Paddy Power Betfair Share News (PPB)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks ended higher on Wednesday amid weakness in the pound, with London's flagship index outperforming European counterparts as trade war fears plagued financial markets on the continent. "It is not hard to find the cause of the FTSE 100's outperformance today, with the index up over half of 1%. The pound continues its slide versus the dollar on fears of a 'No Deal' Brexit, providing at least a pleasing tailwind for UK stocks. Outside of the British Isles, however, there is little sign of yesterday's bullishness, as trade war fears knock back equities after Tuesday's strong session," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.The FTSE 100 index closed up 0.8%, or 58.17 points at 7,776.65. The FTSE 250 ended up 0.2%, or 95.00 points, at 20,770.64, and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.2%, or 2.19 points, at 1,084.68.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.6% at 13,178.00, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.3% at 18,850.95, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.3% at 12,361.55."From a technical point of view, the FTSE 100 is still looking quite constructive and could be heading to a new record soon. Most recently, it managed to hold its own above short-term support around 7,550 after several failed breakdown attempts from the bears. The bulls' resilience suggests the index has maintained its bullish bias, even if it hasn't exactly rallied," said Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.In Paris the CAC 40 ended down 0.3%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended down 0.1%, with investors treading cautiously amid trade war concerns.China will impose retaliatory tariffs on USD16 billion worth of US goods starting on August 23, the Commerce Ministry said.The announcement came hours after the US said it will impose 25% duties on the same amount of Chinese goods, starting on the same date.It is the second round of duties imposed by the countries as Washington and Beijing exchange tit-for-tat measures in an escalating trade war.Moreover, crude oil's slide amid prospects of a decline in Chinese demand is also contributing to the weakness in some of the markets in Europe.In addition, the Energy Information Administration report showed US oil stockpiles declined by 1.35 million barrels.Brent was lower quoted at USD72.33 a barrel at the London equities close from USD74.21 at the same time the prior day. On the London Stock Exchange, Prudential ended as the best blue chip performer up 3.7% after the insurer reported a drop in its interim profit but said its planned demerger of M&G Prudential is "progressing well".The company posted a 22% drop in pretax profit in the six months ended June 30 to GBP1.73 billion from GBP2.2 billion. Gross premiums earned decreased 3.5% to GBP21.34 billion from GBP22.11 billion.Prudential lifted its interim dividend by 8.1% to 15.67 pence per share from 14.50p the previous year. Looking ahead, Prudential said it is confident of growing profit due to strong underlying opportunities, ongoing focus on risk management and strong balance sheet provides value for shareholders.At the other end of the large cap index, Paddy Power Betfair ended as the worst performer down 7.1% after the bookmaker lowered its full year guidance amid weak interim results. The company reported that revenue grew to GBP866.7 million, up 4.8% from GBP827.0 million a year prior. But this was behind Investec's estimate of GBP900.8 million.Paddy Power also said following its deal with US fantasy sports website FanDuel, its earnings would be lower than anticipated.The company said it now expects Ebitda for the full-year to come in between GBP460 million and GBP480 million, due to the the introduction of additional taxes in Australia and losses from the FanDuel daily fantasy sports business. In 2017, underlying Ebitda was GBP473 million.Back in May, the company had guided underlying Ebitda for the full-year to be between GBP470 million and GBP495 million.In the FTSE 250, TI Fluid Systems ended as the best performer, up 6.4% after the automotive fluid manufacturer said interim profit climbed 4.6%.For the six-month period to June 30, the company's revenue dropped 0.5% to EUR1.76 billion from EUR1.77 billion a year ago. However, on constant currency basis, revenue rose 4.5%. The company said the reported revenue growth was driven by "a combination of new business awards, volume and mix". Pretax profit rose to EUR124.0 million from EUR118.5 million reported in the comparative year ago period. TI Fluids maintained its outlook for the rest of 2018, expecting further revenue growth - excluding the impact of currency movements. Languishing at the foot of the midcap index, Hill & Smith Holdings closed down 23% after the infrastructure products and galvanising services company after reported a steep drop in first half profit.In the six months ended June 30, Hill & Smith's pretax profit decreased 14% to GBP28.9 million from GBP33.5 million the year before. Revenue increased 1% to GBP295.4 million from GBP291.8 million. Hill & Smith's "difficult" first half was down to a poor performance in the UK, which resulted from bad weather in the first quarter, delays to road projects and a "more cautious" investment environment. The company also said the volatile pricing of zinc commodity prices impacted operating margins.The pound was lower against the dollar quoted at USD1.2888 at the London equities close, compared to USD1.2953 at the close on Tuesday.Sterling slipped below the USD1.29 mark for the first time since September 2017, as investors fretted over the possibility of a no-deal Brexit. UK Prime Minister Theresa May challenged the Scottish government to get behind her Brexit proposals, instead of trying to "sow the politics of division".May insisted all parts of the UK should support the Chequers deal, agreed by the cabinet on Britain' departure from the EU.May spoke out after holding talks with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon - with the SNP leader saying afterwards the discussions had failed to ease her concerns that the UK could be forced to quite the EU without a formal agreement."My concern about the increasing prospect of a no deal Brexit certainly wasn't allayed in that meeting," Sturgeon said. The euro stood at USD1.1599 at the European equities close, against USD1.1590 late Tuesday.Stocks in New York were mixed at the London equities close. The DJIA was down 0.1%, the S&P 500 index up 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.1%.Ahead in the US earning calendar, Twenty-First Century Fox will report earnings after the market close in New York. In June, entertainment giant Walt Disney Co has agreed to acquire a chunk of Rupert Murdoch's media empire for USD71 billion.Gold was marginally lower quoted at USD1,210.35 an ounce at the London equities close against USD1,211.48 late Tuesday.The UK corporate calendar on Thursday has half year results from gold miner Randgold Resources, outsourcer G4S, soft drinks bottler Coca-Cola HBC and insurer Legal & General. There are also third quarter results from travel operator TUI Group. In the economic events calendar on Thursday there is China inflation readings at 0330 SAT and US producer prices at 1430 SAT.