The FTSE 100 was 0.5% lower at 6,093 on the last trading day of April, dragged down by weak energy and financial stocks, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 index was flat at 16,850.
Asian trading was generally positive with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index up 2% and China’s Hang Seng index up 0.2%.
In the commodities space, Brent oil prices were 8% higher at $17.20 per barrel and Gold was 0.4% up at $1,720 per ounce. On the foreign exchange markets the pound traded slightly lower against the US dollar at $1.24.
SHELL SHOCKED
Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) disappointed investors with first-quarter earnings of $2.9bn, down 46% year-on-year, and a reset the dividend from $0.47 to $0.16 per share to conserve cash.
This was Shell's first dividend cut in 80 years and came as the company said it was taking all necessary measures to stay well positioned for the eventual economic recovery. Shares fell 3% to £14.1.
Shares in consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser (RB.) rallied 3% to £66 on a strong second-quarter update, with like-for-like sales up 13.3% to £3.5bn following strong demand for its hygiene and health products such as Dettol and Lysol due to coronavirus.
The company also reported strong consumer demand for its over-the-counter medicines such as Mucinex and Nurofen as well as vitamins, minerals and supplements.
British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s (SBRY) said the pandemic would hit profits by £500m due to ‘significant costs’ associated with protecting customers. This would be offset by business rates relief, resulting in unchanged profits for the year to March 2021. The shares traded 1% higher at 209p.
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) became the latest UK bank to be impacted by increased bad loan provisions, leading management to pull full year guidance as first-quarter profit plunged 95%.
The bank warned of further credit losses in the second quarter after taking impairments of £1.4bn, owing to the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on protecting customers. The shares dropped 1% to 34.2p.
MINERS CUT CAPITAL SPENDING
Miner Glencore (GLEN) slashed its capital expenditure plans from $5.5bn to between $1bn and $1.5bn to conserve cash as it reported first-quarter copper production fell 9% year-on-year and cobalt production dropped 44% to 6,100 tonnes. The shares dipped 0.3% to 154p.
Copper miner KAZ Minerals (KAZ) also cut its forecast for capital expenditure in 2020 and warned that production from its Aktogay expansion project in Kazakhstan will be delayed due to coronavirus-driven disruptions.
However, the miner said it was on track to achieve its 2020 copper production outlook of 280-300 kilotonnes after it reported a 7% rise in first-quarter output as all its mines maintained operations this year.
Shares in steel and coal producer Evraz (EVR) fell 3% to 26p after the firm reported first-quarter crude steel production up 3.2% but a 10.4% fall in steel product sales.
Private wealth manager St. James’s Place (SJP) reported gross inflows rose 12% to £4.04bn in the first-quarter but funds under management ended lower, while the impact of Covid-19 meant it has withheld one-third of its 2019 final dividend. Shares fell 5% to 860p.
Wound care and medical products company ConvaTec (CTEC) said revenues increased 6.9% to $460m year-on-year, as it saw robust demand.
The company flagged it would be negatively impacted by reduced elective surgeries, but maintained revenues guidance of 2%-to-3.5% and operating margins of between 16%-to-18%, as well as maintaining its dividend. The shares traded 4.5% higher to 211p.
Shares in unsecured credit provider International Personal Finance (IPF) shot up 17% to 54p after it said first-quarter collections were at 95% of budget compared with 87% in March. The company highlighted it had $217m of cash and headroom on debt facilities.
Pub group JD Wetherspoon (JDW) said it had raised gross proceeds of about £141m through the placing of shares at price of 900p a share, representing a discount of 6% to the mid-market closing price of 957.5p on 29 April 2020. The shares nudged up 2% to 975p.
