UK shares turned up on Friday afternoon helped by early gains on Wall Street while the pound held above the $1.40 level, its highest against the dollar in three years.
At 16:30 pm the FTSE 100 index of leading stocks traded 0.4% higher at 6,644 points.
COMPANY NEWS
High street bank NatWest Group (NWG), at one stage the biggest loser on the FTSE, reversed its early losses to rise 5.2% to 180p despite posting an annual loss of £753 million for the year to December and issuing a cautious 2021 outlook.
Income from the bank’s retail and commercial business was down 10% last year due to lower consumer spending and business activity while cash balances continued to rise, crimping the bank’s net interest margin by 28 basis points (0.28%) to 1.71% (1.66% in the fourth quarter).
Real estate investment trust Segro (SGRO) climbed 1.5 to 977.4p after the company posted a 10.8% increase in pre-tax profits and a 16.3% increase in net asset value (NAV) for the year to December.
The firm said it had benefitted from increased demand for warehouse space and prime industrial properties during the pandemic.
Rival commercial property company Urban Logistics (SHED:AIM) announced it had acquired six UK sites to deliver ‘last mile’ services for a total of £27.8 million, equivalent to a net yield of 6.87%. The shares added 0.3% to 148p.
Music and audio products supplier Focusrite (TUNE:AIM) gained 5.7% to £10.35 after it posted a positive trading update, increasing its forecast for full year revenues to ‘in excess of £90 million’.
The firm said revenue, profits and cash were all ‘ahead of where the board would expect at this stage’ and therefore it was likely to beat market forecasts for the full year to August.
Shares in specialist software firm IDOX (IDOX) jumped 18.9% to 73p after the company revealed it had received three non-binding cash offers from cloud software firm Dye & Dunham, the latest at 75p per share.
