LONDON MARKET OPEN: WPP Unable To Push FTSE 100 In Green Ahead Of Data

(Alliance News) - London stocks were lacking direction early Friday as a cautious investor mood ahead of key UK economic data was offset by some positive company news.At 0930 BST, the UK releases the first estimate of second-quarter GDP, as well as the UK trade balance and indices of production and services.Helping the FTSE 100 index higher in early trade Friday was advertising firm WPP, which traded ahead of its own expectations in the second quarter and reiterated annual guidance. Similarly the mid-cap index was pushed into the green by Hikma Pharmaceuticals, William Hill and G4S, as all three racked up gains after releasing results.The large-cap index was 20.78 points lower, or 0.3%, at 7,265.12 in opening trade. The FTSE 250 index was up 27.35 points, or 0.1%, at 19,164.96, while the AIM All-Share was up 0.2% at 886.51.The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.1% at 12,324.80. The Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 17,054.18, while the Cboe UK Small Companies was up 0.2% at 10,957.01.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both 0.5% lower.WPP surged 6.2% after reporting its second-quarter results slightly ahead of its internal expectations, with revenue rising by 2.3% to GBP4.03 billion. The company noted that an improvement in North America and the UK was partly offset by slower growth in Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & the Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe.WPP said its revenue in the six months to June 30 increased by 1.6% to GBP7.61 billion from GBP7.49 billion, but pretax profit fell by 44% to GBP478.2 million from GBP846.5 million.Profit nosedived because of an exceptional loss of GBP3.0 million, largely due to restructuring costs, compared to a gain of GBP114.0 million it generated last year in relation to the sale of its investment in Globant. In addition, general & administrative costs surged 28% to GBP552.8 million. Looking ahead, the company reiterated its full-year guidance for revenue less pass-through costs, which is expected to fall by no more than 2%. Revenue less pass-through costs in the half-year was GBP6.15 billion, same as last year, but down 2% on a like-for-like basis. Revenue less pass-through costs means net sales, which exclude cost of sales returns, allowances and discounts. At the other end the FTSE 100 movers list was International Consolidated Airlines Group, down 1.1% in early trade. It has been a dismal week for IAG's British Airways, after a jet was forced to land as smoke poured into the cabin, an IT glitch caused the cancellation of more than 100 flights, and the BA pilots union threatened to strike over pay. Hikma Pharmaceuticals was the best performing mid-cap stock, up 8.2%, as profit soared in the first half of 2019, led by a strong performance from its Generics business, prompting Hikma to raise its annual expectations.Hikma posted a 60% jump in pretax profit for the six months ended June 30 to USD226 million as revenue climbed 7.3% to USD1.05 billion.Generics led the charge, with revenue up 11% to USD368 million, benefiting from in-market product demand and recent launches. Injectables also performed well, with revenue up 5.4% to USD432 million. As a result, Hikma raised its annual guidance.The second best performer was G4S, up 6.3%, as the company said it will separate its cash management division in the first half of 2020 as part of a previously announced business review.The company, which also provides security services, reported a 3.8% rise in revenue for the six months to June-end, but profit fell on disposals, onerous contracts, exchange rate movements, restructuring and separation costs, and impairment charges.G4S said it has received a number of unsolicited interest from third parties to acquire parts or all of the Cash Solutions businesses.For the first half, G4S recorded pretax profit of GBP108 million, down 21% on GBP137 million recorded in the year ago period. Revenue increased to GBP3.81 billion from GBP3.67 billion."The group's first half performance, sales pipeline, revenue momentum and productivity programmes support a positive outlook. We are now implementing our plans to separate Cash Solutions from the group and we expect that this separation will deliver material benefits to customers, shareholders and employees," said Chief Executive Officer Ashley Almanza.The third best mid-cap performer was William Hill, up 5.3%, as bookmaker posted a narrowed loss for the 26 weeks to July 2 of GBP63.5 million compared to GBP819.6 million a year earlier, as revenue rose 1.1% to GBP811.7 million from GBP802.9 million. A year ago, William Hill recorded an impairment charge of GBP882.8 million in the Retail segment following the announcement of the UK government's decision to reduce the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals.William Hill said that in the first half there was a decline in Retail revenue of 12% after the implementation of GBP2 maximum stake on the gaming machines from April.In Online, William Hill reported growth of 14% during the period, primarily resulting from the acquisition of Mr Green in Sweden.There was also growth of 40% in William Hill US, driven by expansion in the country after the US Federal ban on sports betting was overturned by Supreme Court in May 2018."We are making good progress against the five-year strategy we outlined last year, delivering strong revenue growth in the US and other international markets and positioning William Hill well for future growth," said Chief Executive Philip Bowcock. IWG started the day 1.7% higher as the Regus office owner said it has entered into a second strategic partnership with TKP. IWG will divest its Taiwanese operations to TKP, and the parties have agreed an exclusive master franchise agreement for the country.The service office provider said the deal follows the agreement between IWG and TKP in April for the divestment of IWG's Japanese operations to TKP and related franchise agreement in respect of the Japan market.IWG will receive gross consideration of GBP22.7 million payable in cash at completion, which is expected to occur in September.Proceeds from the divestment will be used for IWG's general corporate purposes, it said.In Asia on Friday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index ended up 0.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.7% and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 0.5%.In Europe, trade balance data are due from Germany at 0800 BST with French industrial output figures following at 0845 BST.