Savills Share News (SVS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Motor insurer Admiral Group delivered a big rise in first half profit and hiked its dividend on Tuesday, as two mid-cap companies poached executives from other UK-listed firms.

Admiral CEO David Stevens said the company had benefited from an "increasingly rational motor market with evidence of a move towards a less violent cycle". It hiked its interim dividend 23% on the robust results.

Amongst mid-caps, aerospace and defence technology firm Cobham ousted its CEO, Bob Murphy, and replaced him with David Lockwood, currently the CEO of fellow-FTSE 250 constituent Laird, which makes wireless connectivity components.

Also on the move was Richard Cotton, who has left pharmaceutical services firm Consort Medical to become chief financial officer at veterinary drugs firm Dechra Pharmaceuticals.

UK unemployment data are on the agenda on Wednesday, ahead of the release of the minutes from the US Federal Reserve's last policy meeting after the European equities close.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.2% at 6,905.33
FTSE 250: up 0.3% at 17,858.18
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.1% at 782.65
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Hang Seng: up 0.1% at 22,925.03
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.9% at 16,745.64
DJIA: closed down 0.5% at 18,552.02
S&P 500: closed down 0.6% at 2,178.15
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GBP: flat at USD1.3017 (USD1.3000)
EUR: down at USD1.1256 (USD1.1279)

GOLD: down at USD1,341.93 per ounce (USD1,349.30)
OIL (Brent): flat at USD48.76 a barrel (USD48.83)

(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Wednesday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in BST)

