European shares are beating a retreat in early trading as a flurry of corporate results fail to lift sentiment after a new wave of speculation about faster hikes in U.S interest rates hit Wall Street and Asia and soured risk appetite globally. London’s FTSE 100 falls back 70 points to 7,212 on Thursday, a busy day of corporate news.
Among the blue chips, banking giant Barclays (BARC) is bid up 5.3% to 212.8p despite full year adjusted profit before tax coming in slightly below consensus, up 23% to £4.5bn. The good news is the core tier 1 ratio is stronger than expected and Barclays says it expects to more than double the dividend to 6.5p this year.
Also in demand is bus and rail operator Go-Ahead (GOG), which races 9.4% higher to £14.64 as half year results speed in ahead of expectations. The forecast beat is driven by better than anticipated trading at London Midland in the run up to the franchise ending in December, one-off asset sales at this franchise, and a much improved result from Southern Rail operator Govia Thames Railway (GTR).
Energy supplier Centrica (CAN), which warned on profits in November, sparks up 3.35p to 135.6p after raising its cost saving target by £500m and saying it will slash about 4,000 jobs by 2020.
Heading in the opposite direction is Anglo American (AAL), off 2.6% at £17.51 as investors take profits following a strong share price run.
Full year results reflect the mining giant’s continued recovery, with profitability much improved, debt almost halved to a year-end $4.5bn and a decent $1.02 dividend proposed, although the group’s safety record in 2017 proved the single disappointment. Encouragingly, Anglo American still believes 'there is significant additional upside' despite having 'driven a material operational turnaround'.
Moneysupermarket.com (MONY) slumps 22.5% to 254.8p on a warning growth will be slower than the markets in 2018, ‘accelerating afterwards’ and this year’s earnings are now expected to be ‘broadly flat before growth resumes from 2019 onwards’.
In its full year results, the price comparison site also says it will incur some hefty investment and reorganisation costs as it readies itself for future growth.
Construction-to-regeneration group Morgan Sindall (MGNS) improves 3.2% to £12.74 as investors applaud news of a 46% surge in full year pre-tax profit to £66.1m, boosted by a stellar turn from its office installation and refurbishment business.
Gambling industry software supplier Playtech (PTEC) cheapens 13% to 674.6p after posting annual results hit by ‘headwinds in both regulated and unregulated operations’ and flagging a first quarter sales drop in its business-to-business (B2B) gaming division.
