FTSE 100 Live Wednesday
- L&G profit beats hopes
- Metro Bank hails progress
- THG makes £103m disposal
Market update: Hiscox leads FTSE 100, L&G and Glencore shares fall
09:54 , Graeme EvansResults-day selling of Glencore and Legal & General shares today failed to hold back the FTSE 100 index after last night’s record close.
London’s top flight rose by 17.26 points to 9159.99 after sentiment was boosted by expectations for an improved session on Wall Street.
The FTSE 100 registered a record close of 9142.73 last night, although it remains short of the intra-day high of 9190 set during strong July trading.
Hiscox registered the best blue-chip performance, lifting 8% or 107p to a six-year high of 1367p after results included an increase in share buybacks to $275 million.
The speciality insurer also registered a forecast-beating profit of $277 million and reiterated expectations for 6% premium growth in its retail division.
Other FTSE 100 risers included drinks giant Diageo, which added another 60p to 1964p after Tuesday’s annual results came in better than feared.
On the fallers board, Legal & General weakened despite beating City expectations with a 6% rise in half-year operating profit to £859 million.
Chief executive António Simões said the group was on track to achieve its targets after core earnings growth came in at the top end of its guidance range of 6-9%.
Shares fell 8.6p to 252.9p, however, as L&G’s profit after tax and solvency ratio figures missed forecasts.
Glencore also dropped 12.7p to 288.35p after weaker coal prices and lower copper production fuelled a 14% decline in adjusted half-year earnings to $5.4 billion.
The miner, which intends to retain its primary listing in London, said it made significant progress “positioning for further value accretive growth”.
Bottling companies Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and Coca Cola HBC led the fallers board after results-day declines of 900p to 6490p and 330p to 3592p respectively.
Strong performers in the FTSE 250 index included the building products firm Ibstock, which lifted 5.4p to 152.8p after it posted figures in line with June’s lowered guidance.
THG sells flavourings brand in £103m deal
09:39 , Graeme EvansMyprotein business THG today announced the sale of Claremont, which makes flavourings for sports nutrition products, for £103 million.
Manchester-based THG said the disposal to Nactarome Group aligned with plans to simplify the wider group and generate cash to reduce debt.
THG also disclosed that its adjusted earnings totalled about £24 million over the first half of this year – down from the £37 million generated last year.
The decline was driven by higher prices of whey – which is used for protein products like powders – than the previous year.
However, this has helped raise consumer prices, leading to a jump in revenues in June and July for the group’s nutrition arm, it told investors.
Shares edged up a quarter of a penny to 30.8p following the update.
Metro Bank profit rises, corporate lending hits £1bn
08:43 , Graeme EvansMetro Bank today reported an underlying profit of £45 million after its half year performance benefited from cost savings and a surge in corporate lending.
The FTSE 250-listed group said it doubled the amount of new lending to corporate, commercial and small business customers to a record £1 billion over the period.
Revenue rose 22% year-on-year to £286 million while operating costs fell 8%. The underlying profit figure compared with £12.8 million in the second half of 2024.
Shares fell 4.6p to 120.6p, having risen by more than 25% so far this year.
FTSE 100 higher, Legal & General and Glencore fall on results
08:25 , Graeme EvansThe FTSE 100 index has risen 17.31 points to 9160.04, underpinned by a stronger session for oil stocks BP and Shell.
Diageo continued its post-results improvement with a rise of 50p to 1954p, while Rolls-Royce put on 12p to 1085p.
Glencore shares fell 4% or 12.6p to 288.45p after weaker coal prices and the impact of lower copper production contributed to a 14% decline in adjusted half-year earnings to $5.4 billion.
The mining group also said it intended to retain its primary listing in London.
Legal & General shares fell 8.8p to 252.7p, despite beating City expectations with a 6% rise in half-year operating profit to £859 million.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: “This is a punchy performance with Legal & General’s plan clearly coming together, even if heightened expectations have weighed against the share price in opening trades.”
He said that some of the share price pressure reflected L&G’s solvency ratio of 217%, which was slightly below the 220% forecast.
Legal & General half-year profit tops City forecasts
07:29 , Graeme EvansLegal & General today reported half-year core earnings per share growth at the top end of its targeted range of 6-9%.
Operating profit beat City expectations following a 6% rise to £859 million.
The performance was driven by L&G’s institutional retirement division, which improved operating profit by 11% to £618 million.
Asset management fell by 6% to £202 million, reflecting the impact of market volatility and weakening of the US dollar. However, the division’s revenues rose 2% amid a continued pivot towards higher margin products.
Total assets under management stood at £1.1 trillion, of which 43% is outside the UK.
The retail arm’s profit rose 3% to £237 million after the customer base grew to 12.4 million and workplace pension assets surpassed £100 billion.
An interim dividend of 6.12p a share is 2% higher than a year earlier, in line with L&G’s intention to return more than £5 billion to shareholders over the 2025-2027 period.
Chief executive António Simões said: “The outlook for our businesses is positive and we are firmly on track to achieve our financial targets.”
Chancellor told taxes must rise
07:10 , Graeme EvansThe Chancellor is facing an “impossible trilemma” ahead of the autumn budget and must raise taxes to help repair Britain’s battered public finances, an economic think tank has warned.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) says Rachel Reeves faces missing one of her fiscal rules by more than £40 billion.
Weaker-than-expected recent economic activity, U-turns on welfare cuts and forecast-beating borrowing have combined to create a “worsening fiscal outlook”, it warns.
FTSE 100 seen higher, Wall Street stocks struggle
06:59 , Graeme EvansThe FTSE 100 index is set to build on yesterday’s positive session by adding another 0.4% at today’s opening bell.
The expected improvement comes despite a weaker performance on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 index fell 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.7%.
In Asia, the Nikkei 225 is up by 0.5% while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong has edged slightly higher.
The FTSE 100 index yesterday closed up 14.43 points at 9142.73, although it had been as high as 9177.95 earlier in the session.
