UK stocks continued to claw back losses on Tuesday afternoon but not enough to prevent the FTSE 100 index of leading shares closing 0.3% lower to 7,130 weighed down by profit-taking in miners and financials after their gains of the last few days.
Investors will be keeping a close watch on the upcoming US earnings season which starts in earnest tomorrow with Q3 reports from investment banks Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase.
COMPANY NEWS
Betting firm Entain (ENT) reported a 4% increase in net gaming revenue for the third quarter to September, driven once again by a 10% increase in its online business.
However, the shares dropped 1.7% to £20.72 after the firm left its full year earnings target unchanged.
Shares in pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) ticked 1.2% higher to £14.10 on reports of private equity interest in its consumer health division which is due to be demerged next year.
Shares in low-cost airline EasyJet (EZJ) dropped 3.5% to 625.p despite the firm posting a positive fourth quarter trading update with headline losses halving from a year ago and positive operating cash flow of £40 million.
The firm expects capacity to reach 70% of 2019 levels this quarter and said bookings for the first half of the new financial year were already double last year’s figure.
Bus and coach operator Stagecoach (SGC) posted a steady trading update for the quarter ended in September showing journey numbers had recovered to 70% of 2019 levels, although it kept its full year guidance unchanged, leaving the shares trading 1.3% lower at 81.9p.
MID- & SMALL-CAP NEWS
Asset manager Liontrust (LIO) recorded net inflows of £1.1 billion in the three months to September to take assets under management and advice to £35.7 billion, lifting shares 1.5% to £20.20.
The Economic Advantage team saw its assets top £10 billion during the quarter while sustainable funds also recorded inflows.
Banknote printer De La Rue (DLAR) said first half trading in its currency and authentication divisions had been ‘positive’, with the firm maintaining it full year outlook. The shares dipped 0.1% to 167p.
Fashion retailer French Connection (FCCN) delivered a Covid-impacted first half trading update with revenues down 21% to £40.2 million, although underlying losses were reduced to £0.9 million compared with £3.6 million a year ago. The shares were unchanged at 20p.
Shares in platinum group metals mining firm Tharisa (THS) rose 4.8% to 130p after it reported the best quarterly production in the history of its South African mine in the final quarter to September, following on from record mining and processing in the previous quarter.
Property portal OnTheMarket (OTMP:AIM) posted a 46% increase in first half revenues to £14.9 million driven by a 52% rise in average revenue per advertiser.
The firm raised its full year revenue forecast to slightly ahead of expectations, and despite marketing costs more than doubling in the first half said it saw operating profits coming in ‘substantially ahead of expectations’, sending shares up 4.4% to 96p.
Telecom testing firm Calnex Solutions (CLX:AIM) reported ‘continued strong levels of trading’ in the first half of the year and said it expected the trend to continue through the second half of the year.
As a result, the company now sees revenues and profits ‘materially ahead of previous expectations’, boosting the shares by 6.6% to 122p.
There was less positive news from building materials group Marley, which pulled its planned initial public offering despite ‘considerable’ institutional interest saying the current market volatility was ‘not in the best interests of the group and its stakeholders’.
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