HSTG.L Share News (HSTG)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened in the red on Friday, with Royal Bank of Scotland slipping after a drop in income and a warning over the impact of Brexit.Elsewhere, Just Eat dipped after a softer than hoped performance in the UK, while Ferrexpo slumped in the FTSE 250 after its auditor quit amid an investigation into charity payments. The FTSE 100 was down 23.81 points, or 0.3%, at 7,410.32 in early trade. The FTSE 250 index was down 11.55 points, or 0.1%, at 19,859.5, while the AIM All-Share was 0.1% higher at 966.The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.4% at 12,555.53. The Cboe UK 250 was 0.2% at 17,741.84, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was up 0.1% at 11,626.1.On the London Stock Exchange, RBS sat at the bottom of the FTSE 100, down 5.1%, after it reported a decreased profit in the first quarter on lower income and warned Brexit could continue to harm the lender's income growth.The UK government controlled bank's operating pretax profit in the three months ended March decreased 17% to GBP1.01 billion from GBP1.21 billion the year before. RBS's profit attributable to shareholders slipped 13% to GBP707 million.RBS attributed the decreased quarterly profit to lower income.RBS's first quarter total income fell 7.9% to GBP3.04 billion from GBP3.30 billion year-on-year, with net-interest income declining 5.6% to GBP2.03 billion from GBP2.15 billion.The lender's cost-to-income ratio edged up to 63.4% in the quarter compared to 60.5% the year prior. RBS' CET1 ratio at the end of March was 16.2%, down from 16.4% at the end of the first quarter a year ago. At the end of 2018, RBS's CET1 ratio stood at 16.2%.The bank's net interest margin in the first quarter was 1.89% versus 2.04% in the first quarter of 2018. In the fourth quarter of 2018, RBS's NIM was 1.95%."This morning's first quarter update from RBS has been overshadowed somewhat by yesterday's news Chief Executive Ross McEwan will be leaving the business in the next 12 months; however the numbers do illustrate how much the bank has moved on from when he took up the position all the way back in 2013," said CMC Markets UK's Michael Hewson.Online takeaway food platform Just Eat fell 4.2%, as it reported a 21% rise in orders for the first quarter of 2019 to 61.4 million, with revenue up 28% to GBP227.9 million.Just Eat's UK orders rose 7.3% to 31.9 million, but performance was not as good as expected, hurt by a strong comparative, unusually warm weather in February, and the Easter break entirely falling in the second quarter.Outside of the UK, orders surged 40%, helped by strong growth in Canada, Italy, Switzerland, and Ireland.Guidance for 2019 is once again reiterated, with Just Eat seeing revenue between GBP1.0 billion and GBP1.1 billion and underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation of GBP185 million to GBP205 million.Miner Glencore slipped 3.4% after reporting late Thursday the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has launched an investigation into whether the commodities trader has violated provisions of the Commodities Exchange Act.The investigation is currently at an early stage and follows a similar scope to the ongoing investigation by the US Department of Justice. Glencore said it will cooperate with the Commission's investigation.Advertising firm WPP was down 1.0%, despite a slight rise at the open, as it said it is making good progress, with first quarter revenue up 0.9% at reported currency to GBP3.59 billion. Excluding currency movements, revenue was down 0.6%, and like-for-like it fell 1.3%.Like-for-like revenue minus pass-through costs in North America fell 8.5%, making it WPP's weakest performing region, due to continued losses among automotive, pharmaceutical, and fast-moving consumer goods clients.UK like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs fell 0.9%, slightly worse than the year ago period, while the figure fell 0.3% in Western Continental Europe.WPP's like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs elsewhere rose 2.3%, with strong growth in the Latin America, Central & Eastern Europe, and South East Asia segments.WPP has reiterated guidance for 2019, targeting a fall in like-for-like less pass-through costs revenue of 1.5% to 2.0%.AstraZeneca rose just 0.1% as it reported a solid set of first quarter results, with new medicines helping drive growth in product sales.AstraZeneca's product sales climbed 10% for the first three months of 2019 to USD5.47 billion, with constant currency growth 14%. Revenue was up 6%, or 11% constant currency, to USD5.49 billion.Pretax profit doubled to USD758 million, with reported operating profit rising 58% at actual currency rates to USD1.10 billion and core operating profit up 84% at actual rates to USD1.65 billion.Looking within products, Oncology sales rose 54% to USD1.89 billion, New Cardiovascular, Renal, & Metabolism sales rose 15% to USD1.03 billion, and Respiratory sales climbed 9% to USD1.28 billion.pressure.Emerging markets as a segment posted 14% growth to USD2.00 billion, with Chinese sales up 21%.Looking ahead, AstraZeneca has reiterated all 2019 guidance, including for high single-digit growth in product sales.In the FTSE 250, Computacenter surged 12%, with first-quarter revenue and profit ahead year-on-year, before the "positive" impact of acquisitions. This is above expectations, given a tough comparative year-on-year.The UK saw revenue growth despite a large one-off deal a year prior, while US also achieved revenue growth on a like-for-like basis.Looking ahead, Computacenter is "firmly" on track to meet 2019 expectations, and confidence has increased following the first quarter performance.Stagecoach also rose, climbing 3.8%, after Citigroup raised its rating on the stock to Buy from Neutral. Iron ore pellet maker Ferrexpo slumped 14%. Auditor Deloitte has resigned with immediate effect, the company announced.The company recently published long-delayed 2018 results amid an investigation into payments to a charity in Ukraine.Insurer Hastings fell 5.1%, reporting a 4% rise in gross written premiums to GBP235.5 million for the first quarter, with live customer policies up 3% to 2.75 million. Net revenue fell 1% to GBP183.1 million.Looking ahead, Hastings said if current market premium and claims dynamics continue through the remainder its loss ratio for 2019 will be towards the upper end of its 75% to 79% target range.Hastings also confirmed new Chief Financial Officer John Worth will join on May 10.Wall Street ended mixed in the US on Thursday following the continuation of its own earnings season, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing 0.5% lower, the S&P 500 marginally lower, but the Nasdaq Composite up 0.2%.SPI Asset Management's Steve Innes said: "US markets traded mixed as the latest earnings reports sent investors scurrying every which way but higher as big tech heavyweight gains were neutralised by industrial stalwarts whose sector shares tracked lower."But adding to top side pressures is the uniform move covering a breadth of cross-asset markets which suggest investors are starting to weave yet another cautionary tale as global growth concern continue to mount."The Japanese Nikkei 225 index ended down 0.3% Friday. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed 0.8% down, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is flat in late trade. The economic calendar has UK BBA mortgage approval figures at 0930 BST and US first-quarter GDP at 1330 BST."Economists are expecting a reading of 2.1%. The figure will be closely watched as the Federal Reserve lowered its growth forecast for 2019 to 2.1%, from the 2.3% projection in December," said CMC Markets UK's David Madden."The US central bank have dropped a big hint interest rates are likely to hold steady for the foreseeable future, but they have also given themselves the wiggle room for a hike, should the economy outperform."