(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening higher on Monday following a strong US close on Friday, as the UK government's road map out of lockdown enters its next stage in England.
In early company news, Ryanair swung to an annual loss of more than EUR1 billion. Housebuilder Vistry Group raised its annual profit guidance after strong trading so far this year. Technical products supplier Diploma reinstated its interim dividend after a strong first-half performance. Immunodiagnostic Systems agreed to a GBP110 million takeover offer.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 11.39 points higher at 7,055.00. The blue-chip index closed up 80.28 points, or 1.2%, at 7,043.61 Friday.
Ryanair Holdings reported a big loss in its most recently ended financial year but said it expects an improvement as coronavirus restrictions ease.
The Irish budget airline said it swung to a loss for the year to the end of March of EUR1.11 billion from EUR648.7 million profit recorded the year before.
Annual revenue fell 81% year-on-year to EUR1.64 billion from EUR8.49 billion, in line with the fall in traffic to just 27.5 million from 148.6 million the year prior. Load factor declined to 71% from 95% year-on-year.
Vistry Group said it has made a positive start to 2021, with strong demand across all areas of the business and an average weekly private sales rate of 0.75, up 70% at the same time in 2020.
For the full year, Vistry said housebuilding is on track to deliver a significant step-up in completions to 6,500 units, up from 4,652 in 2020 and ahead of previous guidance.
Vistry said its Partnerships unit expects to deliver significant growth in higher-margin mixed-tenure completions in 2021 and is on track to meet its 2022 targets of GBP1 billion revenue and an adjusted operating margin of 10%.
Looking ahead, Vistry said that, due to strong trading in the first half and increased expectations for 2021 house completions, it now expects adjusted pretax profit for 2021 to be GBP325 million, whilst maintaining its expectations for 2022. Vistry had previously guided to adjusted pretax profit of at least GBP310 million.
"The group continues to see strong demand across all areas of the business. Our sites are operating well, and we are seeing the strategic benefits of the enlarged group coming through. We anticipate that our half-year performance will be significantly ahead of our previous expectations in terms of profit and cash," said Chief Executive Officer Greg Fitzgerald.
Diploma said it saw a strong first-half performance and expects its full-year performance ahead of expectations.
For the six months to March 31, revenue at the London-based seals and cables maker was up 29% to GBP365.2 million from GBP283.6 million the year before, and pretax profit increased 2% to GBP42.5 million from GBP41.6 million, "due to higher amortisation of acquisition intangibles".
Diploma declared an interim dividend of 12.5 pence per share, having skipped its interim payout last year, which it said reflects its "growth outlook and future prospects".
Looking ahead, Diploma said it saw "exciting" trends into the second half with a further acceleration in underlying growth for all three Sectors in April, driven by revenue initiatives, improving demand and a strong contribution from acquisitions.
"As a result of the strong trading performance in the first half and positive momentum into the second half, we now expect full-year results significantly ahead of our previous expectations," Diploma said.
Immunodiagnostic Systems Holdings has agreed to an all-cash takeover offer from the UK arm of Waltham, Massachusetts-based PerkinElmer. The offer of 382 pence per share is a 44% premium to Friday's closing price of 265.00p. It values the share capital of Immunodiagnostic Systems at GBP110 million and implies an enterprise value of GBP88 million, the two companies said. PerkinElmer has 57.9% support for its offer from IDS shareholders.
In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended sharply higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.1%, S&P 500 up 1.5% and Nasdaq Composite up 2.3%.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.9% on Monday. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.8%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.7%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney ended up 0.3%.
China's industrial output recorded strong growth in April after last year's pandemic-induced slump, official data showed, but retail sales picked up by less than expected amid uncertainty in the global economy.
The world's second-largest economy, where the coronavirus first surfaced in late 2019, was also the first to bounce back from strict virus lockdowns. It was a recovery led by factory activity, with Chinese firms producing everything from protective gear to electronics and other consumer goods desired by global consumers stuck at home and ordering online.
Industrial output rose 9.8% on-year last month, in line with expectations. Retail sales grew 18%, but missed expectations. In April, the urban unemployment rate fell slightly to 5.1%, the NBS added.
"Markets here in Europe are set to open flat to slightly higher on the back of last week's positive US finish. Markets in Asia have been mixed as coronavirus infection rates there have started to show signs of edging back up again," said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
The pound was quoted at USD1.4097 early Monday, up from USD1.4088 at the London equities close Friday.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called for a "heavy dose of caution" as indoor socialising and physical contact resumed against the backdrop of concerns over the Indian coronavirus variant.
The PM said "now everyone must play their part" as England pushed ahead with the third stage of the road map out of lockdown on Monday.
Pubs and restaurants will be able to welcome customers back indoors, visits to the homes of friends and family can resume and the foreign holiday ban has ended.
But the measures were eased as top scientists called for caution and warned of a "perilous moment", with the Indian variant feared to be as much as 50% more transmissible than the Kent strain.
Ministers are hoping surge testing and vaccines will allow a safe opening up of the nation, with jabs due to be extended to the over-35s this week.
But UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock did not rule out the possibility of imposing local lockdowns in areas such as Bolton to tackle the Indian variant, which he warned could "spread like wildfire".
The euro was priced at USD1.2136, flat from USD1.2138 late Friday in London. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY109.23, down from JPY109.40.
Brent oil was quoted at USD68.57 a barrel Monday morning, up from USD68.30 late Friday. Gold was trading at USD1,854.12 an ounce, higher than USD1,837.50.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