0930 UK unemployment rate, average earnings, claimant count
1200 US MBA mortgage applications
1530 EIA crude oil stocks change
1900 US Federal Reserve FOMC minutes
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The Bank of England's GBP60 billion economy-boosting plan was back on track after last week's stumbling block as investors rushed to sell government bonds. The Bank snapped up GBP1.17 billion of so-called gilts as part of its new quantitative easing programme to help cushion the blow of the Brexit vote. It received offers from investors worth GBP3.12 billion - 2.67 times the amount it wanted to buy - calming fears over the programme after it last week failed to buy enough gilts to meet its target for the first time since launching QE in 2009. The Bank's GBP52 million QE shortfall last Tuesday sparked a rally in global bond markets that left yields - or returns - in the UK and Europe at record lows. Yields fall when bond prices rise.
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Cyclists Jason Kenny and Laura Trott cemented their place as Britain's golden couple as Team GB secured a record medal haul for an overseas Olympics on Tuesday. On a day when medals arrived from unexpected sources, Kenny and Trott lived up to their billing as favourites to write their name in the history books in Rio. After Trott, 24, had cruised to victory in the omnium to claim the fourth gold of her career, the most golds for a female British Olympian, her 28-year-old fiance Kenny held his nerve after two aborted races to win gold in the Keirin and take his personal gold tally to six, matching the British golds record of Chris Hoy. Between those triumphs, Becky James and Katy Marchant took silver and bronze respectively in the women's sprint, while boxer Josh Buatsi's bronze in the men's light-heavyweight category took Britain's medal tally to 48, a new record for an overseas Games.
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Scrapped student maintenance grants would be reinstated under a Labour government, the party has announced. The party would also restore the Education Maintenance Allowance for 16-18-year-olds if it was to win power in the next general election. Labour said the measures would support more than one million young people and increase the number of students from poor backgrounds continuing in education. Reversing the cuts would be paid for by increasing corporation tax by less than 1.5%, the party said. The Tory government scrapped maintenance grants for university students from poor backgrounds in England earlier this year.
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US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump accused Democrat rival Hillary Clinton of being against the police as he condemned the violence that followed a shooting by officers. The billionaire tycoon visited Wisconsin, the latest state to be hit by riots after the fatal shooting by police of a black man. Milwaukee's Sherman Park neighbourhood erupted in chaos on Saturday night after a black suspect was fatally shot by a black Milwaukee police officer. On Tuesday, Republican candidate Mr Trump seized on the riots, accusing Clinton of sympathising with protesters, who have complained of systemic racism and inequality at the hands of police. Clinton campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri responded by accusing Trump of being the bigot instead. She said: "With each passing Trump attack, it becomes clearer that his strategy is just to say about Hillary Clinton what's true of himself."
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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HSBC CUTS STANDARD CHARTERED TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - TARGET 650 PENCE
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TRADERS: MACQUARIE RAISES BHP BILLITON TO 'NEUTRAL' (UNDERPERFORM)
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TRADERS: MACQUARIE CUTS SCHRODERS TO 'UNDERPERFORM' ('NEUTRAL')
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CITIGROUP RAISES SAVILLS TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 815 PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Motor insurer Admiral Group reported higher pretax profit, revenue and hiked its dividend for the first half of 2016 following a strong period of trading for the firm. The FTSE 100 company said its pretax profit for the half to the end of June was GBP189.5 million, up from GBP181.7 million a year earlier. Total revenue grew to GBP1.26 billion from GBP1.06 billion, up 19% year-on-year. Admiral declared an interim dividend of 62.90 pence per share, up 23% year-on-year from 51.0p. "In the core UK car insurance business, we've benefitted from an increasingly rational motor market with evidence of a move towards a less violent cycle. Prices have been rising, and we've used this opportunity to grow our motor book strongly," said Chief Executive David Stevens.
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US semiconductor giant Intel is to licence technology from UK-based chip designer ARM Holdings in a bid to increase the customer base of its operation which builds chips for other companies. The agreement was announced at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco on Tuesday and Intel said the deal would mean its Intel Foundry unit will now offer access to ARM Artisan physical intellectual property. This will give Intel access to intellectual property based on the most advanced ARM cores and Cortex series processors, boosting its offering for mobile, internet of things and other consumer applications.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Aerospace and defence technology company Cobham said its chief executive will step down at the end of 2016 and will be replaced by the boss of wireless components designer Laird. Bob Murphy, Cobham's current CEO, will step down no later than the end of 2016 to "pursue other opportunities", Cobham said. He will be replaced by David Lockwood, currently the CEO at Laird, who will join the company no later than January 1, 2017. Laird will replace Lockwood with Tony Quinlan, its current chief financial officer. He will take the top job on September 5, when Lockwood will step down.
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Construction and infrastructure company Balfour Beatty said it has reinstated its dividend payments after its pretax loss narrowed in its first half. The group said its pretax loss for the six months to the end of June was GBP21.0 million, narrowed from the GBP150.0 million loss reported a year earlier, when Balfour booked writedowns on onerous contracts in its UK construction arm. Balfour had said at the time that more than 90% of these problem contracts would be at practical or financial completion by the end of 2016. In light of the "fundamental changes" undertaken in the business to reduce its "poor contract discipline" and "unaffordable overhead costs", Balfour said it was reinstating the interim dividend and will pay 0.90 pence per share, having paid no dividend a year earlier.
