FTSE 100 up more than 1%, JD Sports Fashion 3% higher
The FTSE 100 index is 1.2% higher during a better-than-expected start to the week for London shares.
The jump of 96.40 points to 7434.98 follows gains of 3% for shares in Hong Kong-based insurer Prudential as well as JD Sports Fashion and Anglo American.
Shares in outsourcing group Bunzl lead the top flight, up 4% or 119p to 2843p following a strong reaction to half-year results.
The positive mood was also seen in the FTSE 250 index, which rallied 262.33 points to 18,393.35. Mid-cap risers included Aston Martin Lagonda, with shares up another 5% or 16.4p to 354.4p.
Binance sets up shop in Poland after Belgium snub
Crypto exchange Binance has opened for business in Poland after it was told to cease offering virtual currency services by regulators in Belgium.
Binance said the move will allow it to comply “with its regulatory obligations and can continue to provide services to Belgian users”.
The firm also had to suspend services to Dutch users in July and is facing a lawsuit by regulators in the US amid a global crackdown on crypto companies.
Bunzl boosts 2023 profit forecast as half-year revenue rises
Bunzl, the coffee cup to Covid mask supplier, reported a rise in half-year profits today and upped its forecasts for 2023, after it was able to pass price increases on to its customers.
The FTSE 100 company filed a 7% rise in half year profit of £317 million and said it now expects full-year adjusted operating profit to rise. The upbeat outlook came despite weakness in the food service sector in North America.
Revenue rose 4.5% to £5.9 billion.
It also said sales of pandemic-related products held above 2019 levels, but were off their 2020 peak.
Its shares opened up 111p to 2829p.
London helps drive growth for Irish hotels group Dalata
Irish hotel group Dalata says its growing London portfolio drove its UK growth in the second quarter, growing twice as fast as the rest of UK
The owner of the Clayton and Maldron chains saw 23% growth in like-for-like revenue per available room in London, compared to 12% elsewhere in the UK. The group said this was driven both by higher occupancy and higher room rates.
Dalata has been expanding in London lately, and is set to have 876 rooms in the capital when the Maldron Hotel in Shoreditch opens.
That helped group profit rise by 24% to €103.4 million (£88.6 million).
CEO Dermot Crowley said: “Our performance year to date has been exceptional, thanks to all of our teams throughout the business, whose commitment and dedication are evident in the results announced today and in the continuous delivery of our ambitious growth strategy.
“We have continued to expand our asset portfolio with the two recent high-quality acquisitions in London which are both performing well.
“This speaks to the strength of our balance sheet and our development team’s ability to identify and deliver additional rooms in times of market volatility and uncertainty.”
Daslata is the latest hotel chain to report booming business, with little sign of the public cutting back spending on travel even as they reduce spend almost everywhere else.
IG boss to quit when medical leave ends
IG Group CEO June Felix, currently on medical leave, will step down from the role rather than returning to the helm of the online trading business.
She took medical leave in June, but will now step down as CEO and director immediately and cease employment from 29 September.
Charlie Roses will continue as acting CEO, but IG said it has begun a search for a permanent replacement.
Mike McTighe, chair of IG Group, commented: “On behalf of the Board, I would like to extend our best wishes to June as she continues her recovery. We thank her for the significant contribution she has made over the past eight years as a board member and especially as Group CEO for almost five years. During her tenure as CEO the company has successfully pursued a strategy to diversify the business while at the same time strengthening its core OTC business resulting in a doubling of the Group’s revenue and profit over the period.”
June Felix said: “It has been a great privilege to build and lead such a talented, ambitious group of people as the CEO of IG Group for nearly five years. It has been through everyone’s collective effort that we have built a stronger, more diverse company. For this, I thank my executive team, all of my colleagues and the Board of IG Group for an unforgettable period.”
Asia and US markets rally, FTSE 100 seen slightly higher
Asia markets extended their gains this morning after support measures including a stamp duty cut on stock trades were announced by regulators in China over the weekend.
The moves have helped to draw investors back to the market, with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong up another 2% and the Shanghai Composite ahead by more than 1%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was also in positive territory at a two-week high.
Wall Street closed higher for the second successive session after Friday’s guidance from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell that further tightening of monetary policy will be a finely balanced decision.
He said inflation remains too high but that policymakers will need to tread carefully in order to avoid causing unnecessary harm to the US economy.
The Nasdaq Composite finished Monday’s session up by 0.8% and the S&P 500 index rose 0.6%. London’s FTSE 100 index is forecast by IG Index to start the week five points higher at 7344.
Recap: Friday’s top stories
Good morning. Here’s a summary of our top headlines from Friday:
- Equinox plunges to £18m loss and a spate of central London fitness clubs warn on going concern status in signs luxury gyms under threat as customers trade down
- Ofgem price cap to cut bills into the first winter without government support for energy consumers since the Ukraine invasion
- London fintech LendInvest warned it has suffered a data breach in which customer personal data had been accessible to third parties
- Lord Cruddas firm CMC profit warning – “August in particular has seen a more challenging environment with markedly lower monetisation of client trading activity”. Profit could be £30m less than previously thought
- H&M to re-open stores in Ukraine, the group says it is “in close contact with local stakeholders” and will “gradually” bring the chain back “wherever possible”
- Profits fall at law firm DWF ahead of takeover by private equity firm Inflexion. Boss says that without the Inflexion offer, the results would have put shareholders’ dividends at risk
