UK stocks remained in negative territory at midday on Tuesday as investors digested rising unemployment statistics and disappointing news that US pharmaceutical form Johnson & Johnson had paused a Covid-19 vaccine trial after a participant became ill.
At 12:00, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was 0.3% lower at 5,981 points.
CORPORATE NEWS
Utility group SSE (SSE) announced it had reached a deal to sell its 50% interest in two energy-from-waste ventures to a European infrastructure fund for £995 million in cash. The group sees the deal completing by year-end subject to EU approval. The shares firmed 3% to £13.7.
In smaller company news, motor insurer Sabre (SBRE) reported a 9% drop in gross written premiums to £139.2 million in the nine months to September and said it expected a similar fall for the full year.
It also forecast a combined ratio close to its long-term target in the mid-70%s and hinted that thanks to its strong solvency coverage ratio of 186%, which is well above its target of 140% to 160%, it would pay ‘an attractive full year dividend’. The shares fell 1.2% to 250p.
Insurance investor BP Marsh (BPM:AIM) posted close to a 10% rise in net asset value to £142.6 million or 396.2p per share in the six months to July. The total shareholder return for the period was 4.8% including the July dividend.
The firm continues to invest, subscribing for a 30% cumulative preferred share holding in US specialist insurer SAGE as well as taking a further 15% stake in EC3 Brokers, taking its holding to 35% through a £1.5 million injection of capital. The Shares jumped 15% to 270p.
Car dealer Marshall Motor Holdings (MMH:AIM) pleased the market by raising its full year pre-tax profit guidance to £15 million from breakeven thanks to ‘further strong current trading’ in the third quarter.
Performance was strong across all key like-for-like new vehicle sales metrics with third quarter registrations up 16% against a 4.1% rise for the industry, according to the Society of Motor manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
Trading in September was better still, with new car like-for-like sales up 19.1% against a 1.1% fall for the sector. Shares accelerated 11% to a six-month high of 133p.
Property portal OnTheMarket (OTMP:AIM) posted a 28% rise in first half turnover to £10.2 million and an operating profit of £0.7 million compared with a prior-year loss of £7.2 million as the number of agents using its service and the average revenue per agent rose.
The firm also reduced its marketing spend by £4.4 million or two thirds to reduce costs and conserve cash, leaving it with a healthy £9.8 million of cash on hand. Shares slipped 0.2% to 101.3p.
