The FTSE 100 closed Thursday up 0.8% to 7646 points, in line with European peers and supported by the mining sector amid increasing optimism on China's economic recovery, IG senior market analyst Axel Rudolph says in a note. "While the rebound in that economy has slowed, the general improvement in global economic data has investors hoping that China's numbers will pick up too, and miners are likely to be prime beneficiary of such a development," Rudolph says. Glencore closed up 4.2% and led the index's top risers, followed by Anglo American, up 3.3%% after it reported robust copper production in 1H, while global investment manager M&G's shares rose 2.8%.


COMPANIES NEWS:

3i Group Net Asset Value Per Share Rose Over 1Q

3i Group on Thursday said its net asset value per share rose over the first quarter of fiscal 2024.

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Howden Joinery 1H Pretax Profit Hurt by Higher Costs; Backs 2023 Guidance

Howden Joinery Group on Thursday reported a 23% fall in pretax profit for the first half of the year as it booked higher costs and despite revenue rising, and backed its full-year guidance.

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Royal Mail Owner International Distribution Services Names New CEO; 1Q Revenue Rose

International Distribution Services said Thursday that it has appointed Martin Seidenberg as chief executive officer, effective from August, and its first-quarter group revenue rose 0.3% on year.

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Dunelm Group FY 2023 Sales Rose; Sees Pretax Profit Slightly Ahead of Market Views

Dunelm Group said Thursday that sales for fiscal 2023 rose 6% and that it expects pretax profit to be slightly ahead of market expectations.

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SSE Backs FY 2024 Earnings Guidance Despite 1Q Renewables Underperformance

SSE PLC on Thursday reiterated earnings guidance for fiscal 2024, with an underperformance in renewables in its first quarter ended June 30 is expected to be offset in the key months ahead.

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Anglo American 2Q Copper Production Rose; Backs Full-Year View

Anglo American on Thursday backed its full-year production guidance after second-quarter copper production rose.

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easyJet Swung to 3Q Pretax Profit as Passenger Numbers Rose; Reports Good Winter Booking Momentum

EasyJet said Thursday that it swung to an adjusted pretax profit in its third quarter as passenger numbers rose, and that it is seeing good booking momentum for winter.

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QinetiQ Expects to Meet Full-Year Views After Strong 1Q

QinetiQ Group said Thursday that it is on track to meet full-year expectations after a positive start to fiscal 2024.

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Vistry Sees Full-Year Adjusted Profit Rising After 1H Performance Met Its Views

Vistry Group said Thursday that its first-half performance met its expectations and it continues to expect full-year adjusted pretax profit to rise, despite challenging macroeconomic conditions and higher interest rates.

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PensionBee 1H Adjusted Loss Narrowed; On Track For Profitability By End 2023

PensionBee Group on Thursday said it is on track to become profitable by the end of the year and for the full year 2024 as it posted a narrower loss for the first half.

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AJ Bell 3Q Assets Under Administration Rose on Customer Uptick

AJ Bell on Thursday said its assets under administration increased over the third quarter of fiscal 2023 as it added customers on its platform over the period.

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Kier Group Sees FY 2023 Meeting Internal Views; Year-End Order Book Rose

Kier Group said Thursday that it expects results for fiscal 2023 to be in line with management's expectations despite inflationary pressures, which it said it was confident it could mitigate going forward, and its order book rose.

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Fuller Smith & Turner Launches Share Buyback Program; 15-Week Sales Up 17%

Fuller Smith & Turner on Thursday launched a share buyback program and said total sales rose 17% in the 15 weeks to July 15.

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GB Group Expects Revenue Acceleration in Late FY 2024

GB Group said Thursday the board continued to expect some gradual revenue acceleration in the latter part of fiscal 2024 despite market conditions not having materially changed, and that the board expects to achieve its profit and cash generation expectations for the year ending March 31.

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Intermediate Capital Group 1Q Assets Under Management Rose

Intermediate Capital Group on Thursday posted a rise in its total assets under management over the first quarter of fiscal 2024, and flagged positive momentum across its platform.

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Alfa Financial Software Sees Full Year Meeting Expectations After Strong 1H Performance

Alfa Financial Software said Thursday that it is confident of meeting expecations for the full year after a strong first-half performance and with a solid pipeline for the coming months.

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Premier Foods 1Q Sales Significantly Rose; Sees FY 2024 Profit at Top End of Views

Premier Foods said Thursday that sales rose 21% in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 to 231.1 million pounds ($299.1 million), and it now expects full-year trading profit to meet the top end of market expectations.