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CLS Holdings said its pretax profit more than halved in the first half of its financial year after a much lower revaluation gain, but the property developer said its diversified portfolio meant it was shielded from a large proportion of the Brexit impact. The firm, which owns assets in the UK, German, France and Sweden, posted a pretax profit of GBP33.1 million for the six months ended June 30, from GBP80.2 million a year earlier, despite revenue rising to GBP59.5 million from GBP58.6 million. CLS said this was because it had benefited from a GBP53.9 million revaluation gain on its investment properties a year earlier, compared to the GBP2.4 million gain made for recently-ended period.
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Drugmaker Indivior said it has received positive top-line results for the pivotal phase 3 clinical trial of RBP-6000 buprenorphine monthly depot. RBP-6000 is an investigational new drug for the treatment of opioid use disorder. Indivior said it remains on track to complete the data analysis of the phase 3 trial as well as the open-label long-term assessment of the safety and tolerability of the drug by the first quarter of 2017. "We believe that RBP-6000 can potentially transform the treatment of opioid dependence, if approved, by possibly reducing patients' treatment administration days from 365 a year to 12," Chief Executive Shaun Thaxter said.
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Veterinary pharmaceuticals company Dechra Pharmaceuticals said it has hired Richard Cotton from UK-listed pharmaceutical services company Consort Medical as its new chief financial officer. Cotton will leave Consort Medical after its interim results in December, and the group said the search for his replacement is underway. At Dechra, Financial Controller Septima Maguire will be acting chief financial officer until Cotton joins at the end of the year.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Car dealer Lookers reported growth in pretax profit and a surge in revenue in the first half of 2016, driven by a buoyant trading environment and contributions from acquisitions. The company said pretax profit for the six months to the end of June was GBP46.7 million, up 17% year-on-year from GBP39.9 million, as revenue increased 33% to GBP2.34 billion from GBP1.75 billion. The results prompted a hike to Lookers' interim dividend to 1.28 pence, a fifth higher than the 1.07p paid out a year prior. Lookers said its Motor division delivered a 22% rise in operating profit for the first half. Revenue for its new car business grew 38% and by 12% on a like-for-like basis, while used car revenue increased 38% and by 7% like-for-like. Aftersales revenue rose 24% and by 7% on a like-for-like basis.
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Nutrition group Glanbia reported growth in profit in the first half of 2016 and reiterated its guidance for the full year. Glanbia said pretax profit in the first half to July 2 rose to EUR129.8 million from EUR117.6 million the year before, as revenue remained flat at EUR1.43 billion and it booked lower exceptional costs and higher finance income. Glanbia said its results were driven by its Glanbia Performance Nutrition division, with nutrition brands and value-added nutritional ingredients showing good growth. Parts of the business struggled due to weak global dairy markets, however.
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Laura Ashley Holdings reported growth in profit in its recently-ended financial year as revenue rose and it said it remains confident on the future despite uncertainty in the market. The home furnishings and clothing retailer said pretax profit in the year ended June 30 grew slightly to GBP23.9 million from GBP23.5 million, as revenue rose to GBP400.9 million from GBP303.6 million. Profit was held back by higher exceptional items, operating expenses and finance costs, however. Online revenue grew to GBP73.5 million from GBP48.5 million, and revenue from the Laura Ashley hotel in Elstree increased to GBP3.5 million from GBP1.9 million. Growth in sales in furniture and home accessories offset declines in decorating and fashion.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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US software giant Cisco Systems will eliminate as many as 14,000 employee worldwide or 20% of its workforce, technology news site CRN reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The company will announce the cuts in the next few weeks. Cisco will report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday after the close in New York. The company last announced a large round of firings in August 2014, when it eliminated 6,000 positions.
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Danish brewer Carlsberg reported that its net profit attributable to shareholders for the first half of 2016 rose to DKK1.87 billion from DKK1.50 billion in the same period last year. The results were boosted by exceptional items, but offset slightly by a rise in corporation tax after the brewer lost a tax case in Finland. Group operating profit increased organically by 8%, with positive contribution from all three regions. Total volumes declined organically by 1%. Mainly due to anticipated lower beer volumes in the UK, Finland and Poland, a negative volume development in Eastern Europe in the second-quarter and a continued market decline in China, beer volumes weakened, being down 2% organically.
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US carmaker Ford Motor plans to have a high-volume, fully autonomous SAE level 4-capable vehicle in commercial operation in 2021 in a ride-hailing or ride-sharing service. The company is investing in or collaborating with four startups to enhance its autonomous vehicle development, doubling its Silicon Valley team and more than doubling its Palo Alto campus. To deliver an autonomous vehicle in 2021, Ford announced four key investments and collaborations that are expanding its strong research in advanced algorithms, 3D mapping, LiDAR, and radar and camera sensors.
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Apple plans to increase its investment in China, the iPhone maker's biggest market after the US, and also set up its first Asia-Pacific research and development centre in the country. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook pledged the investment during a meeting with senior government officials, China's state media CCTV reported. Details about the "independent" research and development center has not been disclosed by Cook or Apple. However, Cook has pledged that the new research and development centre will be built by the end of the year.
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Wednesday's Shareholder Meetings

John Laing Environmental Assets Group
Amiad Water Systems
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By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance

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