Grainger plc Share News (GRI)

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening slightly lower on Tuesday, amid mixed trading in Asian equity markets, as investors look ahead to the upcoming testimony from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Capitol Hill.In company news, online grocer Ocado's interim loss deepened in the wake of the fire at its flagship distribution centre and software company Micro Focus left its annual guidance unchanged.IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 7.67 points lower at 7,541.60. The blue chip index closed down 3.87 points, or 0.1%, at 7,549.27 on Monday. FTSE 100-listed grocery delivery firm Ocado Group said Tuesday its interim loss deepened due to the effects of a warehouse fire in Hampshire, but it continues to experience healthy sales growth amid "strong" demand.For the six months ended June 3, pretax loss widened dramatically to GBP142.8 million from just GBP13.6 million a year prior. This was despite revenue rising 11% to GBP882.3 million from GBP795.3 million, as retail revenue grew 10% to GBP811.5 million from GBP736.6 million.Profit performance was primarily hurt by GBP100.6 million in exceptional administrative costs during the period. This was largely the write down of property, plant and equipment following a fire at Ocado's Andover warehouse.Adjusted pretax loss, excluding such one-off costs, still worsened to GBP43.0 million from GBP12.9 million the year before. FTSE 100-listed Micro Focus International said its half-year revenue performance was in line with guidance and its full-year guidance was maintained.For the half year ended April 30, revenue came in at USD1.66 billion, down 7.5% from USD1.79 billion the year before. Profit for the period after tax surged to USD1.40 billion from USD619.7 million the year before, following the sale of its SUSE software business. The company said the SUSE separation and disposal was delivered on schedule resulting in a USD1.7 billion profit on disposal and USD1.8 billion returned to shareholders. From continuing operations Micro Focus posted a pretax loss USD99.6 million, in line with the USD100.9 million loss the year before.Micro Focus declared an unchanged interim dividend of 58.33 cents.The Newbury-based software firm reiterated its guidance for constant currency revenue change for the 12 months to 31 October of minus 4% to minus 6%.Bovis Homes said it delivered an excellent first-half performance with a significant improvement in profitability and a strong cash position.For the six month period ended June 30, Bovis reported a 15% increase in average private sales rate per site per week in the period to 0.60 from 0.52 last year, reflecting a "step change in the group's performance and stable market demand".Bovis delivered a total of 1,647 completions in the half year, a 4% increase on the prior year and its private average selling price in the period increased to GBP342,000, driven by an improved geographical spread."Market fundamentals remain stable and despite the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Brexit, we continue to see good demand for our new homes across all our operating regions. We start the second half of the year with a strong forward sales position and are confident of delivering completions in line with our expectations for the year, said Chief Executive Greg Fitzgerald. Residential landlord Grainger said it has agreed to forward fund and acquire a 146-home, private rented sector development at Hallsville Quarter in Canning Town, London for GBP62 million. Grainger said the project builds on its existing portfolio of PRS investments in east London and is positioned just 200 metres from Argo Apartments and close to its forthcoming Pontoon Dock project, which is due to reach completion in late 2019. The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is down 0.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 0.7%.In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.4%, S&P 500 down 0.5% and Nasdaq Composite down 0.8%.On Friday, the strong US jobs report dealt a blow for a cut in interest rates, halting a rally in equities and pushing the dollar higher.The focus now turns to the release of minutes from the Fed's June policy meeting and the two-day congressional testimony of Powell on Wednesday on Thursday for clues on the direction the central bank will take. "The Fed may opt for a 25-basis-point cut to support the market in the foreseeable future; but a 50-basis-point would perhaps be too much for what the economy needs for the moment. The chances of a 25-basis-point cut in July is fully priced in by the US sovereign markets. What may happen beyond July is for sale," said London Capital Group's Ipek Ozkardeskaya.Additionally, Powell speaks in Boston at 1345 BST.The pound was quoted at USD1.2506 early Tuesday, flat against USD1.2508 at the London equities close Monday.Milder weather conditions led to the worst June on record for UK sales as retailers struggled to compete with last year's performance, the British Retail Consortium-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor showed on Tuesday.Retail sales fell by 1.3% in June on an annual basis, compared to a 2.3% rise in the same month a year ago. This brought the three-month average to a decline of 0.1% and the twelve-month average to a rise of 0.6%, the lowest since the monitor's records began in December 1995.On a like-for-like basis, UK sales fell at an annual rate of 1.6% in June, versus a 1.1% rise in the same month the year before.