LONDON MARKET OPEN: Intertek Gains As Mediclinic Falls With Sharp Loss

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London on Tuesday remained broadly higher, with the FTSE 100 just about remaining in the green despite weak results reported by several blue-chip companies.The FTSE 100 index was up 0.1%, or 6.97 points, at 7,795.45 early Thursday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 0.3%, or 62.08 points at 21,067.44. The AIM All-Share index was down 0.2% at 1,090.04.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.1% at 13,218.74, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 19,294.39, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was down 0.2% at 12,821.97.Sterling was quoted at USD1.3370 early Thursday, higher than USD1.3349 at the London equities close on Wednesday, ahead of UK retail sales data at 0930 BST.At the top of the FTSE 100 early Thursday was Intertek Group, up 3.1% as the quality-assurance and safety testing firm reported 4.4% growth in revenue to GBP862.0 million for the first four months of 2018, driven by organic growth and the acquisition of new clients.Intertek expects revenue growth on a constant currency basis for 2018.The second best performer was asset management company St James Place, up 2.2% as Deutsche Bank raised its ratings to Buy from Hold. At the bottom of the FTSE 100 early Thursday was Mediclinic International, down 3.9% as the private hospital group swung sharply to a loss for its recently ended financial year due to high exceptional costs.Revenue for the year to March 31 rose 4% to GBP2.87 billion, up 3% at constant currency, as the FTSE 100-listed company swung to a pretax loss of GBP479 million from a GBP307 million profit last year.Changes in "the market and regulatory environment" in Switzerland gave rise to impairment charges recorded against properties and intangible assets of GBP84 million and GBP560 million, respectively. In addition, an impairment of GBP109 million was recorded against Spire Healthcare Group - in which Mediclinic holds a 29.9% stake - as the FTSE 250-listed firm saw its own profit after tax tumble to GBP16.8 million from GBP53.6 million during 2017.United Utilities Group was down 3.2%, the second worst performer in the FTSE 100, as it saw profit decline by 2.4% to GBP432.1 million for the year ended March 31 from GBP442.4 million, on revenue that crept up 1.9% to GBP1.74 billion from GBP1.70 billion. The profit decline was due to a GBP40.0 million increase in net finance costs as well as higher fair value losses on derivative instruments, despite a rise in operating profit.DIY retailer Kingfisher was down 3.1% as it reported lower sales in the first quarter of 2018, down 1.2% at GBP2.82 billion with dips from the UK & Ireland, France and Russia. In the FTSE 250, Electrocomponents led the way, up 8.5% as it reported a profit rise for the year to the end of March at GBP168.6 million from GBP127.1 million the year before, on revenue that grew to GBP1.71 billion from GBP1.51 billion due to positive currency movements.The second best performer was telecommunications company TalkTalk Telecom Group, up 8.4% as it proposed to sell off its direct B2B business to The Daisy Group for GBP175 million, which is expected to hit the group's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the 2019 financial year by GBP15.0 million. However the deal will strengthen TalkTalk's balance sheet.For the year to the end of March, TalkTalk swung to a loss of GBP73 million for the year to the end of March from a profit of GBP70 million the year before, on declining revenue of GBP1.71 billion from GBP1.78 billion. As a result, TalkTalk has cut its dividend to 4.00 pence per share from 10.29p.At the bottom of the FTSE 250 was brick manufacturer Ibstock, down 5.9% after reporting a slower than expected start to the year due to an extended winter season. Price increases by sales channel were achieved in line with management expectation, however energy prices in the year-to-date were higher than expected, and is expected to remain so for the rest of 2018.US activity was also hit by weather in the first quarter of 2018, however volumes have returned in line with traditional seasonal levels.The euro was quoted at USD1.1729 early Thursday, slightly higher from USD1.1703 at the European equities close Wednesday.Germany's economy expanded at a slower pace as initially estimated in the first quarter on weak trade, detailed data from Destatis showed Thursday.Gross domestic product grew 0.3% sequentially, slower than the 0.6% expansion seen in the previous quarter. This was the weakest growth in more than a year and matched the provisional estimate published on May 15.The expenditure-side breakdown of GDP showed positive contribution from domestic demand. Gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment rose 1.2% and that in construction gained 2.1% sequentially.Also, household final consumption expenditure increased slightly by 0.4%. However, government final consumption expenditure decreased for the first time in almost five years, by 0.5%.On external trade, total exports of goods and services dropped 1.0% and imports decreased 1.1%. As a result, the balance of exports and imports had a downward effect of -0.1 percentage points on economic growth.On a yearly basis, calendar-adjusted GDP climbed 2.3% after expanding 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Similarly, price-adjusted GDP growth eased to 1.6% from 2.3% a quarter ago. The annual rates matched flash estimate.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris is up 0.3% while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt remained flat early Thursday.In Asia on Thursday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 1.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.4%."Calls for a flat open follow losses in Asia as car-markers reacted to President Trump ordering a national security investigation into the importation of car parts. This is on top of aggressive rhetoric from North Korea ahead of the June summit and China saying it has yet to agree to any trade figures with the US," said Michael van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets.