LONDON MARKET PRE-OPEN: SSE Interim Profit To Halve After Hot Weather

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Wednesday, with trade tensions rumbling on in the background but oil majors poised to benefit from an overnight rise in crude prices.In early UK company news, SSE said it expects interim profit to be around half that recorded a year ago due to unfavourable weather and higher gas prices. Galliford Try reported a jump in annual profit but lowered its dividend payout, and Dunelm saw full-year profit edge up.IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 10.06 points higher at 7,283.60 on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 closed down 0.1%, or 5.76 points at 7,273.54 on Tuesday."Wall Street traded higher overnight shrugging off trade tensions, amid rallying tech stocks led by Apple and a 2% gain in oil prices, Meanwhile Europe is looking to take the lead from the US with European bourses broadly looking to start the session on the front foot," said Jasper Lawler, head of research at London Capital Group.In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended higher after a slightly negative start, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.4%, the S&P 500 also gaining 0.4% and Nasdaq Composite advancing 0.6%.Meanwhile, oil was quoted at USD79.36 a barrel early Wednesday, up from USD78.65 late Tuesday.Lawler explained: "A combination of falling oil inventories, looming Iranian sanctions hitting output and hurricane Florence, which is expected to hit the US east coast and disrupt the energy market, boosted oil in early trade."US sanctions against Iran are set to come into effect in the first week of November, with exports from Iran expected to fall by nearly 40%. Hurricane Florence - which is is expected to strengthen into a near-Category 5 storm as it approaches North and South Carolina - could cause flooding and power interruptions and result in the shutting down of Colonial Pipeline.In UK political news, Theresa May's role as UK prime minister was under fresh pressure after Tory MPs spent nearly an hour war-gaming how to oust her at a private meeting.Around 50 MPs discussed ways and means of getting rid of the UK prime minister at a gathering of the European Research Group, the Press Association understands.A number of MPs told how they had already submitted letters of no confidence to Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, and others discussed plans to follow suit. If 48 letters are handed over a vote of no confidence would be triggered.The flurry of activity came after former foreign secretary Boris Johnson launched a fresh attack on May's Brexit plan, claiming it would be "substantially worse than the status quo" for British businesses.In company news, SSE said the hot weather seen in the UK throughout the first five months of its financial year, to August 31, is expected to dent profit.Dry, still, warm weather in the financial year thus far, in addition to "persistently" high gas prices, has resulted in a higher cost of energy than expected and lower volumes of energy being consumed.As a result, SEE said its adjusted operating profit for the five months to August has been hit by around GBP190 million "compared with plan"."The net impact of higher-than-expected gas prices and other commodity price changes has accounted for just under half of this, with the impact of the weather accounting for most of the remainder," said SEE.The net result, the energy provider continued, is that SSE now expects adjusted operating profit for the first half of its financial year to be "around half" that delivered over the same period a year ago.Nonetheless, the company said it continues to expect to propose an annual dividend of 97.5 pence for its current financial year.Housebuilder Galliford Try said revenue and profit grew in its recently ended financial year, despite taking a hit from the collapse of outsourcer Carillion.Revenue for the year to June 30 grew 11% to GBP3.13 billion, as pretax profit jumped to GBP143.7 million from GBP58.7 million. Before exceptional items, profit rose 28%The company declared a full-year dividend of 77.0p, down 10% on last year's 86.0p. This, the company said, is in line with its policy announced during the year to increase its dividend cover to 2 times pre-exceptional profit.On the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route project, the company said it has made "good progress" towards completion. Galliford Try had to book exceptional costs relating to the project during the year following the collapse of Carillion - which was a partner in the project alongside Galliford and Balfour Beatty - at the start of 2018.The total additional charge to date is GBP123 million, said Galliford, which has not increased beyond previous guidance, and of which GBP120 million has been classified as exceptional.Looking ahead, Galliford said its private and affordable homes units continue to see "good market fundamentals", while Linden Homes has made a good start to the new financial year with a "solid" order book, albeit one that is below last year but in line with 2016.Home furnishings retailer Dunelm said annual revenue grew while profit inched higher, with like-for-like sales boosted by growth in its online offering.Revenue for the year to June 30 grew 9.9% to GBP1.05 billion compared to GBP955.6 million the year before. Reported pretax profit edged up to GBP93.1 million from GBP92.4 million, while on an underlying basis profit fell 6.7% to GBP102.0 million from GBP109.3 million. The underlying measure reflected a full year of trading losses reported in respect of Worldstores, a "small reduction" in the core business gross margin, and increased operating costs due, in part, to a higher mix of online sales.Like-for-like sales grew 4.2% in the period, with store comparable sales up 1.0% and online sales surging 38%.The FTSE 250 constituent raised its full-year dividend to 26.5p per share."The UK retail environment remains challenging, but against this difficult background we have traded in line with expectations during the current financial year to date," said Chief Executive Nick Wilkinson.Sports Direct International said, ahead of its annual general meeting, trading is in line with its expectations of delivering between a 5% to 15% rise in underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for the current financial year, excluding the recent acquisition of department store House of Fraser.Chief Executive Mike Ashley said: "Our strategy to transform House of Fraser into the Harrods of the High Street will be a game changer." Meanwhile, Goals Soccer Centres - in which Sports Direct holds a 18.9% stake - swung to a loss for the first half of the year.For the first six months of 2018, Goals Soccer Centres saw revenue fall to GBP16.2 million from GBP17.4 million a year ago as it swung to a pretax loss of GBP1.1 million from a GBP2.6 million profit last year.As previously flagged, the soccer centre operator was hit by snow in the first quarter of the year and the re-scheduling of amateur 11-a-side games to midweek time slots in the second quarter.However, second half trading has begun well and despite the "challenging" first half like-for-like sales for the year to date are now positive, the company said.Mid-cap clothing retailer Superdry said it has appointed Brigitte Danielmeyer, the former global head of womenswear at US fashion brand Tommy Hilfiger, to its new role of chief product officer. Superdry also announced the launch of new fast-fashion ranges called Preview.Ryanair pilots and flights attendants are taking part in a 24-hour strike that started at 3.01 am local time in Germany on Wednesday, which has caused the budget airline to cancel 150 of its 400 flights to and from Germany.The strike is being organized by German pilots union Vereinigung Cockpit and German workers union Verdi in an effort to push for better pay and conditions for their members.In Asia on Wednesday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.3%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is down 0.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is 0.1% lower.In the economic calendar on Wednesday, eurozone industrial production is at 1000 BST while, in the US, producer prices are at 1330 BST.