The FTSE 100 trades 0.5% lower at 7,616.74 early on after weak trading in the US overnight and ahead of an expected interest rate hike from the Bank of England later.
Shares in Rolls-Royce (RR.) endure a see-saw morning, settling up 1.7% to £10.05 by 8.30 as it guides for underlying profit and cash flow for 2018 to come in in the upper half of its guidance range as its civil aerospace and power systems sectors saw stronger-than-expected growth in the first half.
The shares had earlier traded as much as 4% higher before falling into the red on exceptional charges associated with problems on its Trent 1000 series of engines.
Estate agent Countrywide (CWD) is forced into an emergency fundraise at an 80% discount as it contends with £212m worth of net debt. The £140m placing and open offer needs to be approved by shareholders at a meeting on 28 August with auditors PwC warning if the share issue fails Countrywide’s banks could withdraw its credit facilities. The shares fall 63% to 18.5p.
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) gains on a rise in profits for the first half of the year supported by double-digit revenue growth in information services, clearing and capital markets. For the six months to 30 June, profit before tax is up 30% to £360m, adjusted operating profit advances 21% to £480m and revenue increases 12% to £953m.
Banking firm Barclays (BARC) ticks up as investors overlooked a lower first-half profit thanks to litigation and conduct charges of £2bn to focus on a solid underlying performance.
For the six months to 30 June, group profit before tax was £1.66bn compared with a profit of £2.34bn the same period a year ago, total income was broadly in line at £10.93bn and return on tangible equity (RoTE) was 11.6%.
Profits are weighed down by conduct charges of £2bn related to a £1.4bn settlement with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) concerning the bank's mortgage practices and charges of £400m due to Payment Protection Insurance.
The remaining PPI provision as at 30 June 2018 was £1.4bn which would cover claims through to the deadline of 29 August 2019, the bank says. Excluding litigation and conduct charges, group profit before tax increased 20% to £3.7bn.
Insurance firm Aviva (AV.) reaffirms its full-year guidance and hikes its interim dividend 10% despite reporting lower first-half operating profits.
For the six months to 30 June, operating profit falls 2% to £1.44bn from £1.47bn a year earlier. The company blames the fall in profits on weak results in Canadian motor insurance, adverse weather and business divestments. These factors, however, are expected to abate or reverse in the second half.
Staying in the insurance sector RSA (RSA) reports a 15% drop in operating profit to £304m in the first half of 2018 due to bad weather, especially in Canada.
‘First half underwriting results were below our ambitions due to adverse weather costs. On an underlying basis, we showed areas of excellent performance however, and with much we can continue to improve,’ says chief executive Stephen Hester.
