LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London at midday Thursday were mixed as the pound rose following the announcement that UK retail sales rebounded in April with a 1.6% rise."The FTSE 100 is broadly unchanged in morning trading, but stronger UK retail sales provide a glimmer of hope for the British high street. UK retail sales provided some relief from the economic gloom that seemed to hang over markets yesterday, and taken with yesterday's CPI figure perhaps things are looking a bit rosier for UK consumers," said IG Chief Market Analyst Chris Beauchamp."Whether that helps the beleaguered high street is another matter entirely, since more than one month of heavy shopping is going to be needed to rescue the UK retailers", Beauchamp added.The FTSE 100 index was broadly flat, down 1.46 points, at 7,786.62 early Thursday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 0.3% at 21,074.93. The AIM All-Share index was up 0.3% at 1,091.07.The Cboe UK 100 was flat at 13,208.92, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 19,297.85, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was down 0.4% at 12,794.29.Sterling was quoted at USD1.3405 Thursday midday, higher than USD1.3349 at the London equities close on Wednesday.UK retail sales grew at a faster than expected pace in April after declining in March, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed Thursday.Retail sales volume, including auto fuel, expanded 1.6% month-on-month, in contrast to a 1.1% fall in March. Sales were forecast to climb 0.9%.Excluding auto fuel, retail sales volume increased 1.3%, reversing a 0.5% drop in March. Economists had expected a 0.5% rise.On a yearly basis, retail sales including auto fuel, rose 1.4% in April after expanding 1.3% in March. Excluding auto fuel, sales volume advanced 1.5% versus 1.3% rise a month ago.At the top of the FTSE 100 Thursday midday was
Intertek Group, up 2.8%, as the quality-assurance and safety testing firm reported 4.4% growth in revenue to GBP862.0 million for the first four months of 2018, driven by organic growth and the addition of new clients.Intertek expects revenue growth on a constant currency basis for 2018.The second best performer was
Paddy Power Betfair, up 2.5%. This was after it agreed to combine its US business, Betfair US, with US fantasy sports operator FanDuel on Wednesday after the market close. Under the terms of the deal, the bookmaking business will contribute with its US assets plus USD158 million in cash. After the transaction the group will have a 61% stake in FanDuel.
Mediclinic International remained at the bottom of the blue-chip index at midday, down 5.9% as the private hospital group swung sharply to a loss for its recently ended financial year due to high exceptional costs.Revenue for the year to March 31 rose 4% to GBP2.87 billion, up 3% at constant currency, as the FTSE 100-listed company swung to a pretax loss of GBP479 million from a GBP307 million profit last year.Changes in "the market and regulatory environment" in Switzerland gave rise to impairment charges recorded against properties and intangible assets of GBP84 million and GBP560 million, respectively. In addition, an impairment of GBP109 million was recorded against Spire Healthcare Group - in which Mediclinic holds a 29.9% stake - as the FTSE 250-listed firm saw its own pretax profit tumble to GBP22.7 million from GBP73.2 million during 2017.
United Utilities Group was down 2.1%, remaining the second worst performer in the FTSE 100. This was after it saw pretax profit decline by 2.4% to GBP432.1 million for the year ended March from GBP442.4 million, on revenue that crept up 1.9% to GBP1.74 billion from GBP1.70 billion. The profit decline was due to a GBP40.0 million increase in net finance costs as well as higher fair value losses on derivative instruments, despite a rise in operating profit.In the FTSE 250,
Electrocomponents maintained its lead, up 11% as it reported a profit rise for the year to the end of March at GBP168.6 million from GBP127.1 million the year before, on revenue that grew to GBP1.71 billion from GBP1.51 billion."2018 has been a year of strong progress and significant growth in revenue, profitability and earnings," Electrocomponents Chief Executive Officer Lindsley Ruth said. "Our Performance Improvement Plan has delivered a major step forward in our quest to become first choice for customers, suppliers and employees but the opportunity for further growth and improvement still remains significant." "Today we are launching a new phase of the improvement programme to ensure we fully capitalise on this exciting opportunity", Ruth added.As part of this, Electrocomponents plans to continue the process of simplifying and scaling the business. The next phase is expected to generate GBP12 million in annualised savings by financial 2021, with GBP4.0 million targeted in financial 2019. The second best performer was food ingredients company
Tate & Lyle, up 8.8% as it saw a double digit increase in pretax profit for its recently ended financial year, up 23% to GBP286.0 million from GBP233.0 million the year before, on revenue that declined by 2.0% to GBP2.71 billion from GBP2.75 billion. Tate & Lyle increased its full year dividend to 28.7 pence per share from 28.0p the prior year.At the bottom of the FTSE 250 was
Paragon Banking Group, down 8.7% as the bank said it was continuing its major restructuring programme to change its business model to a more broadly-based bank from a buy-to-let lender. This was amid a profit increase of 11% for the year ended March 31 to GBP77.2 million from GBP69.4 million, on net interest income of GBP121.3 million, up from GBP113.5 million.Second worst was brick manufacturer
Ibstock, down 5.8% after reporting a slower than expected start to the year due to an extended winter season. Price increases by sales channel were achieved in line with management expectation, however energy prices in the year-to-date were higher than expected, and is expected to remain so for the rest of 2018.US activity was also hit by weather in the first quarter of 2018, however volumes have returned in line with traditional seasonal levels.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris is up 0.5% while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was up 0.1%.France's manufacturing sentiment remained unchanged in May, survey data from the statistical office Insee showed Thursday.The manufacturing sentiment index held steady at 109 in May. The score was forecast to fall to 108.Manufacturers were less optimistic about the general production prospects. The corresponding index dropped to 15 from 23. Meanwhile, the indicator for personal production expectations climbed to 17 from 15.The euro was quoted at USD1.1726 on Thursday midday, slightly higher from USD1.1703 at the European equities close Wednesday.Germany's economy expanded at a slower pace as initially estimated in the first quarter on weak trade, detailed data from Destatis showed Thursday.Gross domestic product grew 0.3% sequentially, slower than the 0.6% expansion seen in the previous quarter. This was the weakest growth in more than a year and matched the provisional estimate published on May 15.The expenditure-side breakdown of GDP showed positive contribution from domestic demand. Gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment rose 1.2% and that in construction gained 2.1% sequentially.Also, household final consumption expenditure increased slightly by 0.4%. However, government final consumption expenditure decreased for the first time in almost five years, by 0.5%.On external trade, total exports of goods and services dropped 1.0% and imports decreased 1.1%. As a result, the balance of exports and imports had a downward effect of 0.1 of a percentage point on economic growth.On a yearly basis, calendar-adjusted GDP climbed 2.3% after expanding 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Similarly, price-adjusted GDP growth eased to 1.6% from 2.3% a quarter ago. The annual rates matched flash estimate."European stocks are a touch higher this morning as bargain hunters swoop in. Yesterday's severe sell-off has attracted some buying this morning, but given the state of geopolitics, the bounce back may not last long", said David Madden, analyst at CMC Markets. "The US has launched an investigation into imported car parts on the grounds of national security," Madden added. "The timing isn't great seeing as trade talks between the US and China have reached a bit of a rough patch, and this is likely to rattle global investor sentiment. Carmakers like BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen have been hit on the back of the US's decision." Stocks in New York on Thursday were pointed towards a mixed open.The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called down 0.1%, with the S&P 500 pointed flat and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.1%. The three indices closed down 0.5%, 0.4% and 0.3% respectively on Wednesday.Still to come in the economic events calendar on Thursday, US initial jobless claims data is due at 1330 BST.
Last checked at 
