Pets at home Share News (PETS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London were lower on Tuesday amid worries over the health of the global economy, with markets in the US pointed to a negative open following a three-day holiday weekend.London's oil majors were among the losers on Tuesday after data at the start of the week pointed to a slowdown in Chinese growth, while easyJet was the top gainer in the FTSE 100 after reporting a solid first quarter.The pound, meanwhile, was quoted at USD1.2914 at midday, firm compared to USD1.2899 late Monday after official data showed UK wage growth accelerated in November. The FTSE 100 was down 50.19 points, or 0.7%, at 6,920.40 at midday. The FTSE 250 was 3.93 points higher at 18,766.76 while the AIM All-Share was flat at 914.20.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.6% at 11,753.21, while the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 16,781.51 and the Cboe UK Small Companies up 0.1% at 11,135.83.Average earnings in the UK increased by 3.4% in the year to November, the highest for a decade and up from the 3.3% growth reported for October. The country's jobless rate is now 4.0%, down by 0.2 percentage point on a year ago, and the lowest since 1975.Despite the upbeat jobs data, ING does not believe the Bank of England has much impetus to raise interest rates in the near future."UK wage growth continues to be a relative bright spot in an otherwise lacklustre economic story, but the increasing uncertainty surrounding Brexit means the Bank of England is unlikely to hike rates any time soon," said James Smith at ING.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.6% while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt 0.5% was lower Tuesday midday. In Zurich, UBS Group was down 4.4% after the Swiss bank reported a swing to profit in the fourth quarter but warned of lower client activity in the first quarter of 2019.US markets are facing a downbeat start to the week as they re-open from Monday's Martin Luther King Jr Day holiday. The Dow Jones is pointed down 0.6%, the S&P 500 down 0.7% and the Nasdaq down 0.9%."Appetite for risk in this holiday-shortened week starts on the low side with Euro and Asia equities under pressure in their respective sessions, along with US futures, as an uncertain outlook for global trade and growth continues to inhibit investor appetite," said Dean Popplewell, vice president of market analysis at Oanda.On Monday, the International Monetary Fund, in its latest World Economic Outlook report, cut its estimate for global growth in 2019, highlighting US-China trade tensions and the risk of a no-deal Brexit. Global growth in 2018 is estimated to be 3.7%, in line with the forecast made in October. However, signs of a slowdown in the second half of 2018 are expected to carry over to coming quarters. The world economy is projected to grow 3.5% in 2019, before picking up slightly to 3.6% in 2020. In October, global growth had been seen at 3.7% in 2019 and 3.7% in 2020.The new forecasts came on the same day data from China showed the world's second largest economy grew 6.6% in 2018, the slowest rate since 1990.In London, easyJet was leading the FTSE 100 gainers, shares up 6.9% after the airline reaffirmed its annual guidance despite taking a hit from Gatwick's drone fiasco.For the three months to December 31, the budget airline's total revenue increased 14% to GBP1.30 billion from GBP1.14 billion a year prior. Passenger revenue was up 12% to GBP1.03 billion from GBP914.0 million, while ancilliary revenue increased 20% to 271.0 million from 226.0 million. The Gatwick disturbances, affecting 82,000 customers, cost easyJet GBP10 million, as 400 easyJet flights were cancelled while authorities searched for the drone owner between December 19 and 21.The firm said its expectations for the full year remain "broadly" in line with current market forecast, with consensus for pretax profit currently lying at GBP580 million.Oil majors were among the fallers at midday amid the China growth worries, with BP down 1.4% and Royal Dutch Shell 'A' shares down 2.2% and 'B' shares down 2.5%."To date, China's crude import numbers have so far resisted China's economic slowdown...but many now believe that the world's second largest economy may be experiencing 'peak energy growth', with its demand set to reduce as the slowdown takes a deeper effect," said Oanda's Popplewell.Miner BHP Group was down 2.1% after reporting number of operational difficulties during its first half, though it has upgraded copper production guidance nonetheless. For the six months to December, BHP's copper output fell 1% year-on-year to 825,000 tonnes. For the second quarter, production was down 3% year-on-year but up 2% quarter-on-quarter to 416,000 tonnes. Copper output guidance for the year ending June has been increased to between 1.65 million tonnes and 1.74 million tonnes, from 1.62 million tonnes and 1.71 million tonnes before. BHP said copper production was held by "record" production at Cerro Colorado and higher volumes at Spence, though expected lower grades at Escondida did hurt volumes. All three are in Chile. Dixons Carphone rose to the top of the FTSE 250, shares up 3.9% at midday after reporting a good peak trading performance during the recent festive season.For the 10 weeks ended January 5, the electronics retailer posted group like-for-like revenue up 1%. Reported revenue overall was flat on the previous year.In UK & Ireland electricals, revenue was up 2% on the comparative period a year ago, both on a reported and like-for-like basis. The increase was driven by a standout performance in TV, Dixons explained, despite a challenging backdrop and a declining market.IG Group Holdings fell 7.5% after the online trading platform posted a drop in profit and revenue for the first six months of its financial year. For the half to the end of November 30, pretax profit fell 17% to GBP113.0 million from GBP136 million a year before, on net trading revenue that declined 6.0% from GBP251.0 million from GBP268.4 million.During the period, the European Securities & Markets Authority regulatory measures came into effect, with the prohibition of offering binary options to retail clients, and restrictions on providing contracts-for difference to retail clients.As a result of the regulatory changes, revenue for the year ending July 31 is expected to be lower than the GBP590.2 million reported the prior year. Operating costs for the year are expected to remain at a similar level to the GBP290 million reported the year before.Elsewhere on the Main Market, shares in Pets at Home rose 8.0% after the retailer and veterinary services provider reported a rise in third quarter revenue. For the 12-week period to January 3, the retailer said group revenue rose 6.3% to GBP237.2 million from GBP223.3 million in the comparative period a year ago. The increase was 5.1% on a like-for-like basis. Retail revenue increased 5.5% to GBP213.4 million from GBP202.3 million. On a like-for-like basis it was up 4.7%. The company's Vet Group revenue was up 14% year-on-year to GBP23.8 million from GBP21.0 million. On a like-for-like basis, it increased 9.1%. In the US corporate calendar on Tuesday, personal care giant Johnson & Johnson reports fourth-quarter earnings, as does oilfield services firm Halliburton.