LONDON MARKET OPEN: TUI And Plus500 Both Rise Despite Profit Falls

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened lower on Tuesday as concerns about the US-China trade war, protests in Hong Kong, and fears of a global economic slowdown continue to sap sentiment. The FTSE 100 was down 15.23 points, or 0.2%, at 7,211.49. The FTSE 250 was down 5.96 points at 18,907.04. The AIM All-Share was up 1.13 points, or 0.1%, at 875.44.The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.4% at 12,219.61. The Cboe UK 250 was flat at 16,852.89. The Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 10,928.12.In European equities, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.3% and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt down 0.4%. On the London Stock Exchange, TUI was the best blue-chip performer at the open, up 3.5% after the Anglo-German travel company reported revenue growth on strong performances by its experiences businesses in the third quarter. For the three months ended June, revenue rose 3.7% to EUR4.75 billion from EUR4.58 billion the year before. Revenue was supported by strong performances by the Destination Experiences, Holiday Experiences, and Cruises divisions. This was offset by weakness in the Western Region, Northern Region, and All Other Segments units.However, underlying earnings before interest, taxes & amortisation narrowed 46% to EUR100.9 million from EUR186.8 million a year prior. Profit performance was hurt by the Markets & Airlines unit sinking to a EUR103.9 million underlying Ebita loss from a EUR37.2 million profit the year prior. TUI said the third quarter was hurt by the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, 15 of which it had used within its holiday airline fleet, and it anticipates 737 MAX related costs of up to EUR300 million for the current financial year.TUI reiterated its full-year guidance for underlying Ebita to fall by up to 26% from last year."The overall picture is one which shows the benefits of a diversified business model. Its significant other income streams, most notably Holiday Experiences, Cruises and Destination Experiences have performed strongly in the year to date. in terms of the summer so far, bookings are virtually flat as compared to last year, which is some achievement given the circumstances and the outlook for the remainder of the summer is upbeat," said Interactive Investor analyst Richard Hunter. "TUI had the kitchen-sink experience earlier in the year with two profit warnings, so the fact that there are no further shocks has resulted in a warm share price reaction to these numbers," Hunter added. GlaxoSmithKline was up 1.0% after JPMorgan restarted coverage on the drugmaker with a Neutral rating. At the other end of the large cap index, Croda International was the worst performer, down 2.1% after Goldman Sachs cut the speciality chemicals company to Sell from Neutral. In the FTSE 250, Plus500 was the star performer, up 15% after the contract-for-difference provider said it has "performed well", despite reporting a steep drop in both revenue and profitability and slashing its dividend.Plus500's revenue for the six months to June fell 68% year-on-year to USD148.0 million, with pretax profit slumping 82% to USD63.9 million. Net profit fell 80% to USD51.6 million, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation down 81% to USD65.6 million.Plus500 will be returning USD0.2734 per share to shareholders for the period, an 80% reduction from the USD1.3786 paid out a year before. However, the firm also announced a share buyback worth USD50.0 million. The company said its half-year performance was in line with expectations, with the second quarter improving on the first after financial markets volatility increased. It said the second quarter was the strongest since new product regulations came into force in August 2018. At the other end of the large-cap index, Aston Martin Lagonda was the worst performer, down 6.0% after Credit Suisse downgraded the Valkyrie hypercar maker to Neutral from Outperform. The pound was quoted at USD1.2066 early Tuesday, soft against USD1.2071 at the London equities close Monday, ahead of UK jobless data at 0930 BST. Sterling hit a fresh two-year low of USD1.2014 on Monday.The UK unemployment rate is expected to remain at 3.8%."The pound will be back in focus for traders today as it tries to hold on above 1.20 against the dollar, despite the increased threat of no-deal Brexit and the turmoil that could bring. There may be a rare piece of good news today though as the labour market data is released. This has been a constant source of positive news for the economy and forecasts today suggest there could be more of the same," said OANDA analyst Craig Erlam.The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 1.1% on Tuesday. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.6%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 1.7%. Financial markets in Japan reopened after being closed on Monday for the Mountain Day holiday.Increasing unrest in Hong Kong was hurting sentiment as protests extended into a third month, with the city's airport cancelling all flights in and out on Monday evening as thousands of demonstrators descended.In Tuesday's economic calendar, there is the US consumer price index at 1330 BST with the retail Redbook index due at 1355 BST.