Equities in London are off a little as traders react to the latest sanctions against Russia, but The Trader Nicole Elliott points out today that most are ignoring geopolitical concerns.
IC TIP UPDATES:
Broadcaster ITV (ITV) has benefited from the late surge in revenues provided by the football world cup but also from its expansion into television production both in the UK and the US. Its half year results showed total external revenues up by 7 per cent to £1.23bn, with growth ahead of the wider market. Cash earnings before exceptional items were up by 11 per cent to £322m. Recent acquisitions are expected to boost growth further in the coming year. We keep our buy rating.
Builders merchant Travis Perkins (TPK) is benefiting from the pick up in construction activity and general economic wellbeing in the UK. It grew revenues by 11 per cent in the six months to June with pre-tax profits 16 per cent higher at £123m, allowing for a 22.5 per cent hike in the dividend. Buy.
Property company Segro (SGRO) has announced it has bought out the 50 per cent stake held by its partner Moorfield in its UK logistics property joint venture for £95.6m. Alongside this, Segro also issued half year results showing a 4.4 per cent uplift in its portfolio valuation to £4.52bn during the period. We maintain our buy recommendation.
Jupiter Fund Management’s (JUP) first half results reflect a continuation of its recent strong performance with assets under management growing from £31.7bn to £33.1bn since the turn of the year after net inflows of £1.3bn. Profits edged up from £75.3m to £76.3m. We keep our buy.
Simon Thompson recommendation Stanley Gibbons (SGI) says trading is on track to meet expectations for the six months to September although will be dependent on some key transactions completing as expected in August.
Another Simon Thompson recommendation, Inland Homes (INL) has said that strong trading now means results for the year to June will be ahead of expectations.
Moneysupermarket (MONY) has seen revenue growth in all three of its key brands, MoneySuperMarket, MoneySavingExpert and TravelSupermarket, leading to 9 per cent growth across the group in the first six months of the year. Underlying profits rose by 14 per cent to £17.1m and the company has continued investing in its business with £7.8m spent in the first half out of a full year investment budget of £17m. Buy.
Half year results from New Britain Palm Oil (NBPO) reflected positives including better selling prices, a record output of palm oil and better internal cost controls. Revenues rose by 9.5 per cent to $337.9m while earnings before crop revaluations and currency effects almost doubled to $112.8m. Our recommendation is under review.
KEY STORIES:
Barclays (BARC) is taking another £900m hit for PPI liabilities alongside first half results which showed a 7 per cent reduction in profits as improvements in retail banking and the Barclaycard business could not fully offset a 46 per cent slump in profitability at the investment bank.
AstraZeneca (AZN) is paying out $875m to Almirall for the rights to its respiratory disease franchise with a further $1.2bn in scheduled milestone payments as it looks to bolster its pipeline.
The strong housing market boosted results from Taylor Wimpey (TW.) which enjoyed an 11 per cent rise in completions in the first half to 5,766, at average prices 10 per cent ahead of last year. Pre-tax profits before exceptionals rose by 63.7 per cent to £178.4m. The company believes that the property market has now returned to a more normal cycle and the summer months will now see something of a lull.
Tullow Oil (TLW) has reported revenues and profits in line with expectations for the first half during which production averaged 78,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
British American Tobacco (BATS) has been hit by currency movements which hampered first half profits to the tune of 10 per cent in reported revenue terms. Cigarette volumes declined by 0.4 per cent and tobacco volumes by 0.5 per cent but the group’s key brands managed to grow market share in key regions.
Engineering consultancy WS Atkins (ATK) says trading is in line with expectations despite currency headwinds.
The booming property market has boosted Rightmove’s (RMV) business with page impressions up by 13 per cent to 8.1bn and average revenues per advertiser up by the same percentage in the six months to June. Overall revenues rose by 20 per cent to £80.4m with underlying operating profits up by 22 per cent to £59.6m.
Compass Group (CPG) says that trading continues in line with expectations with continued strong performance in North America and Fast Growing & Emerging markets and an improved showing in Europe and Japan.
Greggs (GRG) is benefiting from the UK economic recovery as well as self help initiatives, reflected by half year like for like sales growth of 3.2 per cent and wider group growth of 3.1 per cent to £373m. Pre-tax profits rose from £11.4m to £16.9m.
OTHER COMPANY NEWS:
A significantly lower death rate during the first six months of 2014 led to a marginal reduction in revenues at funerals business Dignity (DTY) and a 1.6 per cent fall in pre-tax profits.
Pets at Home (PETS) says trading is going well with like for like sales volumes up by 4.1 per cent in the 16 weeks to 17 July, boosted by its VIP membership scheme.
