London’s index of its largest companies is trading 25.81 points lower in early trading to 6,969. The FTSE is 0.3% lower as companies report disappointing updates.
High street bellwether Marks & Spencer (MKS) cheapens 6p to 579.5p despite delivering its first increase in underlying pre-tax profit for four years, as the size of its hotly-anticipated buyback disappoints at £150 million. The food, fashion and homewares giant's underlying PBT grew 6.1% to £661.2 million in the year to March, the first increase under CEO Marc Bolland.
Luxury goods leader Burberry (BRBY) loses 5.1% at £17.15 on the cautious tenor of Christopher Bailey's outlook statement. Though full-year results reveal 7% growth in adjusted profit before tax to £456 million, the trench coats and cashmere scarves seller's chief creative and CEO flags 'increased uncertainty in some markets' at this early stage of the year.
Soft drinks maker Britvic (BVIC) loses fizz, off 2.8% at 744.5p as interimshighlight the impact of tough market conditions on the Robinsons-to-Tango maker, with sales and volumes marginally down.
Cafe and casual dining group Patisserie (CAKE:AIM) climbs 4.6% to 292.8p on a 45% jump in pre-tax profit to £7 million in the six monthsto 31 March with revenue up 22.2% to £43.7 million. The group, which has opened 10 new stores since the beginning of the year, says trading to date is encouraging.
Bank of Georgia (BGEO) rises 2.4% to £17.40 on profits climbing 16.2% to $28 million year-on-year in the first quarter.
Online property portal Zoopla (ZPLA) slips 2.7% to 223.8p as it reveals it lost 3,000 subscribers in its fiscal first half due mainly to competition from new rival website OnTheMarket.com. Notably however the results for the six months to the end of March reveal record revenues of £42 million - up 10% year-on-year - as the group gets more from its remaining subscribers.
Allied Minds (ALM) drops 8.6% to 593.5p on shareholders represented by Invesco sells more than 6% of the company for 565p a share - a 13% discount to yesterday’s closing price.
Hard landscaping expert Marshalls (MSLH) adds 3.3% to 285p after the £550.2 million cap's trading update for the four months to the end of April showed a 12% increase in revenue to £127 million while data from the Construction Products Association's Spring Forecast predicts growth in UK market volumes of 5.5% in 2015, an improvement on their Winter Forecast, and growth of 4% in 2016.
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) edges up 0.4% to 336p after reporting a 1.9% rise in like-for-like revenue in the first four months of the year. Asia has shown the largest improvement although its overall performance has been impacted by weaker markets in China. In Europe, Thermal Ceramics has been the main growth driver with other business showing some softness.
Utah-based shale play Rose Petroleum (ROSE:AIM) falls 11.1% to 0.33p as it confirms plans to raise £3.1 million through a placing of new shares at 0.3p. The new funds will help finance a horizontal drilling campaign on its Mancos shale assets after the group also revealed positive results from testing on the vertical State 1-34 well.
