UK stocks recovered some of their morning losses in early afternoon trading as investors took stock of the deluge of company announcement on ‘Super Thursday’, where many of the UK’s biggest companies reported.
Investors also took note of the late hefty sell-off overnight in New York that saw the S&P 500 fall more than 2.5% and Nasdaq dragged 2% lower, while closely watching developments in the Reddit attack on hedge funds.
Also weighing on investor sentiment was the spat over vaccines involving AstraZeneca (AZN), the UK and the EU.
The benchmark FTSE 100 posted a 0.9% fall at 12.30pm, bouncing off 6,445 morning lows at 6,519.78. The FTSE 250 also recovered some losses although it too remains in the red, off 0.5% at 20,170.01.
CORPORATE NEWS
Alcoholic drinks giant Diageo (DGE) rallied 3.5% to £29.51 as the Johnnie Walker-to-Smirnoff brands owner returned to organic sales growth in a forecast-beating first half and raised its dividend, even after operating profits declined amid pub and bar closures and unfavourable currency swings.
North America, its biggest market, performed ahead of management’s expectations and while Diageo isn’t providing specific guidance due to ongoing volatility, the spirits seller expects to see a second half improvement across regions given a weak comparator period.
Mining giant Anglo American (AAL) improved 2.6% to £24.615 despite cutting its diamond production guidance for 2021 after reporting lower output for 2020 owing to ongoing operational challenges.
Investors were reassured as the miner maintained guidance on other commodities including iron ore, copper an coal and insisted it continues to see ‘positive demand for rough diamonds, supported by consumer demand for diamond jewellery in the holiday selling season’, in 2021 to date.
UPGRADE FOR TATE
Food ingredients group Tate & Lyle (TATE) gained 3.5% to 684.6p on news of a strong third quarter, with volume growth generated across the business.
For the year to March 2021, despite the continuing impact of the pandemic, Tate & Lyle now expects to deliver adjusted pre-tax profits ‘modestly ahead’ of the prior year, benefitting from ‘continued momentum in Food & Beverage Solutions, cost discipline and significantly higher year-on-year Commodities profits’.
Elsewhere, Britvic (BVIC) slid almost 1% to 754p as the soft drinks manufacturer served up a decline in first quarter revenue and said performance would continue to be affected by pandemic-induced weakness in its out-of-home division.
By contrast, premium mixers supplier and popular retail investor play Fevertree (FEVR:AIM) firmed 4.5% to £24.12 after reporting a strong second half performance across key markets and upgrading full year revenue guidance to around £252 million.
EASYJET WARNS
In the airlines sector, EasyJet (EZJ) reversed earlier declines to nudge more than 1.2% higher at 722.46p after reporting a slump in first quarter revenue and warning it expects second quarter capacity of just 10% of the prior year period as lockdowns continue to dent air travel activity.
Hungarian budget flyer Wizz Air (WIZZ) also firmed, up 4% to £43.74 as it reported a €116 million (£102 million) third quarter loss with restrictions continuing to inhibit the aviation market, though chief executive Jozsef Varadi insisted the carrier is focused on emerging from the crisis as a ‘structural winner’ and that his focus is on optimising Wizz Air’s cash position.
Euromoney (ERM) accelerated its slide in early afternoon trading, falling more than 3% lower to 938p on news of a fall in first quarter revenue as the pandemic-led impact on physical events hurt revenue in its institutional investor business.
