LONDON MARKET OPEN: Mondi Tops FTSE; Pounds Slips Ahead Of UK PM News

(Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 on Tuesday got off to a strong start, building on the previous session's gains as sterling slipped ahead of the outcome of the Conservative leadership race.Mondi was leading the blue-chip gainers as it guided to improved earnings, while supermarkets slipped following the latest Kantar market share data.The large-cap FTSE 100 index was 42.05 points higher, or up 0.6%, at 7,556.98 early Tuesday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 56.39 points, or 0.3%, at 19,704.40, while the AIM All-Share was 0.1% lower at 915.59.The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.6% at 12,809.35. The Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 17,581.71, while the Cboe UK Small Companies was up 0.1% at 11,070.63.In the UK, focus lies firmly on the outcome of the Conservative leadership election. The result is due to be announced later in the morning. Boris Johnson is clear favourite to take the crown over his run-off rival, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and become the next British prime minister. However, a Johnson victory could spark more government resignations."The fact is that Conservatives do not hold majority in the parliament and getting the support of the lawmakers isn't going to be a walk in park at all. The threat of another election is going to remain as strong as before. Nonetheless, with the appointment of Boris, we expect sterling to continue to move lower as it only increases the risk of no-deal Brexit," said Naeem Aslam at ThinkMarkets.Sterling was quoted at USD1.2438 early Tuesday ahead of the result, down from USD1.2486 at the London equities close Monday.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 index in Paris and DAX 30 in Frankfurt were up 0.7% and 0.9% respectively in early trade.In Frankfurt, Mercedes-maker Daimler was up 1.8% after China's state-owned BAIC took a 5% stake in the automotive firm.In Asia on Tuesday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 1.0%. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended up 0.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.5%.Mondi was London's top blue-chip performer in early trade, up 3.1% after guiding to improved interim earnings.Mondi, which is listed in both London and Johannesburg, sees underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation for the six months to June "to be above" the EUR852 million recorded a year prior. Basic earnings per share are guided by Mondi to be between 93 euro cents and 99 cents, which would be increases year-on-year of 28% and 37% respectively.Another riser was Smith & Nephew, up 1.9% after Berenberg raised the medical equipment firm to Buy from Hold. Gathered at the other end of the end were grocers, with Tesco down 2.2%, Ocado down 1.2%, J Sainsbury down 1.1% and Wm Morrison Supermarkets down 0.8%.Kantar data showed all of the "Big Four" grocers, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, and Asda lost market share in the 12 weeks to July 14.Tesco sales declined 2.0% in the period to GBP7.49 billion, with market share slipping to 27.2% from 27.6%. Sainsbury's sales fell 2.3% to GBP4.24 billion, and market share reduced to 15.3% from 15.5%.Morrisons sales fell 2.6% to GBP2.85 billion, with market share declining to 10.3% from 10.5%. Walmart Inc's Asda sales were down 2.0% to GBP4.11 billion, and market share dipped to 14.9% from 15.1%.Ocado's sales rose 12%, the strongest of all grocers included in the survey, with market share rising to 1.4% to 1.2%.The two major discounters, Aldi and Lidl, however, registered strong periods. Aldi sales climbed 6.7% to GBP2.04 billion and Lidl's sales increased 7.0% to GBP1.48 billion.Water firm United Utilities was down 0.6% after Deutsche Bank cut the stock to Buy from Hold. In the FTSE 250, PZ Cussons dipped 3.8% as it unveiled plans for a new strategy amid a sharp drop in annual profit.Revenue in the year to May 31 fell 6.8% to GBP689.4 million as pretax profit dropped 38% to GBP37.0 million. The company maintained its dividend at 8.28p.On a like-for-like basis, revenue fell 2.6%, which the company put down to weak economic conditions in Africa that were unable to be fully offset by solid performances in Asia Pacific and Europe & the Americas.Profit was further knocked by a non-cash impairment, totalling GBP26.2 million, in respect of five:am in Australia and Nutricima in Nigeria."We cannot rely upon short term economic conditions improving markedly in our key markets and are therefore taking action to reposition the group to return to profitable growth. We have today announced a new strategy, built around Focus, Scale and Accelerate," said Chair Caroline Silver.This new strategy will centre around focus investment on core Personal Care and Beauty brands in geographies that can "scale growth", the simplification of Nigerian operations, and the disposal of non-core brands."The results from this will not be immediate, but we expect 2019/20 to be an important transitional year," said Silver.Beazley was up 1.6% after premiums grew well in the first half of the year amid an improved rating environment.Gross premiums written in the first half of 2019 rose 12% year-on-year to USD1.48 billion, with net premiums written up 11% to USD1.23 billion. Pretax profit shot up, meanwhile, to USD166.4 million from USD57.2 million.The FTSE 250 constituent lifted its dividend to 4.1p from 3.9p."The past nine months have seen a material change in sentiment in our market as heavy claims in numerous lines of business have driven prices higher," Beazley commented. "In September last year, our 2019 business plan envisaged rate rises well below what we have actually seen in the first half of the year."Beazley said the improving rating environment means double-digit premium growth "should be attainable" this year. Previously, the company had anticipated premium growth in the "high single digits" in 2019.On AIM, Fevertree Drinks was down 3.4% after posting revenue growth in the first half of 2019 despite poor weather in the UK.First-half revenue was up 13% to GBP117.3 million, while pretax profit improved to GBP35.0 million from GBP32.7 million. In the UK, revenue was up 51% and in the US, sales grew 17%, which the firm deemed "very encouraging"."While we have not been immune to the impact of the unseasonably poor weather in the UK, we have further strengthened our market leadership position within the UK and have seen positive momentum in Europe and the rest of the world reflecting our increasingly global footprint," said Chief Executive Tim Warrillow."Whilst we remain mindful of the tough comparators over the remainder of the summer in the UK, the board anticipates that the outcome for the full year will be in line with its expectations," he added.In the economic calendar on Tuesday, the Confederation of British Industry's Industrial Trends Survey is at 1100 BST and the Redbook index in the US at 1355 BST, followed by eurozone consumer confidence at 1500 BST.