London’s FTSE 100 was in positive territory early on Wednesday, with optimism around the potential Covid-19 vaccine breakthrough continuing to buoy global markets.
The blue chip benchmark improved 0.31% to 6,316.62, while the FTSE 250 rose 0.02% to 19,032.
BAE SEES BIDEN BOOST
Aerospace and defence contractor BAE Systems (BA.) added 1.4% to trade at 470p after it maintained its full year guidance for sales and cash flow and said it expected underlying earnings per share to be slightly higher than previously guided thanks to a better operational performance and an expected lower tax rate.
In the US, BAE Systems said it expects its business to continue growing under the Joe Biden administration.
Also in demand was betting behemoth Flutter Entertainment (FLTR), the Betfair and Paddy Power owner, which firmed 2.4% to £131 after posting a strong increase in third quarter volumes and raising its full year operating profits guidance.
Coca-Cola HBC (CCH) improved by 7.5p to £21.45 as the soft drinks bottler reported forecast-beating third quarter sales driven by a recovery in the out-of-home channel and further growth in the at-home channel as markets continued to re-open following local and national lockdowns.
JD Wetherspoon (JDW) cheapened 2.6% to £10.91 on the news the pub chain suffered a 27.6% drop in like-for-like sales in the 15 weeks to 8 November following the introduction of a 10pm curfew for pubs and restaurants in England.
Chairman Tim Martin complained that ‘the constantly changing national and local regulations, combined with geographical areas moving from one tier to another in the different jurisdictions, are baffling and confusing’.
Martin added: A particular anxiety in the hospitality industry relates to the future timescale for the ending of temporary regulations. Veterans of the industry will recall that the afternoon closing of pubs between about 3pm and 6pm was imposed in the First World War, to encourage munitions workers to return to their factories - but the requirement for afternoon closing was only abolished in 1986.’
OTHER COMPANY NEWS
In other news, office space specialist Workspace (WKP) weakened 2.6% to 736.5p after swinging to a pandemic-driven loss of £110 million in the first half and pushing back a decision on the full year dividend.
Industrial chain manufacturer Renold (RNO) rose 10.6% to 12.05p on the news it remained profitable in the first half of its financial year, despite revenue dropping 17% to £82 million due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Renold added that ‘order intake should continue to slowly improve, albeit at levels below the prior year in the near term’.
Payments company ThinkSmart (TSL:AIM) ticked up 6.9% to 62p after hailing its sale of ‘buy now, pay later’ platform Clearpay as having delivered ‘material value to shareholders’.
Central Asia Metals (CAML:AIM) clipped ahead 3.3% to 188.5p after the AIM-listed copper and lead miner announced it would pay an interim dividend of 6p per share after its interim payment was deferred earlier this year due to leakage from the company’s Sasa tailings storage facility in North Macedonia.
