RDSA.L Share News (RDSA)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are set to edge higher on Thursday, with focus on the latest monetary policy decision from the European Central Bank, amid a jam-packed day for company earnings.In early UK company news, Royal Dutch Shell and Diageo announced share buyback programmes, while Sky reported a rise in annual profit as AstraZeneca saw interim profit tumble.Focus in the economic calendar, meanwhile, lies on the ECB's latest policy announcement at 1245 BST with a press conference with President Mario Draghi at 1330 BST."Whilst the economic data broadly support the ECB's optimistic tone on the economy, we expect there to be questions on the timing of the first rate hike, given the confused interpretations of what the latest rate guidance actually means," said analysts at Societe Generale.IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 11.84 points higher at 7,670.10 on Thursday. The FTSE 100 index closed down 0.7%, or 50.79 points at 7,658.26 on Wednesday.In company news, distiller Diageo said sales for the financial year ended June 30 rose to GBP18.43 billion from GBP18.11 billion last year, as pretax profit climbed to GBP3.74 billion from GBP3.56 billion. The Smirnoff vodka-owner recommended a final dividend increase of 5%, bringing its full-year dividend to 65.3p."Our financial performance expectations are unchanged, and we expect to continue to invest in the business to deliver our mid-term guidance of consistent mid-single digit organic net sales growth and 175bps of organic operating margin expansion for the three years ending 30 June 2019," said Diageo in a statement.The company also said it has approved a new share buyback programme to return up to GBP2.0 billion during the year ahead.Pay-TV provider Sky said revenue in its financial year, with also ended June 30, rose 5% to GBP13.59 billion as pretax profit rose to GBP864 million from GBP803 million.The increased Comcast and Twenty-first Century Fox takeover offers - the two companies vying with each other to take control of Sky - includes an amount in lieu of a final dividend, Sky noted. As a result, Sky is not proposing a final payout.Oil major Royal Dutch Shell said cash flow from operating activities for the second quarter of 2018 was USD9.5 billion, down from USD11.3 billion last year. Oil and gas production was 3.4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, a 5.4% increase on last year's underlying performance.Shell announced a second-quarter dividend of USD0.47 per share, and also said it will start a share buyback of at least USD25 billion in the period throughout 2018 to 2020."This move complements the progress we have made since the completion of the BG acquisition in 2016, to reshape our portfolio through a USD30 billion divestment programme and new projects, to reduce net debt, and turn off the scrip dividend," commented Chief Executive Ben van Beurden.British American Tobacco said half-year profit grew 31% to GBP3.97 billion from GBP3.03 billion a year prior as revenue rose 57% to GBP11.64 billion. Cigarette volumes jumped 10% to 345.0 billion sticks in the period.Performance was helped by its acquisition of Reynolds American Inc in July 2017. On a pro-forma basis - assuming BAT had owned Reynolds through the whole of 2017 - revenue rose 1.9% and cigarette volumes fell 3.1%.Drugmaker AstraZeneca said total revenue for the first half of the year fell 1% at actual exchange rates to USD10.33 billion, with product sales rising 2% to USD10.01 billion but externalisation revenue down 53% to USD318 million.Oncology sales grew 42% in the half to USD2.66 billion, with Respiratory up 6% to USD2.40 billion and new Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism up 12% to USD1.87 billion.Cost of sales rose 16% to USD2.15 billion, with pretax profit falling 27% to USD786 million from USD1.07 billion last year.Astra kept its interim dividend flat at USD0.90 per share, reiterating its annual guidance.Smith & Nephew said first half revenue rose 4% to USD2.44 billion, though pretax profit dipped to USD341 million from USD383 million. The medical devices maker proposed an interim dividend of 14 cents, up from 12.3 cents last year.Contract caterer Compass said third quarter organic revenue grew by 5.7%, driven by strong net new business in North America, an acceleration in Europe and good progress in Rest of World.Whilst the margin for the nine months to June 30 was" slightly lower" than last year, Compass said it remains on track to deliver "modest" margin progression for the full year. Stocks in the US on Wednesday ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.7%, the S&P 500 up 0.9% and Nasdaq Composite closing 1.2% higher.Social media network Facebook, having gained 1.3% on Wednesday prior to the release of its second quarter results, slumped 20% in after-hours trading as it reported a 31% jump in the profit for the second quarter but revenue and monthly active users fell short of Wall Street expectations.California-based Facebook's second-quarter profit rose to USD5.11 billion, or USD1.74 per share, from USD3.89 billion, or USD1.32 per share, last year. Revenue for the quarter surged 42% to USD13.23 billion, but analysts had expected this to come in at USD13.36 billion. Monthly active users rose 11% to 2.23 billion, while economists had anticipated this figure at 2.25 billion.Sentiment improved overnight after the US and the EU agreed on Wednesday to ease trade tensions while continuing to negotiate the details of a far-reaching agreement that would slash tariffs and other barriers to trade.US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced the outlines of the deal after a White House meeting.Trump said the two sides would "work together toward zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods.""There was no mention of removing the existing retaliatory tariffs imposed in the last few months, and while the pledges to work towards zero tariffs is certainly a noble goal, it is likely to face significant obstacles from some national governments in Europe, which means it's unlikely to ever happen. To get an idea of the obstacles you only need to look at the failure of TTIP," said CMC Markets chief market analyst Michael Hewson.Hewson added: "On the plus side the prospect of 25% tariffs on European cars has receded for now, along with EU retaliation, which probably helps explain the positive market reaction." In Asia on Thursday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is down 0.9%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 1.0%.Released early Thursday, producer prices in Japan accelerated to rise 1.2% on an annualised basis in June.This followed two months of prices rising at 1.0%. On a monthly basis, the Bank of Japan said, producer prices added 0.2% after easing 0.1% in May.