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IG Group FY 2023 Pretax Profit Slipped; Launched GBP250 Mln Buyback

IG Group Holdings on Thursday said its pretax profit for fiscal 2023 fell as it booked higher costs despite interest income boosting its revenue and launched a 250 million pound ($323.5 million) share buyback.

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Pendragon Sees Used-Vehicle Supply Staying Tight; 1H Underlying Pretax Profit Rising

Pendragon said Thursday that it expects used-vehicle supply to remain tight for the foreseeable future and that it intends to report a rise in underlying pretax profit for the first half.

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Golden Rock Global Shares Fall on Discounted Fundraising

Shares of Golden Rock Global fell 11.6% on Thursday after the company said that it has raised 95,000 pounds ($122,939.50) via a share subscription, providing it with working capital toward operations.

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Lansdowne Oil & Gas Shares Drop After Discounted Share Placing

Shares in Lansdowne Oil & Gas tumbled on Thursday after the company said it expects to raise 200,000 pounds ($258,820) in a share placing at a 41% discount.

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Portmeirion Shares Fall as It Expects to Miss Full-Year Market Views

Portmeirion Group shares fell Thursday after it said it expects full-year sales and profits to be significantly below current market views due to caution among North American retailers despite strong end-user demand.

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Centaur Media 1H Pretax Profit Rose on Lower Costs; 2H Was in Line With Views

Centaur Media said Thursday that pretax profit for the first half rose after it booked lower costs, and that its performance in the second half was in line with the board's expectations.

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Netcall Expects a Rise in FY 2023 Revenue, Earnings

Netcall said Thursday that it expects to post an increase in revenue and adjusted Ebitda for fiscal 2023.

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Trinity Exploration & Production Backs Full-Year View Despite 2Q Sales Volumes Fall

Trinity Exploration & Production said Thursday that sales volumes fell in the second quarter, and that it reaffirmed full-year guidance.

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Volution Sees FY 2023 Adjusted EPS at Top End of Views on UK Market Growth

Volution Group on Thursday said that it expects to report adjusted earnings per share for fiscal 2023 toward the top end of market expectations as strong organic growth in its U.K. region offset some weaker market areas.

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Impax Environmental Markets Issues EUR60 Mln of Private Notes to Repay Debt

Impax Environmental Markets said Thursday that it has issued 60 million euros ($67.2 million) of privately placed notes, proceeds of which will be used to repay debt and providing it an element of structural debt.

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Alphawave 2Q License, Non-Recurring Engineering Bookings Doubled; Backs Guidance

Alphawave IP Group said Thursday that license and non-recurring engineering, or NRE, bookings more than doubled in the second quarter, and backed its guidance for the year.

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Alumasc Sees FY 2023 Profit Slipping Slightly, Revenue Roughly Flat

Alumasc Group said Thursday that its expects to report that fiscal 2023 profit slipped in-line with market expectations and revenue was in line with the year before, despite a challenging U.K. construction sector backdrop over recent months.

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Brand Architekts Sees FY 2023 Revenue Growth; Says It Settled Legal Claim

Brand Architekts Group on Thursday said it sees its revenue for fiscal 2023 coming in higher than the previous year and that it settled a legal claim with Jamie Stevens Media.

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KRM22's Revenue Rose in First Half of 2023

KRM22 said Thursday that revenue rose in the first half of the year and that business has continued to show good progress.

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GSTechnologies Shares Jump After PAYPT Acquisition

Shares in GSTechnologies soared 91% on Thursday after the company said it bought Canadian group PAYPT Finance which will help it transform the Angra business into a B2B-focused neobank.

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Nexteq Sees Full-Year Profit Meeting Market Views After 1H Revenue Rise

Nexteq said Thursday that it expects a rise in revenue for the first half, and for improved first-half operating margins to result in a full-year adjusted pretax profit in-line with market views.

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Pharos Energy 1H Production in Line; Backs Full-Year View

Pharos Energy on Thursday backed its full-year production guidance after delivering first-half production in line with expectations.

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Iofina Reports Higher 1H Iodine Production; Secures Lower Loan Rates

Iofina said Thursday that production of iodine rose in the first half of 2023, and that it has secured lower interest rates on multiple loans.

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VP Says Housebuilding Demand Stabilized After 10% Drop

VP PLC said Thursday that housebuilding demand has stabilized into the new fiscal year after falling around 10% in the previous year and that nonresidential construction markets remain subdued.

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Jubilee Metals Group Beat Views on FY 2023 Platinum Group Metals, Chrome Production

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07-20-23 1216ET