LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London were marginally higher at the open Tuesday amid a soft pound and strong gains in Asia, while big dividend increases were not enough to lift the shares of
Hargreaves Lansdown,
Intertek and
Domino's Pizza. The FTSE 100 index was up 0.3%, or 19.25 points, at 7,683.20. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was flat at 20,640.90. The AIM All-Share index was down 0.2% at 1,085.55.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.3% at 13,027.28, the Cboe UK 250 was flat at 18,738.25, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 12,34..40.On the London Stock Exchange,
Standard Life Aberdeen was up 2.4% despite reporting a drop in first half earnings as net fund outflows continued.The fund manager recorded assets under management and administration from continuing operations of GBP610.1 billion as at June 30, down 2.6% from GBP626.5 billion as at December 31. Net fund outflows from continuing operations totalled GBP16.6 billion versus GBP12.4 billion outflows recorded in the comparative year ago period.The Scottish company declared a 7.30 pence per share, up 4.3% from 7.00p paid a year ago. It also intends to initially buyback GBP175 million worth of shares in the next few days, as part of its previously announced GBP1.75 billion capital return.Standard Life Aberdeen said market conditions remain challenging, but the company remains well placed to take advantage of opportunities and to deal with challenges. It continues to make good progress on its integration programme and is now targeting over GBP350 million in savings.At the other end of the FTSE 100 index,
Intertek Group was the worst performer, down 6.5% after the inspection, product testing and certification company reported a modest rise in profit.For the half year ended June 30, pretax profit rose 3.0% to GBP196.6 million from GBP190.8 million last year, although revenue fell to GBP1.35 billion from GBP1.37 billion - as sterling appreciated against most of the group's trading currencies. Despite the flat result, Intertek raised its interim dividend a dramatic 36% to 31.9p from 23.5p.
Hargreaves Lansdown was down 3.4%. The fund supermarket reinstated a special dividend alongside a 38% regular dividend hike, despite warning of "political and economic turbulence" in the UK.Last year Hargreaves Lansdown did not pay a special dividend after setting aside cash for regulatory requirements. The stockbroker reported a rise in net new business and strong growth in assets under administration.For the year ended June 30, net new business inflows rose 10% to GBP7.60 billion from GBP6.90 billion last year and total assets under administration increased 16% to GBP91.60 billion from GBP79.20 billion the year before.Net revenue increased to GBP447.5 million from GBP385.6 million and pretax profit rose to GBP292.4 million from GBP265.8 million.Following the strong earnings growth, Hargreaves Lansdown lifted its 2018 total dividend by 38% to 40.0 pence per share from 29.0p and reinstated a special dividend of 7.8p."Brexit is on the horizon and the prevailing political and economic turbulence is having an effect on investor confidence. However, we believe that continuing to place our clients at the centre of what we do and establishing a lifelong relationship with them will enable us to continue to build share in a growing market," said Chief Executive Chris Hill.
Ocado was down 3.1% after Barclays downgraded the online grocer to Underweight from Equal Weight. In the FTSE 250,
Ferrexpo was the best performer, up 3.4% after JPMorgan raised the iron pellet producer to Overweight from Neutral.At the other end of the midcap index,
Domino's Pizza was the worst performer, down 11% after the pizza chain reported that stable top line growth in the UK was offset by long-term investments in Norway and Sweden and rising interest costs as a result of higher net debt. For the half year ending July 1, revenue rose 23% to GBP259.1 million from GBP211.3 million, as pretax profit fell 9.7% to GBP41.7 million from GBP46.2 million. Domino's raised its interim dividend 8.0% to 4.05p from 3.75p."Whilst our international businesses continue to make good progress with customers and sales, it has taken us some time to refine the operating model and cost base at store level, particularly in Norway. We are confident that the changes we have made will result in a better performance in the second half and believe that these businesses offer significant long term growth potential as we export our expertise in digital, supply chain and franchisee management," said Chief Executive David Wild.The pound was slightly higher quoted at USD1.2951, marginally up compared to USD1.2941 at the London equities close Monday."Traders are terrified about the possibility of a 'no-deal' Brexit. The more we hear the phrase 'no-deal Brexit', the more likely the pound will be kept under the cosh. The British side might give off the impression off they would be content without a deal in order to force Brussel's hand, and the pound could be in for a rocky ride in the near-term," said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets.In early economic news, retail sales in the UK cooled last month as buoyant spending on food and drink spurred by the warm weather failed to offset a wider slowdown in consumer expenditure.Figures from the British Retail Consortium-KPMG sales monitor showed that in July, retail sales increased by 0.5% on a like-for-like basis compared to the same month in 2017.This compares to a rise of 1.1% in June, when beer, barbecues and big TVs lifted sales as the warm weather and World Cup fever delivered a fillip to a beleaguered sector.Total sales also dipped, falling from 2.3% in June to 1.6%, despite food sales having their best July in five years.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.3% while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was up 0.5% early Thursday.The euro was quoted at USD1.1574 early Tuesday, firm from USD1.1564 at the European equities close Monday.On the economic front, Germany's exports remained unchanged and industrial production declined more than expected in June, separate reports from Destatis showed.Exports registered nil growth in June from May after rising 1.7%. Economists had forecast a 0.4% drop.Year-on-year, exports grew 7.8%, in contrast to a 1.3% fall in May. At the same time, imports rose at a faster pace of 10.2% after rising 0.9%.The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 2.7%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 1.0%.
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