LONDON MARKET OPEN: Ibstock Sinks After Warning On Earnings

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London opened in the red on Monday, tracking Asian markets lower in the wake of selling in the US on Friday, as Ibstock weighed on the midcap index. The FTSE 100 index of London large-caps was down 0.3%, or 24.71 points, at 7,677.25. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was down 0.3% at 20,816.03. The AIM All-Share index was down 0.1% at 1,101.19.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.3% at 13,023.75, the Cboe UK 250 was flat at 18,944.40, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was down 0.2% at 12,407.66.On the London Stock Exchange, GVC Holdings was the best blue chip performer at the open, up 5.3% after the gaming company said it entered into a joint venture with US casino operator MGM Resorts International in a bid to tap into the lucrative sports betting market in the US.The 50-50 joint venture, which has been made possible by a loosening of US sports betting regulation earlier in May by the Supreme Court, sees both companies committing to an initial USD100 million each.The owner of Ladbrokes and Coral said that the partnership gives "clear path" to 15 US states with an addressable population of 90 million.International Consolidated Airlines Group was up 0.3%. The boss of the British Airways parent said he is "optimistic" over a legal challenge to end crippling strikes, but warned over long-term disruptions for fliers if it does not succeed. IAG Chief Executive Willie Walsh told the Press Association that France's air traffic control strikes risk damaging passenger confidence and bookings if they do not end soon. In the FTSE 250, Senior was the best performer, up 4.9% after the engineer said trading in the first half of 2018 was slightly ahead of expectations and its full-year guidance unchanged.For the half year ending June 30, revenue was up 3% at GBP523.3 million compared to GBP510.0 million last year. Pretax profit rose 36% to GBP31.4 million from GBP24.0 million last year. "For the full year 2018, we anticipate year-on-year margin progression for the group. At current exchange rates, the board's expectation of making good progress in 2018 is unchanged, with performance still expected to be slightly weighted to the second half," CEO David Squires said. Senior declared a 2.19 pence interim dividend, up from 2.05p last year. At the other end of the midcaps, Ibstock was down 12% after the brick maker warned production difficulties are expected to hit 2018 earnings.For the first half of 2018, Ibstock said it expects its adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation to be around GBP58 million, down from the GBP59.7 million recorded a year prior.This, Ibstock said, was due to the impact of weather during the first half as well as higher energy costs.Further, the FTSE 250-listed company said its UK brick factories have been operating at either full or very nearly full capacity, but in recent months, especially July, production has missed expectations.However, Ibstock said the lower results won't hinder its dividend plans, including a supplementary dividend at the interim stage.Sterling was marginally lower against the dollar quoted at USD1.3100 early Monday, against USD1.3121 at the London equities close on Friday.In domestic political news, UK Prime Minister Theresa May has received a boost after Austria agreed that Brexit would be among topics for discussion at an informal meeting of EU leaders. Downing Street said Chancellor Sebastian Kurz agreed that Britain's departure from the EU would be on the agenda for the European Council being hosted by his country - which currently holds the EU presidency - on September 20. It means that the prime minister has an extra gathering of leaders of the EU 27 in which to convince them to support her Brexit plan after a week in which ministers have been deployed to various capitals to woo senior politicians. The next meeting is a gathering of EU leaders in Brussels in October by which time it has been hoped a Brexit deal will be hammered out.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.4% while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was down 0.2% early Monday.In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.3%, S&P 500 down 0.7% Nasdaq Composite down 1.5%.Stocks closed lower on Friday, partly reflecting a negative reaction to earnings news from companies such as Twitter, Intel and Exxon Mobil. Traders largely shrugged off a report from the Commerce Department showing a significant acceleration in the pace of US economic growth in the second quarter.Elsewhere, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Sunday he believes the US can sustain economic growth of at least 3% for the next several years."We can only project a couple of years in the future, but I think we're well on this path for several years," Mnuchin said on Fox News on Sunday. "I think we definitely are in a period of 4 or 5 years of sustained 3% growth, at least."Mnuchin's assessment comes two days after government data showed the US economy grew sharply in the second quarter, expanding at a rate of 4.1%.The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 0.9%.