FTSE 100 Falls in Early Trade; CRH, Compass Rise

The FTSE 100 index fell, with market sentiment dented by the renomination of Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chairman, which is seen as justifying expectations for U.S. interest-rate rises next year. Biden's choice to approve Powell for a second term signals the likelihood of two rate hikes in 2022, starting in June, IG says. Retailers, industrial and real-estate stocks are mostly lower, while oil-linked stocks fall as the price of a barrel of Brent crude falls 0.9% to $78.97. Mining stocks rise, however, while Irish building-materials supplier CRH gains 2.5% after it said sales for the nine months ended Sept. 30 rose 11% compared with a year earlier. Compass Group rises 1.2% after reporting a rise in full-year pretax profit and reinstating dividends; but Severn Trent falls 0.5% after the water company swung to a loss in 1H. 


 
Companies News:

Helical Swung to 1H Pretax Profit on Revaluation of Investments

Helical PLC on Tuesday reported a swing to a pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2021 due to growth in rental income and a gain stemming from the revaluation of its properties.

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Victoria PLC Swung to 1H Profit as Revenue Grew 60%

Victoria PLC on Tuesday posted a profit for the first half of the financial year as unprecedented revenue growth led to record operating results.

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Pets at Home 1H Pretax Profit Increased; Upgrades FY 2022 Guidance

Pets at Home Group PLC on Tuesday reported an 81% rise in pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2022 and upgraded its guidance for the full year.

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PHSC 1H Pretax Profit Fell; Confident of FY 2022 Progress

PHSC PLC said Tuesday that first-half pretax profit fell after booking higher costs and as last year benefited from a government grant, and that it is confident of further progress for the full year.

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IG Design 1H Profit Rose, Underlying Earnings Fell

IG Design Group PLC on Tuesday reported a higher profit for the first half of the year, but its underlying performance was hurt by cost headwinds and supply-chain limitations.

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Coats Group on Track to Meet 2021 Views; Revenue Ahead of Pre-Pandemic Levels

Coats Group PLC said Tuesday that it is on track to meet full-year expectations, and that organic revenue was ahead of 2019 levels in the first four months of the second half.

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Bodycote Lowers Full-Year Revenue Expectations

Bodycote PLC said Tuesday that it expects full-year revenue to be 1.6% lower than previous expectations due to lower automotive revenue.

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River & Mercantile Shares Rise on Takeover Approaches -- Update

Shares in River & Mercantile Group PLC rose as much as 12% in early trade Tuesday after the company said that it has received preliminary takeover approaches from Premier Miton Group PLC and AssetCo PLC, with any potential offers conditional upon the company's sale of its solutions business.

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Devro Says 2H Trading to Date Is Encouraging

Devro PLC said Tuesday that trading in the four months ended Oct. 31 has been encouraging, with revenue growth on a constant currency basis higher than that of the first half.

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Softcat 1Q Revenue, Operating Profit Rose

Softcat PLC said Tuesday that revenue and operating profit for the first quarter of the new fiscal year has increased as it benefited from good growth from both mid-market and enterprise corporate customers as well as the public sector.

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Transense Appoints Nick Hopkins as COO

Transense Technologies PLC said Tuesday that it has appointed Nick Hopkins as chief operating officer with effect from Dec. 1.

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TT Electronics to Report Higher 2021 Adjusted Operating Profit Vs 2020

TT Electronics PLC on Tuesday said that it expects to report an increased adjusted operating profit for the year compared with last year, as it benefited from a rise in demand despite higher costs.

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Knights Group Sees Higher Adjusted 1H Pretax Profit, Revenue

Knights Group Holdings PLC said Tuesday that it expects to deliver an increased pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2022 backed by higher revenue.

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Mila Resources Shares Rise as LSE Trading Resumes

Shares in Mila Resources PLC rose Tuesday after the stock was re-admitted and resumed trading on the London Stock Exchange.

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Telecom Plus 1H Profit Hit by Costs; Backs FY 2022 Guidance

Telecom Plus PLC on Tuesday reported a fall in pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2022 after booking a number of costs and backed its full-year guidance.

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Petershill Partners 3Q Performance Was in Line with Expectations

Petershill Partners PLC said Tuesday that its performance for the third quarter of the year was in line with expectations and that the medium-term guidance provided when the company listed remains unchanged.

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Quanta Capital Asset Management Mulls Offer for Yew Grove REIT

Quanta Capital Asset Management Ltd. said Tuesday that it is considering an offer for Yew Grove REIT PLC, but said there isn't any certainty that a takeover will be made.

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Record PLC 1H Pretax Profit Doubled; Increases Dividend

Record PLC said Tuesday that first-half pretax profit doubled as the company benefits from its change in strategy to partner with other third-party specialists, and increased its interim dividend.

Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires; Write to Sarka Halas at sarka.halas@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-23-21 0506ET