The FTSE 100 is in positive territory, up 8.12 points to 7,797.08 but all eyes will be on retail data released later today.
B&Q owner Kingfisher (KGF) dips 2.9% to 286.9p as its revenues are down 4% to £2.8bn on a like-for-like basis in its first quarter to 30 April. CEO Veronique Laury attributes this lacklustre performance to ‘exceptionally harsh weather across Europe and weak UK consumer demand’.
Product inspection, testing and certification company Intertek (ITRK) ticks up 3.5% to £53.53 after issuing a bullish trading update stating it’s on track to deliver to 2018 targets. The company says its revenue is up 4.4% at constant rates to £861.2m in the first four months of the year, compared to the same period last year.
The company’s CEO Andre Lacroix says ‘we are uniquely positioned to seize exciting growth opportunities’ and has made acquisitions in sectors with attractive growth and margin prospects.
Electronic, automation and engineering tools distributor Electrocomponents (ECM) gains 7.7% to 677.2p on releasing a strong set of 2018 results. The company’s revenue improves 12.8% to £1.7bn with adjusted operating profit up 28.1% to £177.1m on a like-for-like basis.
The company also announces the acquisition of IESA, a maintenance repair organisation market place provider for value-added services. The deal cost £88m and management hopes it will give Electrocomponents an enhance offering to its clients.
Sugar producer Tate & Lyle (TATE) sweetens 5.2% to 640.4p as its full year results show a 23% increase in pre-tax profits to £286m. The company has also reduced its debt from £452m to £392m
Scandal hit telecoms company TalkTalk (TALK) dials up 8.8% to 131.9p on news that it is back to growing its customer base by 192,000 compared to a decline of 49,000 last year. The company is also selling its B2B business to the Daisy Group for £175m after saying it was going to simplify the business last year.
Private equity house Electra Private Equity (ELTA) gains 7% to 887p as its half year results show an increase in net asset value of 3.9% to £425m. The company returned £349m to shareholders in December 2017 and is continuing to simplify the business with non-core disposals.
Waste-to-product company Renewi (RWI) is up 5.3% to 75.4p as its results for year ending 31 March 2018 are slightly ahead of upgraded expectations. Revnue is up 8% to £1.6bn while reported underlying pre-tax profits double to £51.5m.
Budget airline Wizz Air (WIZZ) ascends 4.9% to £32.97 after reporting record profits of €275m on 25% passenger growth for its 2018 year. The airline’s revenue grew by 24% to €1.9bn and has guided for 2019 profits to be between €310m and €340m.
