GFS.L Share News (GFS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - With Asia and the US trading in the green overnight, stocks in London were higher early Thursday, with TUI the top gainer in the FTSE 100. The pound firmed following a dramatic 24 hours in UK politics, with Prime Minister Theresa May fighting on to serve another day as she heads to Brussels for further Brexit talks. However, market focus Thursday lies on Frankfurt and the European Central Bank's last monetary policy decision of 2018.London's blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 23.20 points, or 0.3%, at 6,903.39 in early trade. The FTSE 250 was up 16.42 points, or 0.1%, at 18,005.39 and the AIM All-Share was up 0.1% at 890.09.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 11,712.33, while the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 16,038.98. The Cboe UK Small Companies was down 0.1% at 10,998.61.UK Prime Minister May heads to Brussels on Thursday seeking fresh concessions for her Brexit deal after emerging from a confidence vote by Tory MPs bloodied and bruised but victorious.The prime minister will address EU leaders at the two-day European Council after seeing off rebels who attempted to remove her from the party leadership, winning by 200 votes to 117 in a secret ballot.After a day of drama in Westminster, she will travel to the Belgian capital still faced with the same dilemma she faced before it all took place: how to convince the EU to tweak the Withdrawal Agreement so that it will be passed by Parliament."At the moment it looks very much as if there will be a showdown in the House of Commons - with a likely outcome that does not seem very attractive. But at least that will allow for some new momentum for the Brexit process - and GBP exchange rates," commented Commerzbank.Sterling was quoted at USD1.2658 early Thursday, flat compared to USD1.2655 at the London equities close on Wednesday but up from the 18-month low of USD1.2476 hit earlier on Wednesday as news first broke that the confidence vote in May had been triggered.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 index in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both up 0.5%.At the top of the FTSE 100 was tour operator TUI, gaining 5.4% as it delivered earnings growth in line with guidance.Revenue for the financial year to September 30, excluding discontinued operations, grew 5.3% to EUR19.52 billion. Underlying earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation grew 4.1% to EUR1.15 billion. At constant currency, underlying Ebita rose 11% to EUR1.22 billion, just ahead of guidance. Pretax profit fell 10% to EUR971.5 million.The company proposed a dividend of EUR0.72, up from EUR0.65 last year.In financial year 2019, TUI said it expects to deliver underlying earnings growth of at least 10% in a "challenging market environment". Current trading for Winter 2019/19, as at December 2, was running just below the prior year's levels, with bookings down 1% and the average selling price 2% lower.Bunzl was up 3.9% after the company said revenue for 2018 is expected to rise by between 8% to 9% at constant exchange rates due to organic growth of more than 4%. Currency translation movements are expected to reduce constant exchange revenue growth by between 3% and 4%.The distribution firm also said it has recently acquired CM Supply, a foodservice distributor based in Denmark expected to record about GBP4 million in revenue this year. Serco was the best performer in the FTSE 250, rising 8.5% as the outsourcer said its underlying trading profit is expected to grow between 30% to 40% in 2018, in line with September's upwardly revised guidance, with underlying earnings per share for both 2018 and 2019 expected to be a further 5% to 10% ahead of current consensus due to a lower effective tax rate."With revenues no longer reducing, cash generation turning positive and the benefit of a strong balance sheet, we are pleased with progress, and we expect further improvement in 2019. We expect to deliver another year of strong order intake in 2018, driven in particular by our international businesses, and our operations and transformation plans continue to deliver an organisation which is leaner, fitter and much stronger," said Serco Chief Executive Rupert Soames.G4S wasn't far behind, shares up 7.3% after the support services firm said it is reviewing options for the separation of its Cash Solutions businesses.Since 2013, G4S said its portfolio management programme has created a group focused on two principal business segments: Secure Solutions and Cash Solutions."The board believes that a separation of Cash Solutions has the clear potential to enhance the focus and success of both businesses and thus to unlock substantial shareholder value," said G4S, adding that an update on the review will be provided at the firm's annual results in March 2019.PZ Cussons was down 5.5% after the personal care products maker said it has continued to see good trading in Europe and Asia over its first-half, but conditions in Nigeria remain challenging.The Imperial Leather soap maker said it expects trading conditions in Nigeria to remain subdued, and it is actively managing and reviewing the portfolio to ensure that short-term volatility is mitigated."We expect the consumer to remain under pressure in all of the markets in which we operate. Despite this, our unrelenting focus on continued product innovation and further expansion of our distribution are expected to underpin continuing good performance in Europe and Asia," said PZ Cussons.The company added that its annual result will, as in prior years, depend in part on the macro environment in Nigeria during the seasonally important second half of the year.In Asia on Thursday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index ended up 1.0%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 1.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed up 1.3%.The economic events calendar on Thursday has US import and export price index readings at 1330 GMT.Headlining the day is the last monetary policy decision from the European Central Bank, due at 1245 GMT, followed by a press conference with ECB President Mario Draghi at 1330 GMT.The central bank is expected to confirm the end of its bond-buying programme as well as adjust its growth forecasts for 2018 and the coming years lower, though interest rate guidance is expected to remain unchanged. "We expect the ECB to signal that risks are tilted to the downside, but only do some tweaks on its growth and inflation forecast...we remain vigilant of any subtle changes that may impact the ECB forward guidance on rates and the pricing of a tightening cycle (even if a shallow one) by markets," said Societe Generale.The euro was quoted at USD1.1386 ahead of the ECB's last policy decision of 2018, up compared to USD1.1362 late Wednesday.