Punch Taverns PLC Share News (PUB)

LONDON (Alliance News) - London's main stock indices ended higher Tuesday for a second consecutive session, as a light day in terms of economic data let corporate news take centre stage, with Sky and ARM Holdings the best-performing stocks in the FTSE 100 after positive earnings reports.

The FTSE 100 ended up 0.2% at 7,062.93, the FTSE 250 closed up 0.6% at 17,712.55, and the AIM All-Share index finished up 0.3% at 750.94, taking back Monday's losses.

European stocks ended also higher, with the CAC 40 in Paris up 0.1% and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt up 0.5%. When the London equity markets close, Wall Street was mixed, with the DJIA down 0.3%, the S&P 500 flat and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.5%.

Asian stock markets ended also higher, with the Japanese Nikkei up 1.4%, the Hang Seng up 2.8%, and the Shanghai Composite up 1.8%.

Broadcaster and broadband provider Sky reached a 14-year high at 1,116.00 pence, while chip designer ARM Holdings hit an all-time high at 1,233.00p.

Sky closed at the best-performing stock in the FTSE 100, up 5.1% at 1,105.65p, after it posted a rise in operating profit for the first nine months of its financial year, boosted by strong customer growth across its businesses and strong performances from the UK, Ireland and Germany. Operating profit was GBP1.03 billion in the nine months to the end of March, up from GBP854 million a year before, as revenue grew to GBP8.45 billion from GBP8.05 billion.

In the UK and Ireland, revenue was up 6% to GBP5.82 billion from GBP5.49 billion, while revenue in Germany rose 9% to GBP1.04 billion from GBP951 million, offsetting a slight decline in Italy were revenue fell to GBP1.59 billion from GBP1.61 billion.

ARM was the second-best performer in the blue-chip index, closing up 3.9% at 1,195.00p. The company, whose chip designs are used by consumer technology giants like Apple and Samsung, reiterated its expectations to "at least" meet current market expectations for dollar revenue in 2015. It posted a rise in pretax profit in the first quarter of the year as royalty revenue continued to grow on strong demand for its customers' mobile devices, particularly 4G smartphone handsets

ARM posted a pretax profit of GBP103.4 million, up from GBP78.0 million in the first quarter of 2014, as revenue grew to GBP227.5 million from GBP186.7 million.

Associated British Foods was the worst-performing stock in the FSTE 100, closing down 4.7%. The group reported a drop in profit in the first half of its financial year as its food business, particularly struggling AB Sugar, made lower sales due to food price deflation and the strength of sterling.

AB Foods reported a 51% drop in pretax profit in the 24 weeks to February 28 to GBP213 million from GBP434 million the year before, but a revenue increase of 1% to GBP6.2 billion. It said that while it made "significant progress" in operating profit for Primark, Agriculture and Ingredients and further improvement in the Grocery division's margin, profitability at AB Sugar was substantially lower as a result of much weaker EU sugar prices.

Miners also ended lower after making gains Monday on the back of further stimulus from the Chinese central bank on Sunday. Rio Tinto ended down 2.2%, despite reporting that its global iron ore production for the first quarter grew 12% from last year, reflecting the expansion of its mining operations in the Pilbara region. However, iron-ore production declined 6% from the preceding fourth quarter.

Amongst other constituents in the mining sector, Anglo American was down 2.0% and Fresnillo ended down 1.0%. BHP Billiton, which releases its March operational review at 2330 BST, was also down 1.2%.

In the FTSE 250, International Personal Finance was amongst the best performers, closing up 5.5%. The consumer credit company said Polish authorities have concluded an investigation into the calculation of fees for loan products, and it will not face a fine following the probe.

Serco Group was amongst the biggest mid-cap fallers, down 3.4%. The outsourcer has been stripped of its contract sterilising equipment at a hospital in Australia, the Financial Times reported on Monday. Western Australia Health Minister Kim Hames took the contract away from Serco after blood and tissue was found on sterilised equipment at the Fiona Stanley hospital in Perth, which opened last year.

Shoe Zone shares fell 28% to 185p, making it the worst performing-stock in the AIM All-Share index, although it held above last May's initial public offering price of 160p. The discount footwear retailer issued a profit warning, saying the warm weather conditions during the autumn/winter trading period had slowed its first half revenue. It said revenue and profit in the six months to April 4 will be down on the year and its full year results will be below market expectations, "with the dividend adjusted accordingly".

Shoe Zone said that while overall footwear sales volumes improved in the first half of its financial year to April 4, the average price of products sold was lower owing to a different product mix, giving the example of lower-priced ladies ankle boots being favoured over more expensive long leg boots.

In the economic calendar Wednesday, the Bank of England releases the minutes from its last monetary policy meeting at 0930 BST, while Eurozone consumer confidence is at 1500 BST. In the US, the house price index is at 1400 BST, existing home sales are at 1500 BST, while EIA crude oil stocks is at 1530 BST.

In the corporate calendar, Tesco releases full-year results. Reed Elsevier and Element issue interim management statements, while Travis Perkins, Ladbrokes, Croda and Hochschild Mining issue first quarter interim management statements. Fenner, Punch Taverns and Connect Group publish half-year results. Telford Homes will issue a trading statement.

By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com

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