Centrica Share News (CNA)

(Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 was cushioned by a weaker pound and a strong set of quarterly results from oil major BP on Tuesday, allowing the index to teeter in the green while other indices in Europe slumped.The large-cap stock measure was 4.83 points higher, or up 0.1%, at 7,691.44 Tuesday midday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index down 22.99 points, or 0.1%, at 19,863.71, while the AIM All-Share was 0.2% higher at 931.67.The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.1% at 13,038.58. The Cboe UK 250 was down 0.3% at 17,693.07, while the Cboe UK Small Companies was also down 0.3% at 11,068.35.In Paris, the CAC 40 stock index was down 0.8% while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was down 1.4% in early afternoon trade."As we get closer to the Fed decision, the sense of anticipation in markets is almost palpable. Despite the veritable storm of earnings this week, the FOMC trumps everything else," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG. As the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting commences on Tuesday, Wall Street is pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 are both seen down 0.2%, while the Nasdaq is on course to shed 0.4%.Despite the gloom in Europe and the soggy open seen in the US, London stocks were once again outperforming."In London, the FTSE 100 is off the highs, but is still well up on the week so far, as sterling weakness continues to boost the index," commented IG's Beauchamp. "Heavyweights like BP have helped to keep the index in positive territory."The pound resumed its slide on Tuesday, quoted at USD1.2184 at midday, down from USD1.2224 late Monday, as markets continue to fret about the chances of a no-deal Brexit. A weaker UK currency makes the international takings of FTSE 100 companies more valuable.Since becoming prime minister last week, Boris Johnson has pledged to ramp-up preparations for leaving the EU without an agreement."The more uncompromising tone from the UK government in the past week or so has raised concerns that the UK and EU are on a collision course for a rupture at the end of October, as both sides embark on a staring contest across the Channel, with little sign that talks are set to restart in the near future," said Michael Hewson at CMC Markets.As well as sterling's slump, oil major BP was helping the FTSE 100 avoid the steeper losses of its European counterparts. BP was the top blue-chip performer, up 3.1%, after reporting a "resilient" second-quarter performance.Underlying replacement cost profit, BP's preferred metric, for the three months to June rose 19% on the first quarter to USD2.81 billion, though it was 0.4% lower year-on-year.BP's underlying RC profit for the six months to June was USD5.17 billion, down 4.4% on the year before. Reported RC profit fell 7.4% to USD3.87 billion in the half year, while interim profit attributable to shareholders declined 9.7% to USD4.76 billion. "With sterling currently weak due to fears over the economic impact of Brexit, BP's dollar earnings look ever more valuable to UK investors," said Steve Clayton, manager of the Hargreaves Lansdown Select UK Income Shares fund, which holds a position in BP.A number of stocks were dragging at the other end of the FTSE 100, however, including Centrica, Fresnillo, International Consolidated Airlines Group and Reckitt Bencisker. British Gas parent Centrica got a chilly reception to news of a slump in interim earnings and a dividend cut, the stock down 15% at midday.For the six months ended June, the FTSE 100-listed utility sank to a GBP569 million pretax loss from a GBP415 million profit a year prior. This was after revenue fell 4.4% to GBP11.57 billion from GBP12.10 billion the year before.The company's performance was hurt by exceptional costs surging to GBP845 million from GBP211 million the year prior, primarily due to rising restructuring, pension and impairment costs. Centrica more than halved its interim dividend per share to 1.50 pence from 3.60 pence the year prior.Further, for the full year, Centrica has rebased its payout to 5.0p per share from the 12.0p paid the year before, with the cut attributed to changes regarding the UK default tariff price cap, additional pension deficit contributions and restructuring charges. Centrica also announced that Chief Executive Officer Iain Conn will leave in 2020 as the company prepares to move into a "new phase" following the proposed sale of its non-customer facing units. Shares in Mexican gold miner Fresnillo slid 12% after the FTSE 100 constituent also unveiled a radical dividend cut.Fresnillo's revenue for the six months to June declined 10% to USD1.00 billion, with pretax profit from continuing operations dropping dramatically to USD54.1 million from USD323.0 million a year before. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation fell 46% to USD307.9 million.The worsened results were due to a 7.1% fall in gold production to 432,417 ounces in the half-year, and a 10% dip in silver output to 27.6 million ounces, which had been reported earlier in July.In response, Fresnillo slashed its interim dividend by 76%, to USD0.026 per share from USD0.107 a year before. British Airways owner IAG was down 3.8% in a negative read-across from German flag carrier Lufthansa. Lufthansa was down 6.4% in Frankfurt, dragging on the DAX index, after reporting a sharp decline in second quarter profit amid competition struggles. The airline's key financial target, adjusted earnings before interest and taxes, was down year on year to EUR754 million. This represents a 25% decline from EUR1.00 billion the year before. Despite the slip, the adjusted Ebit result was still ahead of market consensus of EUR735 million."Our earnings are feeling the effects of tough competition in Europe and sizeable overcapacities, especially on our short-haul routes out of Germany and Austria," said Chief Financial Officer Ulrik Svensson. Other London-listed airlines to be hit by Lufthansa's tough quarter were easyJet, down 4.3%, and Ryanair, down 5.9%.In the FTSE 250, CYBG slumped 12% as it said net interest margin will be towards the bottom of its guided range.For the three months to June 30, CYBG - which last year merged with Virgin Money - reported a small decline in net mortgage lending of 0.2% to GBP60.4 billion, due to higher redemptions in the period and lower new business volumes. For the year-to-date, net mortgage lending growth was 3.0%. Net interest margin of 168 basis points for the nine months to the end of June was 3 points lower compared to the six months to the end of March due to the re-financing impact of a large volume of mortgage redemptions in the third quarter, the company explained. CYBG said its annual net interest margin is expected to be at the lower end of its 165 basis points to 170 basis points guidance range.Elementis was up 8.5% after lifting its interim payout.For the six months ended June, pretax profit widened 3.8% to USD48.6 million from USD46.8 million the year prior. This was after revenue rose 6.7% to USD449.7 million from USD421.4 million the year before.Elementis proposed a 2.80 US cents per share interim dividend, up 3.7% from 2.70 cents the year prior. This reflected the "confidence" of the firm for its "medium-term growth prospects". Still to come in the economic calendar on Tuesday, there is German inflation at 1300 BST and US core personal consumption expenditures at 1330 BST.London Midday is available to subscribers as an email newsletter. Contact info@alliancenews.com