LONDON MARKET PRE-OPEN: Aviva To Review Asia Amid "Mixed" Interims

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Thursday as the FTSE 100 continues to attempt to recoup more of the week's sharp decline.In early UK company news, Aviva will be reviewing its Asian operations as its CEO said the board is working to "refresh" the group, while Hargreaves Lansdown cautioned its fund margin guidance could be "impacted" by the suspension of withdrawals from the Woodford Equity Income Fund.IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 29.0 points higher at 7,227.70 on Thursday. The FTSE 100 index closed up 27.01 points, or 0.4%, at 7,198.70 on Wednesday.Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior market analyst at London Capital Group, said investors are chasing "dip buying opportunities". While the FTSE 100 closed slightly higher on Wednesday, the UK's headline stock index remains down 2.8% for the week, as escalating US-China trade tensions spooked investors. A fresh round of tariffs threatened last week by US President Donald Trump were followed by the Chinese yuan falling below the key CNY7 level to the dollar, leading traders to fear China was stoking tensions by allowing its currency to weaken."Goldminers are expected to extend rally on solid rise in gold prices. Fresnillo could enter the bullish consolidation zone if its price clears the 705p resistance," Ozkardeskaya added. FTSE 100-listed Mexican gold miner Fresnillo, based on Wednesday's closing price of 680.80p, is currently 12% higher compared to this time a week ago. An ounce of the precious metal was quoted at USD1,500.33 early Thursday, down from USD1,505.49 late Wednesday, but with the safe haven asset continuing to trade around its strongest levels in six years. Gold has been benefitting from the US and China's trade war tit-for-tat, with traders selling out of equities and flocking to the safe haven asset. The precious metal is up over 4% this week.In UK company news, fund supermarket Hargreaves Lansdown reported a rise in annual profit though warned its margins on funds guidance could be impacted by the suspension of withdrawals from the Woodford Equity Income Fund.The FTSE 100-listed firm achieved net new business inflows of GBP7.3 billion in the 12 months to June 30, down 4% from the GBP7.6 billion achieved in the prior year, with assets under administration up 8% year-on-year to GBP99.3 billion. Revenue for the year grew to GBP480.5 million from GBP447.5 million, with pretax profit climbing to GBP305.8 million from GBP292.4 million. Revenue margins on funds have been broadly stable following the completion of the retail distribution review, and the firm said it continues to expect them to remain at "similar levels" over the next 12 months. The revenue margin for the recently ended year was 41 basis points, flat on the year before."However, this guidance may be slightly impacted, depending on how long the current suspension on dealing in the Woodford Equity Income Fund lasts," said Hargreaves.At the beginning of June, Neil Woodford took the decision to suspend withdrawals from his equity income fund due to "an increased level of redemptions", with the fund now needing time to "reposition" its portfolio invested in unquoted companies and less liquid stocks into more liquid investments.Woodford Investment manages three funds: LF Woodford Income Focus Fund, LF Woodford Equity Income Fund and London-listed closed-ended fund Woodford Patient Capital Trust.Hargreaves took the decision to waive its platform fee where clients directly held this fund, with this loss of revenue estimated at GBP360,000 per month. Trading is likely to be suspended until early December, the firm added.Hargreaves lifted its total payout for the year by 5% to 42.0p from 40.0p the year before.Insurer Aviva reported a "mixed" first half, with there "much to do" to improve performance as it sets about reviewing its Asian operations. Gross written premiums were up slightly at GBP15.21 billion in the six months to June 30, from GBP15.18 billion a year ago. Net earned premiums dipped, however, to GBP13.50 billion from GBP13.79 billion.Pretax profit, meanwhile, surged to GBP2.05 billion from just GBP432 million a year ago, boosted as Aviva saw net investment income of GBP28.01 billion in the half-year, versus an expense of GBP801 million a year ago. Operating profit was up a more modest 1% to GBP1.45 billion.Chief Executive Maurice Tulloch said: "Our performance is mixed, with operating earnings per share up 2%. We have delivered strong general insurance results with a combined ratio of 95.9%. In life insurance and asset management, operating profits declined due to challenging market conditions and the absence of a longevity reserve release.""I am working with the board to refresh Aviva's strategy and we have decided to review the strategic options for our Asian businesses. Aviva's businesses in Asia have excellent growth and earnings potential and we are considering a range of options to help these businesses reach their potential," he added. Tulloch was appointed as Aviva CEO in March, having prior to this been International Insurance head.Soft drinks bottler Coca-Cola HBC reported "solid" revenue growth on an increase in interim volumes. Currency-neutral revenue growth was 3.4% to EUR3.35 billion in the half, with volumes up 2.2% to 1.09 billion cases. Volume in Established markets increased by 0.4%, helped by an "encouragingly positive performance" in Italy, while the Developing markets volume was up 1.4% and Emerging markets volume up 3.4%, driven by continued strong growth in Nigeria.Pretax profit, however, fell to EUR260.8 million from EUR290.1 million as operating expenses increased to EUR955.1 million from EUR908.6 million."We are pleased with this solid first half given the challenging combination of tough comparators and unseasonably cold and wet weather. We grew revenue and volume across all three segments of our business and delivered further growth in comparable margins," said Chief Executive Zoran Bogdanovic.Looking forward, Coca-Cola HBC expects to delivery currency-neutral revenue growth of around 5% to 6%, with "another year of margin expansion".Peer Coca-Cola European Partners, meanwhile, reported a "good" first half. Revenue rose 7.0% on a currency-neutral basis to EUR5.80 billion, with volumes up 2.0% to 1.21 billion. Pretax profit rose to GBP678 million from GBP560 million."We have delivered a good first-half performance, reflecting our continued focus on driving profitable revenue growth through price and mix realisation and solid in market execution, alongside the successful closure of our merger commitments," said Chief Executive Damian Gammell, adding that the company continues to back its annual guidance.Coca-Cola European Partners operates in western Europe, including France, Belgium, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. Coca-Cola HBC operates in other parts of Europe, such as Ireland, eastern Europe, Italy and Russia, as well as in Nigeria in west Africa.Russian steelmaker Evraz said its interim results were "rather healthy", despite profit more than halving. Revenue slipped 3.2% to USD6.14 billion with pretax profit plunging to USD690 million from USD1.54 billion a year ago, dented as the cost of sales rose to USD4.18 billion from USD4.0 billion despite revenue slipping. In addition, the firm recorded a foreign exchange loss of USD273 million, versus a gain of USD147 million a year ago."In the second half of 2019, EVRAZ expects the markets to be volatile. Our financial performance will be supported by the high level of vertical integration, the strength of the Russian steel market and our continuing efforts in efficiency improvements," said Chief Executive Alexander Frolov.In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended mostly in positive territory, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending down 0.1% but the S&P 500 rising 0.1% and Nasdaq Composite closing up 0.4%.In Asia on Thursday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is a sharp 0.9% higher, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.6%.In a quiet economic calendar on Thursday, Irish inflation is at 1100 BST and US jobless claims data are at 1330 BST.Already released, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said the UK housing market is "pretty much flatlining" amid growing concerns about Brexit and political uncertainty.Overall across the survey, a net balance of 9% of surveyors reported house prices falling rather than increasing in July. Surveyors' expectations for house sales in the next few months were flat, with sentiment around prices also deteriorating, Rics said.There were also different price trends across the UK, with prices increasing at a "solid pace" in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, Rics said. By contrast, prices continued to fall in London, the South East and East Anglia.