group reported a 15% rise in interim revenue to EUR2.01 billion, passing EUR2 billion for the first time in a six-month period. Kingspan's pretax profit for the period was EUR177.6 million, up from EUR163.3 million a year prior.The company has lifted its interim dividend to 12.0 euro cents from the 11.0 cents paid for the first half of 2017. Kingspan said it was a record period, despite a slow start due to a bad winter, with the second quarter of 2018 particularly strong, a period in which revenue grew 21% year-on-year. The UK was "particularly robust", Kingspan said, despite ongoing uncertainty over Brexit. North American and German operations did well, the company added. Looking ahead, Kingspan said the good momentum in the second quarter has continued, and it expects strength in other geographies to offset any Brexit-related weakness in the UK. Construction and property firm
Henry Boot said it is confident on meeting expectations in both 2018 and 2019, with trading in the second half of 2018 starting well.In the six months to June, Henry Boot's pretax profit climbed to GBP26.2 million from GBP22.6 million a year prior, while revenue increased slightly to GBP196.2 million from GBP195.4 million.The company is paying an interim dividend of 3.20p per share, up from the 2.80p it paid a year prior. Chief Executive John Sutcliffe said it was "another impressive performance" for the company, and added that the company has a strong pipeline of land, housing, and commercial development opportunities in future. Agriculture firm
Camellia reported better than expected profit for the first half of 2018, with the figure climbing to GBP6.1 million from GBP1.9 million due to "benign" weather and favourable market conditions.Revenue was up to GBP127.6 million compared to GBP123.6 million a year prior.Camellia has increased its interim dividend by 8.1% to 40p per share from 37p. Camellia's first half tea production was 39.2 million kilogrammes, up from 36.7 million kilos a year ago, and the company said prices have held up better than it expected. Its macademia harvest has been "much improved" following two years of drought, and volumes are expected to rise around 45% for 2018 year-on-year. The interim avocado crop was ahead year-on-year, but prices will be depressed in the second half due to increased volume in the market. Looking forward, Chief Executive Tom Franks said he is pleased with how 2018 has begun, and added the company remains "strong" financially going into the rest of the year. The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed 0.8% higher on Friday, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 0.2%. Consumer prices in Japan rose 0.8% year-on-year in July amid growing energy costs, but were still far off a 2% target set by the Bank of Japan more than five years ago, the government said Friday.The reading represented the 19th straight month of increase, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.The cost of kerosene jumped 22.2%, that of petrol climbed 16.8% and that of electricity 2.5%, the ministry said.The core consumer price index, which excludes fresh food, stood at 100.9 against a base of 100 for 2015, the ministry said.
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