LONDON MARKET OPEN: HSBC And Smurfit Kappa Help Prop Up FTSE 100

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London were marginally in the green early Friday, with the FTSE 100 helped by gains for China-focused banking giant HSBC and Irish packaging firm Smurfit Kappa.A number of insurers were down after getting broker rating cuts, while shopping mall investor intu Properties shares fell after it provided a gloomy outlook.The UK large-cap index was down 8.13 points, or 0.1%, higher at 7,359.44.The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 25.17 points, or 0.1%, at 19,711.83, while the AIM All-Share was marginally higher at 968.8.The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.2% at 12,491.97. The Cboe UK 250 was down 0.1% at 17,639.1, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was slightly higher at 11,753.21.In Paris the CAC 40 was down marginally and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt up marginally. HSBC shares rose 2.6% after it said it made a "good start" to 2019, seeing a significant rise in first-quarter profit driven by its Retail Banking & Wealth Management and Commercial Banking businesses.For the three months ended March, pretax profit rose 30% to USD6.21 billion from USD4.76 billion the year prior. Excluding the impact of currency translation, pretax profit rose 9.5% on the year before.The Asia-focused lender's revenue increased 14% in the first quarter to USD14.43 billion from USD12.70 billion the year before. Revenue performance was driven by strong growth in all of HSBC's three main global businesses."We have made a good start to 2019. Reported profit after tax was up significantly on the first quarter in 2018, thanks largely to strong revenue growth in our Retail Banking & Wealth Management and Commercial Banking businesses, and favourable movements in significant items," said Chief Executive John Flint.HSBC's net interest margin at March 31 was 1.59%, down from 1.67% at the end of the first quarter in 2018. For the first quarter, return on tangible equity stood at 10.6%, up from 8.4% the year prior.For the three months ended March, the jaws ratio was at 6.0%. The CET1 ratio for HSBC ended the period at 14.3%, an increase from 14.0% at December 31.Irish packaging firm Smurfit Kappa was up 1.2% as it posted strong earnings growth and solid revenue for the three months to March.Smurfit's revenue reached EUR2.32 billion for the quarter, up 7% year-on-year, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation rising 25% to EUR424 million and an Ebitda margin of 18.3%.The firm said it was a "very strong" quarter, with figures reflecting higher corrugated pricing, increased demand, and "a relentless" focus on costs.Anglo American was 1.4% higher, as Credit Suisse raised its rating on the miner to Outperform from Neutral. Intercontinental Hotels Group fell 2.8%. IHG on Friday expressed confidence for the rest of 2019 despite uncertainty in some of its markets, after a solid first quarter.Revenue per available room in the first quarter of 2109 rose 0.3%, against a strong comparator year-on-year, with US revPar climbing 0.6% on the year.In Europe, the Middle East, & Africa revPar fell 0.7% despite growth in Europe, where UK revPar increased 2%. Greater China's revPar was flat, after a very strong performance a year prior, IHG said.IHG's net system size rose 5.4% year-on-year to 843,000 rooms, and it has another 279,000 rooms in the pipeline.Insurers Admiral and Direct Line, as well asset manager Schroders, were lower after all suffered a rating cut from UBS, to Sell from Neutral for Admiral and to Neutral from Buy for the other two.Admiral was 1.3% down, Direct Line 1.1% lower, and Schroders down 0.3%. FTSE 250 insurer Lancashire Holdings was off 2.4%, as HSBC cut its rating on the stock to Hold from Buy. Also among London midcaps, intu Properties slipped 8.1% as it reported a "good" first-quarter lettings performance but warned the rest of the year is anticipated to be difficult due to a higher level of company voluntary arrangements than expected among retailers in its shopping centres.In the first quarter, intu agreed 53 long-term leases worth GBP6 million in annual rent, a performance Chief Executive Matthew Roberts described as "stable" even though it was down from 60 leases for GBP10 million in annual rent agreed in the same period a year ago.Occupancy at March 31 was 95.6%, slipping from 96.1% a year ago.Looking ahead, intu expects like-for-like net rental income for 2019 will be down 4% to 6% on the year before. Income is expected to fall more sharply in the first half before the pace moderates in the second.Medical products firm ConvaTec fell 1.9%, after reporting a 6% drop in first quarter profit to USD430.6 million, with organic growth a negative 2.0%. Excluding a rebate provision, organic revenue fell 0.1%.These results are in line with expectations, ConvaTec said, and reflect the difficulties the business is currently facing.Advanced Wound Care is being held back from a legacy portfolio and underperformance in the US, which have "more than offset" good demand for some other products.Likewise, problems in the US have held by ConvaTec's Ostomy Care business. However, Continence & Critical Care has done well, as has Infusion Devices.Looking ahead, ConvaTec affirmed all 2019 guidance, seeing organic revenue growth of 1.0% to 2.5% year-on-year.Provident Financial, currently engaged in a takeover tussle with Non-Standard Finance, said performance in the first quarter met expectations, with all four distribution channels delivering "strong" new business volumes. The stock was 0.8% higher early on. Vanquis Bank grew new customers by 13%, while Moneybarn achieved record new business volumes. Recovery in Home Credit continues, while Satsuma has grown new business and lending volumes by 16%.Provident does expect to book GBP17 million to GBP22 million of exceptional costs related to the NSF bid, but did not provide any further commentary.Stockbroker Numis was down 4.3%, after it said a "challenging" market has hurt first-half performance. Revenue has slipped 25% to GBP55.7 million for the six months to March, with pretax profit slumping 64% to GBP7.1 million.Revenue in the Equities segment slipped 28% due to weak sentiment among investors in the UK, while Investment Banking revenue fell 24%, though did rise 3% on the previous half.Numis is nevertheless encouraged and said it believes it can improve in the near-term. It held its interim dividend flat at 5.5p.In the US on Thursday Wall Street ended in the red, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.5%, the S&P 500 0.2% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite also down 0.2%.The Tokyo and Shanghai markets both remain closed for the Constitution Memorial and Labour Day holidays respectively, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.3% in late trade. The pound was quoted at USD1.3022, down from USD1.3034 at the close Thursday.Under the microscope later Friday will be the US nonfarm payrolls report at 1330 BST, alongside the unemployment rate and average hourly earnings. Also in the US, at 1445 BST, is the Markit US services PMI.In Europe, there is the UK's service PMI at 0930 BST and eurozone inflation at 1000 BST.