British supermarket Sainsbury's (SBRY) reports a third straight year of underlying profit decline as price cuts and fierce competition continue bite. The fall to £581m of pre-tax profit comes despite the boost to earnings from last year's purchase of Argos, the general merchandise retailer. Shares in the supermarket chain decline 1.8% to 274.5p, losing some of the gains chalked-up in the run-up to the results.
Broadcaster ITV (ITV) tops the FTSE 100 loser board as reveals that chief executive Adam Crozier will be leaving the company after seven years in the role. That causes investor nerves to rattle, sending the stock more than 2% lower to 207p. Britain's biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster is also rumoured to have struck a deal a buy a majority stake in World Productions, the company behind the popular BBC series Line of Duty, for an undisclosed sum, according to reports.
ITV CEO, Adam Crozier
The overall UK market is fairly directionless in early deals on Wednesday with the FTSE 100 index nudging around 15 points, or 0.2%, lower to 7,235. Midcaps fair less well, the FTSE 250 of 0.4% at 19.726.
Business service group Mitie (MTO) has warned that it expects to writedown £40m to £50m of balance sheet assets as the value of some customer contracts is slashed. The news comes after a company sponsored investigation by accounting group KPMG. Mitie does not currently believe this will mean breaching banking covenants, clearly coming as a relief to stricken investors in the wake of a hefty profit warning in September 2016.
Shares in UK motor and home insurer Direct Line Insurance (DLG) nudge about 1% higher to 359p as the group reports a 4.2% rise in gross written premiums in the first quarter, boosted by strong performance in its auto business.
‘Significantly higher’ costs are facing UK pubs group JD Wetherspoon (JDW) in the second half as it grapples with rising input costs thanks to the pound’s plunge. The company remains cautious on its prospects for the full year despite reporting quarterly comparable sales growth of 4%. That’s good enough progress for investors, which bid the stock more than 2% higher to £10.31.
Tobacco company Imperial Brands (IMB) reports lower half year revenue and profit on Wednesday, excluding a benefit from the weak pound, as it was hurt by an industry slowdown and a hefty investment programme. The shares trade 10p higher in early trade at £37.73.
Evraz (EVR), Russia's second largest steelmaker, has signed an agreement with Kinder Morgan to supply about 250,000 metric tons of pipe to the US pipeline company. The equipment is required for the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. Evraz’ share price remains largely flat at 211.7p.
