ECM.L Share News (ECM)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 overcame early losses to read flat at midday as London's blue-chip index stalled following two consecutive sessions of gains. Ocado was dragging on the index of large-caps after the online grocer reported extensive fire damage to its automated distribution warehouse in Hampshire, while housebuilder Barratt Developments rose to the top after posting strong half-year figures.The FTSE 100 was just 2.43 points higher at 7,179.80 at midday. The FTSE 250 was up 78.54 points, or 0.4%, at 19,074.56, and the AIM All-Share was down 0.1% at 924.06.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.1% at 12,193.30, while the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.6% at 17,023.68 and the Cboe UK Small Companies flat at 11,232.78.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were down 0.2% and 0.5% respectively at midday.In Germany, factory orders unexpectedly decreased for a second straight month in December and at a faster pace, suggesting that a slowdown in the manufacturing continued and the sector likely had a sluggish start to this year.Manufacturing orders decreased a calendar and seasonally adjusted 1.6% from the previous month, preliminary data from the Federal Statistical Office showed on Wednesday, while they were forecast to rise 0.3%. The latest fall was the most since June, when orders shrunk 3.6%.The eurozone's construction sector got off to a weak start to the year with activity just about remaining in expansion territory, survey data from IHS Markit showed. The Purchasing Managers' Index came in at 50.6 in January, down from 53.1 in December. This was the slowest rise in construction activity for six months.Still to come in the economic calendar on Wednesday is the US trade balance at 1330 GMT, with nonfarm productivity due at the same time. Stocks in New York are pointed to a lower start with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 both seen down 0.2% while the Nasdaq is called 0.1% lower. Before Wall Street opens are results from Cadillac maker General Motors and media firm 21st Century Fox.Weighing on the FTSE 100 at midday was online grocer Ocado, down 7.5% after reporting its warehouse in Andover has been "substantially" damaged after a fire continued to burn overnight. On Tuesday afternoon, Ocado said a fire had broken out at the customer fulfilment centre, damaging some equipment. However, the grocer has now said the fire "was not contained as we believed", and expanded overnight. The fire is now under control, Ocado said, but part of the building's roof has now collapsed and there has been significant damage to "the majority" of the building. The Andover warehouse began operations in late 2016.Stockbroker Peel Hunt cut its rating on the stock to Hold from Buy following the news. "For the time being, we downgrade to a Hold, target price 1,000p, until we get a better idea of the outcome. However, our core thesis on licencing the technology to food retailers around the world has not changed," Peel Hunt commented. Also lower on Wednesday was British Gas parent Centrica, down 3.2% after RBC Capital Markets double-downgraded the stock to Underperform from Outperform. Balancing out these losses was Barratt Developments, up 3.6%, after the housebuilder posted strong half-year profit growth amid significant margin improvement."For all the fears around Brexit hurting the housing market, housebuilders continue to churn out the profits and dish out generous cash rewards for shareholders. Barratt Developments, in particular, has produced a set of half-year results that most companies would die for," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.Pretax profit for the six months to the end of December 31 rose by 19% to GBP408.0 million from GBP342.7 million the prior year, while revenue grew by 7.2% to GBP2.13 billion from GBP1.99 billion.Barratt's gross margin improved to 22.6% in the first half from 20.6% a year ago, while the operating margin strengthened to 19.2% from 17.9%.The housebuilder further extended its capital return plan, with the intention to make two GBP175 million special returns to shareholders for the 2019 and 2020 financial years.The update from Barratt boosted fellow housebuilders in a positive read-across, with Berkeley Group up 1.5%, Persimmon 1.4% and Taylor Wimpy 0.9%.Helping the mid-cap FTSE 250 outperform on Wednesday was lender CYBG, up 15% as it narrowed its net interest margin guidance. For its year ending September, the bank expects its net interest margin to be between 165 and 170 basis points. This would be down year-on-year, as expected, due to pricing pressure in the UK mortgage sphere, but towards the top end of prior guidance.CYBG's first quarter lending grew 1.4% year-on-year to GBP71.9 billion. Mortgage growth was 1.5% to GBP60.0 billion and small and medium enterprise lending was up 1.2% to GBP7.6 billion. Engineering firm Electrocomponents also was a riser, up 5.9% after saying it is making good progress on its improvement plan, as revenue grew in the four months to the end of January.The FTSE 250-listed firm registered like-for-like revenue growth of 6% on the prior year for the period. Looking ahead, the company continues to expect a stable gross margin in its base business, which excludes acquisitions, for the full year to the end of March.Retirement financial services firm Just Group was up 3.2% after reporting an "excellent" year despite some challenges. Retirement income sales for 2018 increased 15% on 2017, to GBP2.17 billion, driven by "the continued growth in defined benefit de-risking sales".Just Group's defined benefit sales climbed 32% to GBP1.31 billion in a strong market. Just Group said it could be more selective towards the end of the year after record volumes earlier on, and it expects 2019 to be another strong year in this sphere.Chief Executive Rodney Cook commented: "I am pleased to report on an excellent year for Just. Despite the challenges we faced we have achieved another year of double-digit sales growth and helped more customers than ever."