LONDON MARKET PRE-OPEN: Plus500 Cuts Dividend As Earnings Drop

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening higher on Tuesday, rebounding from losses on Monday, as investors look ahead to UK unemployment data due at 0930 BST.In early UK company news, contract-for-difference provider Plus500

reported a steep drop in interim earnings but said it is on track for the full year. Tour operator TUI

's third quarter was hurt by the grounding of Boeing's 737 MAX jet. Card Factory

turned in a robust performance. IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 12.98 points higher at 7,239.70. The blue-chip index closed down 27.13 points, or 0.4%, at 7,226.72 on Monday.Plus500

said it delivered a "satisfactory" first-half performance against a backdrop of low levels of volatility in financial markets in the first quarter of the year.For the half year to June 30, revenue slumped 68% to USD148.0 million from USD465.5 million the year before and pretax profit collapsed to USD63.9 million from USD346.4 million the year before.Plus500 cut its interim dividend 80% to USD0.2734 from USD1.3786 last year. The online trading provider also decided to commence a share buyback programme, to purchase up to USD50.0 million shares. This will start immediately. The company said it remains on track to meet current expectations for 2019."The group's first half performance, and trading to date in the third quarter, remain in-line with current full year expectations. Like all operators in the sector, Plus500's performance for the remainder of the year is dependent, among other things, on financial market conditions providing sufficient trading opportunities for customers. Underlying operational performance and new customer acquisition rates remain robust. The company is confident of continuing to outperform its peer group in terms of customer acquisition, and is making efforts to further improve the customer trading experience in order to increase retention rates and appeal to more sophisticated traders; success here is expected to provide incremental revenues in due course," the company said. Anglo-German travel company TUI

said its third quarter was hurt by uncertainty around Brexit, aviation overcapacity to Spain, delayed bookings in the summer, and the grounding of Boeing's crash-prone 737 MAX jets.For the third quarter to June 30, revenue rose to EUR4.75 billion from EUR4.58 million in the third quarter last year. However pretax profit slumped to EUR58.9 million from EUR140.9 million and earnings before interest, tax, deprecation and amortisation fell to EUR210.4 million from EUR281.2 million. 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 anticipates 737 MAX related costs of up to EUR300 million for the current financial year.TUI reiterated that it expects a fall of up to 26% in annual underlying EBITA for financial 2019. Card Factory

said it saw a robust sales performance in a challenging consumer environment during the six months ended July 31. First half sales rose 5.5% and like-for-like sales were up 1.5%, helped by its Valentine's Day and Mother's Day holiday ranges. Card Factory said it is making good progress, its cash generation remains strong, and it expects to return surplus cash to shareholders towards the end of its current financial year. "Looking forward to the forthcoming key fourth quarter trading period, which will have a significant impact on the outturn for the full year, we believe we have the right ranges and products to deliver a good performance; although, we are cognisant of the economic and political uncertainty and weaker consumer confidence. The board anticipates profits for the full year to be broadly in line with its previous expectations," said Chief Executive Karen Hubbard. The pound was quoted at USD1.2066 early Tuesday, soft against USD1.2071 at the London equities close Monday. Sterling hit a fresh two-year low of USD1.2014 on Monday.The UK unemployment rate is expected to remain at 3.8%.On the political front, Donald Trump wants Brexit to be a success, with the UK being "first in line" for a trade deal with the US, possibly on a gradual "sector-by-sector" basis, according to his national security adviser.Speaking following a meeting with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on a visit to London, John Bolton said the US could focus on striking bilateral trade deals in certain sectors like manufacturing and car-making where the two countries may agree, and work out more complicated areas later.This comes as pollsters said a majority of the British public think Johnson should suspend Parliament in order to push through Brexit.The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 1.2% on Tuesday. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.8%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 1.8%. 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.