Funding Circle Share News (FCH)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London were slightly in the red early Thursday, with activity muted despite a busy day for UK company news. "Trading volumes are notably low moving towards the extended weekend break for Easter," noted London Capital Group's Jasper Lawler.The FTSE 100 was down 4.49 points, or 0.1%, at 7,466.82.The FTSE 250 was 41.12 points, or 0.2%, down at 19,817.01, but the AIM All-Share was up 0.1% at 958.15.The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.1% at 12,667.74. The Cboe UK 250 was down 0.2% at 17,759.47, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was marginally lower at 11,421.67.In European equities, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both 0.2% lower.Focus Thursday ahead of the long weekend will be on key Germany data and the Eurozone PMI at 0900 BST, with UK retail sales numbers at 0930 BST.Germany's producer price inflation slowed to the lowest pace in 11 months in March, figures from Destatis showed. The producer price index rose 2.4% year-on-year in March, slower than 2.6% increase in February and January. Economists had expected the inflation to rise 2.7%. The latest inflation was the slowest since April 2018, when it was 1.9%.In the afternoon there are US retail sales at 1330 BST and the US services PMI at 1445 BST.On the London Stock Exchange, consumer goods giant Unilever rose 2.1% as it reported a 1.6% drop in revenue for the first quarter of 2019, though, on an underlying basis, sales rose 3.1%.The fall mainly came after the sale of its Spreads business. The 3.1% underlying growth was driven by 1.2% volume growth and a 1.9% rise in prices.Underlying sales growth was particularly strong in emerging markets, Unilever said, at 5.0%, with developed markets registered 0.3% sales growth.Home Care underlying sales growth was 6.0%, Beauty & Personal Care 3.1%, and Foods & Refreshment 1.5%.Unilever will be paying a first-quarter dividend of EUR0.4104 per share, 6% higher year-on-year.It has reiterated underlying sales growth guidance for 2019 in the lower half of its usual 3% to 5% target, with its underlying operating margin still expected to improve.Pest control firm Rentokil rose 0.8% as it said trading has begun well in 2019, with ongoing revenue at constant exchange rates rising 8.9%, and overall revenue rising 8.6%. Of the ongoing figure, organic growth was 4.0%.Ongoing revenue in the Pest Control unit rose 12%, and 5.0% organically, with good performance in both growth and emerging markets.Hygiene has also had a positive start to 2019, Rentokil said, with ongoing revenue up 7.2% and 4.3% organically."We have had a good start to 2019 and I'm pleased with our performance in the first three months of this year. I am confident of another year of successful growth for the company, in line with market expectations," said Chief Executive Andy Ransom.In the FTSE 250, Moneysupermarket.com climbed 5.7% as it reported 19% growth in revenue for the first quarter of 2019 to GBP104.9 million, with growth 12% excluding its Decision Technologies acquisition.Within units, Insurance revenue rose 3%, Money by 9%, Home Services by 70%, and 'Other' by 80%.Home Services had an "exceptional" first quarter, Moneysupermarket.com said, and this is set to moderate in the rest of 2019. Overall, the firm is confident on 2019 expectations.Moneysupermarket.com also confirmed its previously announced GBP40 million distribution will be returned as a 7.46 pence per share final dividend.Funding Circle was 3.5% up as it reported a 44% rise in first-quarter loans under management, reaching GBP3.4 billion, with originations rising 23% to GBP644 million. Funding Circle said revenue growth was 40% year-on-year."The first quarter was a period where Funding Circle reinforced its leadership position across each of its markets, reaching a new high of loans under management of GBP3.4 billion," said Chief Executive Samir Desai."We continue to implement our strategy of diversifying funding sources with a new commitment from the European Investment Bank, as well as launching two new institutional investor products."Cybersecurity firm Avast rose 2.0%, after reporting a 6.7% rise in adjusted revenue for the first quarter, excluding currency movements, to USD211.8 million. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation grew 5.4% to USD117.5 million.Avast has started 2019 well, it said, with a strong first quarter performance, and it has reaffirmed annual guidance for high single-digit adjusted revenue growth and a broadly flat Ebitda margin.A number of stocks fell after going ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for recently declared dividends. FTSE 100 Reckitt Benckiser was 1.0% off, while in the FTSE 250, Hastings was down 4.4%, Polypipe down 2.0%, Drax down 2.8%, John Laing down 1.8%, and Centamin down 1.3%. The Japanese Nikkei 225 index ended 0.8% lower Thursday. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed off 0.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 0.6%.In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing marginally down, the S&P 500 down 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.1%.