LONDON (Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 is expected to rise back above the 7,500-point mark on Thursday as stocks in London recover from Wednesday's sharp losses.In early UK company news, DIY retailer
Kingfisher said weather-related items helped boost second quarter revenue, while both
Rank Group and
On the Beach Group saw the recent hot weather in the UK dent appetite for their services.IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 22.33 points higher at 7,520.20 on Thursday. The FTSE 100 index closed down 1.5%, or 113.77 points, at 7,497.87 on Wednesday, its worst closing reading since late April this year.In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street also ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending down 0.5%, the S&P 500 down 0.8% and Nasdaq Composite slumping 1.2%."Concerns over China's economic health and the precarious state of the Turkish financial system and what the implications could be for global markets ensured a negative session for Wall Street," said Jasper Lawler, head of research at London Capital Group.Lawler continued: "Fortunes reversed after Qatar announced an investment of USD15 billion into Turkey, to shore up its finances; a move that has gone down well with investors."In company updates, B&Q-owner
Kingfisher said sales in its second quarter totalled GBP3.26 billion, up 3.4% from last year and 1.6% higher on a like-for-like basis. Consensus had seen like-for-like sales up 1.3%.Within this, B&Q UK & Ireland saw like-for-like sales up 3.6%, with Screwfix sales up 5.5% to drive overall UK & Ireland comparable sales up 4.2%. Like-for-like sales in France were down 1.0%, while Other International was up 1.4%.The second quarter result was helped by an improved performance of weather-related categories, Kingfisher said, while it saw a good recovery in the period - three months to July 31 - at B&Q and Screwfix."In Q2, I'm pleased that we grew our sales after the exceptionally harsh weather conditions in Q1. In B&Q, Screwfix and Brico Depot France we delivered good sales growth. However, the performance of Castorama France has been more difficult and as a result we have put additional actions in place to support our full year performance in France with the benefits expected to come through in H2," said Chief Executive Veronique Laury.Casino operator
Rank Group said revenue fell 2.3% in its financial year that ended June 30 to GBP691.0 million, as pretax profit slumped 41% to GBP46.7 million. Like-for-like revenue declined 2.3%. The company, nonetheless, raised its dividend by 2.1% to 7.45p from 7.30p.The performance was in line with revised expectations, Rank said, amid a "challenging" year for its Grosvenor's casinos which were hit by low win margins, enhanced due diligence, and extreme weather keeping people away from casinos. Mecca's performance was above expectations, while UK Digital continued to grow by saw a slowdown in the second half.Chief Executive John O'Reilly said: "With the backdrop of a disappointing performance in 2017-18, we are now moving quickly to identify the key priorities which will begin to realise the significant underlying potential that I have now seen first-hand since joining the group in early May."Rank added that, post-period end, trading in six weeks to August 12 has been "challenging" following the unseasonal hot weather hitting its UK retail businesses. Despite this, the recently-commenced financial year is still expected in line with current consensus.Similarly,
On the Beach Group said "exceptionally" hot UK weather over recent months has suppressed holiday demand."This has impacted our headline revenue growth during the period, but the weaker demand has driven a significant reduction in the group's marketing spend, ensuring growth in revenue after marketing costs has remained strong," the holiday company said.While August and September are "important" trading months, the company said it continues to expected adjusted pretax profit for the year broadly in line with management expectations.Additionally, the company said it has bought Classic Collection Holidays for GBP20.0 million. The deal is expected to be earnings enhancing in the first full year of ownership, including some investment from On the Beach.GBP14.6 million of the consideration is payable in cash on completion, GBP2.7 million in cash deferred for 12 months, and GBP2.7 million in shares.
John Wood Group said it has agreed to disposed of its 50% interest in the Voreas wind farm joint venture in Italy for around USD27 million in cash.
KAZ Minerals said revenue for the first half of the year rose to USD1.10 billion from USD721 billion a year before, as pretax profit climbed to USD355 million from USD240 million.The company declared an interim dividend of 6 cents per share as it maintained its full-year copper production guidance at between 270,000 to 300,000 tonnes."Medium-term copper market outlook remains positive, as supply from existing mines declines and demand from both traditional and new sectors continues to grow," said KAZ.
RHI Magnesita said its first half revenue climbed to EUR1.51 billion from just EUR855.9 million a year earlier, up 25% on an organic basis, as pretax profit more than doubled to EUR97.1 million from EUR45.9 million.The increase in revenue was driven by price increases, the refractory supplier said, which more than offset higher rate material input costs."Whilst geopolitical challenges could impact the second half and beyond, we believe our geographically diversified production bases and broad customer profile will insulate the group to a large extent," said RHI Magnesita Chief Executive Stefan Borgas.In the economic calendar on Thursday are wholesale prices from Germany at 0700 BST, the eurozone's trade balance at 1000 BST and US housing starts at 1330 BST, with initial and continuing jobless claims due at the same time.In the UK, focus lies on July's retail sales, due at 0930 BST. Economists see sales rising 3.0% year-on-year, accelerating from June's 2.9% growth. On a monthly basis, sales are expected to rebound from last month's fall to post a 0.2% gain, following a 0.5% decline in June.Sterling was quoted at USD1.2723 early Thursday ahead of the data, higher than USD1.2692 at the London equities close on Wednesday.LCG's Lawler commented: "With the next round of Brexit talks due to begin today, any retail sales data, good or bad could be quickly overshadowed by growing fears of the UK crashing out of the European Union without a deal."In Asia on Thursday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is down 0.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 0.7%.Japanese shipments to the US fell 5.2% year-on-year to JPY1.25 trillion, about USD11 billion, in July for the second straight month of decline, the government said Thursday.Imports from the world's largest economy jumped 11% to JPY747.9 billion, which resulted in a trade surplus of JPY502.7 billion, down 22% from a year before.Japan's overall trade climbed 3.9% to JPY6.75 trillion in July, while imports rose 15% to JPY6.98 trillion, leading to a trade deficit of JPY231.2 billion.Japan bought more medical products and vehicles from the EU in July, which contributed to a 29% rise in imports from the bloc to a record JPY889.6 billion. In July, Japan and the EU signed a free trade agreement that will cover around a third of the global economy.
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