LONDON MARKET OPEN: Ashtead Rises On Strong Earnings And Buyback Plans

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened flat on Tuesday, with Ashtead rising after strong annual results, helping the FTSE 100 to outperform other European indices.The UK blue-chip index was up just 3.58 points at 7,360.68. The mid-cap FTSE 250 was down 51.10 points, or 0.3%, at 19,106.51. The AIM All-Share was up 0.17 point at 937.63.The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.1% at 12,496.39. The Cboe UK 250 was down 0.1% at 17,165.89, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 11,647.12.In European equities, the CAC 40 stock index in Paris was down 0.1% and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was down 0.6%.In the FTSE 100, Ashtead Group was up 0.7%, after the equipment rentals firm reporting a strong set of annual results for financial 2019, while also announcing plans for a GBP500 million share buyback.For the financial year ended April 30, revenue rose 19% to GBP4.49 billion from GBP3.71 billion the year before, and pretax profit rose 20% to GBP1.06 billion from GBP862.1 million. The company said it continued to enjoy strong end-markets in North America and was executing well on its strategy of organic growth supported by targeted bolt-on acquisitions.Ashtead proposed a final dividend of 33.5 pence, bringing a total payout 40.0 pence, up 21% from 33.0p in financial 2018.Interactive Investor's Richard Hunter said: "It is the company's very reliance on the US which tends to spook investors, however. Given Ashtead's previous mauling during the financial crisis following a sharp downturn in the construction space, it seems that investors may have been once bitten and twice shy. "Net debt remains high at around GBP4 billion which, whilst currently containable given the group's cash generation, would prove to be an immediate noose in the event of a downturn in the US, which on a wider basis is the current topic of debate given some mixed economic numbers of late. In addition, such an acquisitive nature always carries execution risk, while from an investment perspective the dividend yield of around 2% still seems uninviting."AstraZeneca was up 0.5% after the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker and Merck & Co said the European Commission has approved Lynparza as a first-line maintenance treatment for women with BRCA-mutated advanced ovarian cancer.At the other end of the large cap index, Evraz was the worst performer, down 2.2% after Citigroup downgraded the Russian steelmaker to Sell from Neutral. InterContinental Hotels Group was down 1.9% after Barclays cut the hotel operator to Underweight from Equal Weight. In the FTSE 250, Telecom Plus was the best performer, up 2.5%. The multi utility services provider said it delivered annual results for financial 2019 in line with expectations. For the year ended March 31, revenue rose 1.5% to GBP804.4 million from GBP792.9 million the year before, and pretax profit increased 4.9% to GBP43.0 million from GBP41.0 million. Adjusted pretax profit increased by 3.7% to GBP56.3 million from GBP54.3 million in 2018. The company said that in the absence of "unforeseen circumstances" it expect adjusted pretax profit for financial 2020 to be between GBP60 million and GBP65 million. The US Federal Reserve's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee, which is scheduled to meet later on Tuesday and Wednesday, is widely expected to hold interest rates unchanged this month, although it is very likely to signal a rate cut sometime in the near term. The policy announcement is due at 1900 BST on Wednesday."Tomorrow's FOMC hangs over the markets, and today ought to be quiet, but there's an air of nervousness around," noted Societe Generale's Kit Juckes. The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 0.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 1.2%.The pound was quoted at USD1.2538 Tuesday, lower than USD1.2559 at the London equities close Monday.The battle for the Conservative party crown in the UK is revving up with a fresh round of voting in the leadership stakes as Boris Johnson is due to break cover and take part in television debates.Tory MPs will vote in the second bout of the contest to select the UK's next prime minister on Tuesday ahead of a live TV debate that will feature the front-runner and former foreign secretary, Johnson.Candidates need to gain at least 33 votes from MPs to remain in the race to reach the final run-off, which will see some 160,000 Tory members select the next prime minister.If all candidates pass the 33-vote threshold, the one with the lowest total will be eliminated and by the end of the week, four of the six current riders will be forced out, leaving the final two to go head-to-head for votes from the Tory grassroots.The economic events calendar on Tuesday has eurozone inflation readings at 1000 BST and US housing starts at 1330 BST. In addition, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will speak on the second day of the ECB's annual three-day forum in Sintra, Portugal at 0900 BST and 1500 BST, respectively.