Sophos Group Share News (SOPH)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London joined a rally in global equities on Wednesday as results of US midterm elections came largely in line with expectations.The FTSE 100 index closed up 1.1%, or 76.60 points, at 7,117.28. The FTSE 250 ended up 0.5%, or 103.57 points, at 19,147.22, and the AIM All-Share closed up 0.8%, or 8.26 points, at 995.96.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.9% at 12,056.01, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.2% at 17,293.77, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.2% at 11,659.93.In Paris the CAC 40 ended up 1.3%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended up 0.8%. "Stock markets ended higher as the positive sentiment in the US boosted investor confidence on this side of the Atlantic. The rally on the back of the midterms acts as a nice continuation to the bounce back that started last month. The politics of the US acts as a nice distraction today, but it doesn't change that fact that investors are still concerned about the budget situation in Italy and the US-China trade spat," said CMC Markets analyst David Madden. In the US the DJIA was up 1.0%, the S&P 500 index was up 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.7%.Democrats are projected to retake control of the House for the first time since 2010, as Democratic candidates managed to flip a number of suburban districts across the country.Control of the House will give Democrats subpoena power, potentially leading to numerous investigations of President Donald Trump's administration.Republicans retained control of the Senate, implying that the White House will still have the upper hand on getting key appointments approved.Republican candidates won Democratic Senate seats in Indiana, Missouri, and North Dakota and are leading in tight races in Florida, Arizona, and Montana.The GOP had been seen as likely to maintain control of the Senate due to the tough map faced by Democrats, who were defending 26 of the 35 seats on the ballot.With Republicans expanding their Senate majority, Congress would become divided bringing about the possibility of political deadlock."With Congress divided, President Trump and the Senate Republicans won't be able to make any major legislative changes without the approval of Democrats, which means that the Republicans are unlikely to be able to pass a second round of tax cuts. This is reflected in the slight weakening of the dollar after the results," said analysts at Capital Economics. On the London Stock Exchange, ITV ended as the worst performer down 2.8% after the broadcaster said its advertising revenue is coming under pressure amid economic uncertainty as worries over Brexit mount.ITV, which produces shows such as Love Island and I'm A Celebrity, said total advertising revenue rose 2% in the first nine months of the year.However, the company warned an "increasingly uncertain economic environment" is set to see total ad revenue fall around 3% in the fourth quarter and be broadly flat over the full year.Marks & Spencer closed down 0.5% after the food, clothing and homewares retailer reported a drop in half-year revenue amid a tough trading backdrop.For the six months to September 29, the retailer reported revenue for the half-year dipped 3.1% to GBP4.97 billion from GBP5.13 billion, with sales falling across all M&S divisions. In Clothing & Home, revenue was down 2.7% to GBP1.70 billion, hurt by the store closures, with like-for-like sales down 1.1%. Food revenue dipped 0.2% to GBP2.81 billion with like-for-like revenue down 2.9% "reflecting tough trading", M&S said.In the FTSE 250, Wizz Air ended as the best performer up 8.6% after the eastern European-focused airline reported double digit interim revenue growth of 20% to EUR1.38 billion from EUR1.15 billion the prior year.Moreover, passenger ticket revenue rose by 25% to EUR858.6 million and non-ticket revenue by 12% to EUR520.5 million.At the other end of the midcap index, Sophos Group ended as the worst performer down 27%, with GBP627 million wiped off its total market value, after the cyber security firm lowered billings growth expectations going forward. Sophos posted pretax profit of USD26.0 million for the six months to September 30, improving from a loss of USD35.5 million a year before. Revenue was up 18%, or 16% at constant currency, to USD349.5 million. First half billings rose 3% to USD353 million, and by 2% at constant currency to USD361 million. Sophos' renewal rate was 118%, compared to 142% a year prior. In July, Sophos had guided for mid-teens constant currency billings growth in its second half, but on Wednesday said it now expects a "modest" improvement in constant currency billings growth. "Unfortunately, growth, which has been spectacular in the past, has proven unpredictable of late. That's partly down to clients pulling forward spending when the InterceptX product was launched, which is understandable but really shouldn't be catching management by surprise. The fact guidance has had to be altered again at the half year raises questions about how firm a grip management have on what's going on," said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Nicholas Hyett. G4S closed down 17% after the security services company reported organic revenue growth of 2.5% year-on-year in the three months to the end of September. For the first nine months of 2018, revenue grew by 1.1%. On a divisional basis, revenue in the Secure Solutions unit was up 2.5% on the prior year. The company noted organic revenue growth in the security segment was partially offset by lower revenue in care & justice services. Looking forward, G4S expects profit before interest, tax and amortisation for 2018, after investment in new products and services, to be in line with 2017 on a constant currency basis. Analysts at Bank of America said G4S delivered a poor update highlighting the organic growth of 2.5% coming in sharply lower than consensus estimates of 4.5%.JD Wetherspoon closed down 14% after the pub chain said it expects to achieve annual results "slightly below" the prior year, despite reporting a rise in sales over its first quarter. For the first quarter to October 28, Wetherspoon said like-for-like sales increased 5.5%, while total sales were up 6.2%. The company added that it "remains in a sound financial position". The pound was higher against the dollar quoted at USD1.3162 at the London equities close, compared to USD1.3086 at the close Tuesday. In domestic economic news, data from IHS Markit and Lloyds Banking Group unit Halifax showed that UK house price inflation eased sharply in October to its lowest level since March 2013.The Halifax house price index rose 1.5% year-on-year in the three months to October, which was sharply slower than the 2.5% increase in September. Economists had forecast a 1.3% climb.The euro stood at USD1.1478 at the European equities close, against USD1.1416 late Tuesday. Brent oil was higher quoted at USD72.14 a barrel at the London equities close from USD71.43 at close Tuesday. Gold was flat quoted at USD1,226.94 an ounce at the London equities close against USD1,226.35 late Tuesday.The economic events calendar has Germany trade figures at 0700 GMT and Ireland inflation readings at 1100 GMT.In addition investors will be looking ahead to the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement, with the Fed due to announce is latest decision on Thursday at 1900 GMT.The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but traders will keep a close eye on the accompanying statement for clues about an expected rate hike in December. The UK corporate calendar on Thursday has half year results from supermarket chain J Sainsbury, fashion house Burberry Group and UK power lines operator National Grid. There are also third quarter results from Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca and soft drinks bottler Coca-Cola HBC.