The FTSE 100 closed up for the third consecutive day on Thursday ending the session up 0.2%, and up 52.13 points, or 0.68%, over the past three days, as the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged again despite a less-than-ideal economic outlook and lowered inflation forecasts. "The ECB is inching toward a pivot where it cuts rates, but it doesn't want to beat the U.K. or U.S. to the post. Once rates start to be cut, the pressure is on to keep doing it, whereas central banks don't want to act in haste," AJ Bell analyst Dan Coatsworth says in a note. Rentokil Initial led the day's biggest risers, closing up 18%, followed by Anglo American, up 5.1%, and Ocado, up 4.7%. Entain was the session's biggest faller, down 4.9%.
COMPANIES NEWS:
Aviva Upgrades Targets After Operating Profit Beat
Aviva expects its operating profit to keep growing, and has upgraded its targets for other metrics as it reported a better-than-expected figure for 2023 and launched a 300 million pound ($382 million) share buyback.
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Rentokil Initial Misses Profit Expectations, Lifts Terminix Synergies Views
Rentokil Initial raised its synergies expectations from the Terminix acquisition after missing profit expectations and laid out new plans for North America.
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Harbour Energy's Pretax Profit Plunged on Lower Production, Gas Prices
Harbour Energy's full-year pretax profit dropped to a fourth of the prior year's, well below market views, following lower natural gas prices and production.
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Entain Swings to Loss Despite Higher Revenue
Entain reported a swing to a pretax loss for 2023 after booking a number of charges and a settlement against its Australian operations and despite higher revenue.
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ITV PLC Launches GBP235 Mln Share Buyback Program After Record Studios Performance
ITV PLC has launched a 235 million pound ($299.2 million) share buyback program after reporting a record performance from its studios business and despite group pretax profit falling.
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Melrose Industries Lifts Guidance as Losses Narrowed
Melrose Industries raised its guidance after reporting a full-year pretax loss that narrowed more than expected.
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Arcelik, Whirlpool Deal Cleared by U.K. Competition Regulator
The U.K. competition watchdog said a deal between domestic appliance companies Arcelik and Whirlpool deal can go ahead because it isn't expected to harm competition.
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Virgin Money UK Agrees on Potential $3.7 Bln Takeover by Nationwide Building Society
Virgin Money UK agreed on the terms of a potential takeover by Nationwide Building Society, in a cash deal that values the London-listed group at around 2.9 billion pounds ($3.69 billion).
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PageGroup Raises Dividend Despite Profit Slump on Macro-Economic Uncertainty
PageGroup said its full-year pretax profit plunged following lower levels of candidate and client confidence, but that it proposes an increased dividend payout.
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Darktrace Raises Revenue, Margin Views After Profit Jump
Darktrace lifted its revenue and margins expectations for fiscal 2024 after a sharp increase in pretax profit for the first half supported by lower costs.
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Kier Group Resumes Dividend After Increased Profit on Higher Volumes, Orders
Kier Group reinstated its dividend after pretax profit rose in the first half on strong volumes and orders, while the second half has started well.
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Grafton Group Profit Falls Amid Challenging Conditions
Grafton Group said its pretax profit slumped amid challenging conditions that it expects to continue in the near term.
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Robert Walters Pretax Profit, Revenue Falls on Challenging Demand Environment
Robert Walters reported a lower pretax profit and revenue reflecting a challenging labor demand environment.
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Marks & Spencer Joint CEO Katie Bickerstaffe to Retire
Marks & Spencer said Katie Bickerstaffe, its co-chief executive officer, will retire from the company after the annual general meeting in July.
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HSS Hire Group Sell Power-Generator Businesses for GBP23.25 Mln
HSS Hire Group agreed to sell its power-generator businesses ABird and APEX Generators to CES Global for 23.25 million pounds ($29.6 million), reflecting the company's strategy shift to more streamlined operations.
MARKET TALK:
GKN Margins To Top GE Aerospace
0916 ET - GKN parent Melrose beat GE Aerospace to the punch last year by selling industrial assets to become an aerospace pure play. Armed with a fresh deal to supply GE Aerospace with engine parts, GKN says during an investor presentation that it expects engine margins to top 30% by 2026. That compares with under 20% for GE Aerospace. GKN also expects zero profit impact from its 4% share of the troubled RTX-led GTF engine program, though forecasts costs of 200M pounds for the ongoing fixes. (doug.cameron@wsj.com)
Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires;
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
03-07-24 1254ET
