UK shares finished higher on Friday with the FTSE 100 index of leading shares closing 0.3% higher at 7,304, taking the gain over the last month to 4.3% and closing in on a new two year high.
US markets made new all-time highs across the board with the economically sensitive Russell 2000 index particularly strong, rising 1.4% reflecting renewed confidence in the strength of the economy after positive jobs data. The benchmark S&P 500 index posted its fifth straight weekly gain.
The non-farm payrolls data came in higher than expected with the economy adding 513,000 jobs in October, while the previous two months data was revised upwards by over 200,000 jobs.
Helping sentiment further was President Biden’s comments that the economy was recovering faster than expected. Meanwhile, US bonds ignored inflationary concerns and the solid jobs numbers with 10-year yields dropping below 1.5%.
CORPORATE NEWS
British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) flew 6.1% higher to 180.2p, after announcing a narrowed loss for the third quarter as capacity continued to improve, supported by growth from its Iberia and Vueling airlines.
For the three months to September 2021, pre-tax losses narrowed to €714 million from a loss of nearly €2 billion a year earlier, with passenger capacity in Q3 running at 43.4% of 2019’s level, up from 21.9% in the second quarter.
‘Iberia returned to profitability while Vueling reached breakeven at the operating level’, said the airlines giant, adding that ‘the full reopening of the transatlantic travel corridor from Monday is a pivotal moment for our industry. British Airways is serving more US destinations than any transatlantic carrier and we’re delighted that we can get our customers flying again.’
In the short term, the company is ‘focused on getting ready to operate as much capacity as we can and ensuring IAG is set up to return to profitability in 2022’.
In the FTSE 250, Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) jumped 5.6% to 355.9p on news it expects growth to be within the top end of its guidance after reporting a rise sales in the first nine months of the year.
The Pete Raby-run firm, which designs smart materials to create more advanced and energy efficient products, said: ‘With the continuation of the good performance seen so far this year we expect our full year organic constant-currency growth to be around the top end of our previous guidance range of 7%-to-9%.
‘Operating margins are expected to improve driven by volume leverage, the benefit of our restructuring programme announced last year, and our continuous improvement activities and pricing actions that continue to offset cost inflation.’
Beazley (BEZ) bounced 5.5% higher to 417.8p as the Lloyds of London insurer reported higher than expected gross written premiums for the first nine months of the year, driven by its cyber and executive risk and specialty lines divisions.
Telecommunications and mobile money services Airtel Africa (AAF) advanced 11.2% to 121.2p on the news its Smartcash Payment Service Bank arm has been granted approval in principle to operate a payment service bank business in Nigeria.
‘Final approval is subject to the group satisfying certain standard conditions within six months,’ the company said.
AROUND THE MARKET
Elsewhere, 4imprint (FOUR) cheapened 3.2% to £29.50 as the promotional merchandise play warned that recent weekly order totals had slowed since the first half of the year owing to the impact of the Delta variant, although the company still expects to deliver a full year financial performance in line with expectations.
Soft drinks group Nichols (NICL:AIM) fizzed 6.7% higher to £12.00 as the company upgraded its annual profit guidance following a ‘strong’ year-to-date performance, with the Vimto brand delivering a plate-pleasing performance across all of its markets.
Adjusted pre-tax profit for 2021 is now expected to be in the range of £21 million-to-£22 million, ahead of the current market consensus of £19.1 million, with sales for the nine months to September coming in ahead of the board’s expectations.
Looking ahead to 2022 however, Nichols flagged ongoing inflationary pressures and therefore left profit expectations for 2022 unchanged at £25.2 million.
Ultra-premium mixers minnow East Imperial (EISB) added 1.2% to 14.9p after excitement surrounding the appointment of SUTL as its exclusive distribution partner in Singapore.
‘SUTL group’s consumer goods division has more than 50 years of experience covering 18 markets across Asia,’ enthused the company.
‘Through its extensive network, SUTL has assisted in distributing and growing global brands such as Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, Johnnie Walker, and Fiji Water, which are now highly recognised throughout the region.’
Quantum Blockchain Technologies (QBT:AIM) sparked up 17.9% to 3.3p after the company said its first phase of the FPGA development had now been completed.
The update moves the company closer to its goal of developing disruptive bitcoin mining technology, to mine both faster and with less overall energy consumption than current practices.
A list of FTSE 100 movers can be seen HERE
