Blue chip indices in London, Paris and Frankfurt opened higher on Wednesday morning, despite Hikma Pharmaceuticals falling on the FTSE 100.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 57.40 points, 0.7%, at 8,726.07. The FTSE 250 was up 172.77 points, 0.8%, at 20,621.05, and the AIM All-Share was up 3.76 points, 0.5%, at 711.82.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.7% at 873.03, the Cboe UK 250 was up 1.0% at 17,972.11, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.3% at 15,908.38.
Convatec led the FTSE 100, up 6.3%.
The London-based medical products and technologies company said pretax profit surged to $245.9 million in 2024 from $167.4 million the prior year, while revenue rose 6.9% to $2.29 billion and diluted earnings per share near-tripled to 9.3 US cents from 6.3 cents.
The full-year dividend was 3% higher on-year, at 6.42 cents per share from 6.23 cents.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals led the laggers, down 5.8%.
This was despite pretax profit rising on-year to $455 million in 2024 from $281 million in 2023, while revenue increased to $3.13 billion from $2.88 billion. Hikma recommended a final dividend of 48 cents, up from 47 cents in 2023 and increasing the full-year payout to 80 cents from 72 cents.
Looking ahead, Hikma forecasts between 4% and 6% revenue growth for 2025, and up to 770 million core operating profit.
Chemring was among the FTSE 250 winners, gaining 3.5%.
The Romsey, England-based defence products manufacturer said its financial 2025 outlook was in line with market expectations, with an order book worth £1.35 billion, up from £991 million one year prior, at January 31 and a £393 million order intake for the first quarter.
It also has commenced a new buyback worth up to £40 million, to end no later than its annual general meeting in 2027.
Morgan Sindall was among the losers, down 1.7%.
Like Hikma this was despite reporting 2024 growth, with pretax profit up 19% on-year to £171.9 million and revenue up 10% to £4.55 billion. The London-based construction firm also lifted its total dividend by 15% to 131.5p from 114.0p.
Also, Morgan Sindall said it was on track for a 2025 outcome in line with current expectations.
Also, Heathrow Airport has said a 31% surge in annual profit and a record year for passengers underscores the need for it to build a third runway.
Owners of the West London airport reported pretax profit of £917 million for 2024, up from £701 million in 2023, with a 6% rise in annual passengers travelling through its four terminals to 83.9 million.
But revenue fell 3.5% to £3.56 billion and underlying earnings also dropped 8.7% to £2.04 billion, which Heathrow said was a result of lower charges paid by airlines, set by regulator the Civil Aviation Authority.
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves gave her backing for Heathrow’s third runway project in a speech on growth last month.
In European equities on Wednesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.6%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.9%.
The pound was quoted lower at $1.2644 early on Wednesday in London, compared to $1.2653 at the equities close on Tuesday. The euro stood at $1.0494, down against $1.0501. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JP¥149.30 compared to JP¥148.84.
In Asia on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 0.3%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 1.0%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 3.2%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.1%.
In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.4%, the S&P 500 down 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite down 1.4%.
The White House has stripped journalists of the nearly century-old power to decide which of them cover US presidential events, with Donald Trump boasting that he was now ‘calling those shots’ on media access.
Trump’s spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt made the surprise announcement at a daily briefing, saying that the independent White House Correspondents’ Association, WHCA, would no longer have a ‘monopoly’ on choosing members of the ‘press pool.’
The WHCA – of which AFP is a member – said the decision ‘tears at the independence of the free press.’ The move came amid an escalating battle between the White House and the Associated Press news agency, which Trump has barred from presidential events in a row over his renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the ‘Gulf of America.’
Brent oil was quoted lower at $72.47 a barrel early in London on Wednesday from $72.86 late Tuesday.
Gold was quoted higher at $2,913.45 an ounce against $2,895.74.
Still to come on Wednesday’s economic calendar, the afternoon has US new home sales and EIA crude oil stocks.
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