Thursday’s Master Investor Market Report

– The FTSE 100 closed the day at 6,367.89, a decrease of 35.56 points.
– The FTSE 250 fell by 159.18 points to finish at 17,239.37.
– The FTSE All Share dropped by 21.63 points to 3,492.64.
– The FTSE AIM All Share finished at 743.55, a fall of 4.33 points.

The Office for National Statistics reported that UK retail sales volumes rose by 0.1% in July and were 4.2% higher than at the same point a year ago. Average prices in stores are now 3% lower year-on-year, primarily driven by a drop in petrol prices.

Retailer WH Smith (SMWH) has said that sales at its high street arm for the year ending 31st August were significantly ahead of those in the prior period due to a range of popular books including Go Set A Watchman. The travel division has also been trading well and has remained on schedule in terms of new store openings in the UK and overseas. As a result, WH Smith said they expect overall results to be a bit ahead of consensus forecasts. Shares in the business fell by 21p to 1,549p.

Distiller and distributer Stock Spirits (STCK) saw its earnings dry up during the six months ended 30th June as post-tax profits plummeted by 98.9% to €0.2 million (£0.14 million). The company has faced intense competition from Polish producers. Revenues dropped by more than a fifth relative to the same period last year. Shares in the firm climbed 17.75p to 200p.

Premier Oil (PMO) failed to meet analysts’ expectations and dropped to a pre-tax loss of $214.7 million (£137.1 million). Revenues fell by over $300 million (£191.5 million) to $577 million (368.4 million) due to the challenging pricing environment and the company also booked impairments of $385.3 million (£246 million). Premier Oil shares climbed 15.96% to 111.5p.

Kaz Minerals (KAZ) reported a pre-tax profit of $2 million (£1.28 million) during the six months ended 30th June, an enormous turnaround when compared with the $104 million (£66.58 million) loss that the company posted for the same period of 2014, as a significant foreign exchange loss did not recur. This change came about despite revenues declining by 19.7% year-on-year. Kaz shares rose by 21.7p to 177.4p.

Tomorrow’s news today

Hellermanntyton (HTY) will publish interim results tomorrow.

Quote of the day

“Anyone who says businessmen deal in facts, not fiction, has never read old five-year projections.”
– Malcom Forbes