LONDON MARKET OPEN: Micro Focus, AstraZeneca Keep FTSE In Rally Mode

LONDON (Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 was sustaining its recent winning streak in early trade on Thursday, boosted by well-received annual results from Micro Focus International and AstraZeneca. The FTSE 250, meanwhile, was weighed down by ConvaTec, which voiced its disappointment with its own annual results and vowed "swift and strong" corrective action.The FTSE 100 was 20.82 points higher, or 0.3%, at 7,211.66 early Thursday, trading around its best levels since October 2018.The FTSE 250 was down 55.72 points, or 0.3%, at 18,916.90, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.1% at 911.15.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 12,234.52, while the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.2% at 16,865.69 and the Cboe UK Small Companies down 0.1% at 11,231.29.In early European data, figures showed Germany's economy stagnated in the fourth quarter of 2018, thus it avoided a technical recession, which is two consecutive quarters of contraction.The Federal Statistical Office showed gross domestic product was unchanged from the third quarter, when the economy shrunk 0.2%. Economists were looking for a modest increase of 0.1%.On a year-on-year basis, GDP rose an unadjusted 0.9% in the fourth quarter after a 1.1% increase in the previous three months. Economists had expected 0.8% expansion.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were up 0.9% and 0.8% respectively in early trade.To come in the economic events calendar on Thursday is a GDP reading from the eurozone at 1000 GMT. There are also US producer prices and retail sales figures at 1330 GMT.In Asia on Thursday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed flat. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong finished 0.3% lower.At the top of London's FTSE 100 in early dealings was Micro Focus International, 4.8% higher as its annual revenue decline compared favourably to guidance. Pro-forma revenue for the twelve months to October 31 fell 5.3% year-on-year to USD4.06 billion, compared to guidance of between a 6% to 9% fall. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose 9.2% to USD1.53 billion.On a statutory basis, revenue for the 18 months to the end of October - Micro Focus changed its year-end date following the acquisition of the HPE Software business - was USD4.75 billion, and the company posted a pretax profit of USD34.1 million.For the twelve months to the end of October, the company posted a loss of USD78.5 million. For the financial year ended April 30, 2017, Micro Focus generated a profit of USD131.5 million."The path to our current position has been a complex and difficult one over the last year as we worked to integrate the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Software business," commented Chief Executive Stephen Murdoch."Integrations of this scale are always challenging and significant programmes of work are still in progress but we believe the most disruptive issues experienced since completion are now behind us," he added.Looking ahead, the company expects revenue for the recently-commenced financial year to fall between 4% to 6% on last year, with the first-quarter performance in line with this guidance. AstraZeneca rose 2.6% as annual profit fell, but the pharmaceutical firm guided to product sales and earnings growth in 2019.The FTSE 100 constituent's profit for 2018 was USD1.99 billion, a drop of 11% from USD2.23 billion in 2017. Overall revenue, which includes externalisation revenue and product sales, was USD22.09 billion, versus USD22.47 billion in 2017. This compares to company-compiled consensus of USD22.05 billion.Product sales in 2018 were USD21.05 billion, an increase of 4.5% from USD20.15 billion the year before. Consensus was for USD21.00 billion.Astra's 2019 guidance is for a high single-digit percentage increase in product sales at constant currency, following a 4% year-on-year rise in 2018.It is also guiding for core earnings per share of between USD3.50 and USD3.70 at constant currency. In 2018, core earnings per share totalled USD3.46, dropping 19% from USD4.28 in 2017.Rolls-Royce, up 1.1%, said it has secured an order for Trent 700 engines to power 40 Airbus A330 neo aircraft from Emirates.The FTSE 100-listed engine maker said it will also provide Trent 900 engines for a further 14 Airbus A380s, taking the total Emirates A380 fleet powered by Trent 900 engines to 33 aircraft.Rolls-Royce also noted news that Airbus will end A380 deliveries in 2021."We will provide engines for the 17 remaining Trent 900-powered Airbus A380s to be delivered to customers including Emirates and we will support the whole Trent 900 fleet in service throughout its lifetime," Rolls-Royce said.Airbus announced it will end production of its flagship superjumbo passenger aircraft, potentially putting UK jobs at risk.The firm said it had made the "painful" decision after struggling to sell the world's largest passenger jet and after Emirates chose to slash its A380 orderbook by around a quarter.In Paris, Airbus shares were up 5.5% in early trade.Soft drinks bottler Coca-Cola HBC fell 6.8% after it posted annual earnings growth but warned on challenging market conditions ahead. Net sales revenue for 2018 came in at EUR6.66 billion, up 2.1% year-on-year against analyst consensus of EUR6.65 billion.Comparable earnings before interest and tax were EUR680.7 million, 9.6% higher on 2017, compared to consensus of EUR682.3 million. The comparable Ebit margin was 10.2%, up from 9.5% in 2017, against consensus of 10.3%. "Economic growth in 2019 is forecast to slow down in a number of our markets, which is likely to negatively impact consumer spending in the Established and Developing segments," Coca-Cola HBC said.The company added: "We believe that we are well-placed to withstand these more challenging conditions given our strong marketing programmes, ongoing initiatives in revenue growth management and route to market, together with the new product launches in 2018 which we expect to gain momentum with increased distribution and repeat sales."At the bottom of the FTSE 250 was wound dressings maker ConvaTec after it posted "disappointing" annual results. Revenue for 2018 grew 3.8% year-on-year to USD1.83 billion as adjusted earnings before interest and tax fell 6.0% to USD429.4 million due to the adjusted Ebit margin declining to 23.4% from 25.9%. "These are disappointing results, in light of our revenue and margin guidance at the beginning of 2018. With the executive committee, I have undertaken an extensive review of the business since my appointment as CEO and it is clear that swift and strong action is required to address the failures in execution which have caused the company to underperform," said Chief Executive Rick Anderson.Anderson added that the search for a permanent CEO has "made significant progress" since October.Restaurant Group fell 8.9% after the casual dining chain said Chief Executive Andy McCue has decided to leave the company due to "extenuating personal circumstances".McCue is expected to remain in his role while a successor is found, the company said.McCue noted the decision is "untimely" as the board thanked him for "leading [Restaurant Group's] transition into higher growth areas".His departure comes only months after the casual dining group closed its controversial acquisition of pan-Asian restaurant chain Wagamama, with the deal gaining approval from a less than overwhelming 60% of voting shareholders at a general meeting.