– The FTSE 100 closed the day at 6,664.54, a decline of 71.68 points.
– The FTSE 250 fell by 93.92 points to finish at 17,666.96.
– The FTSE All Share dropped by 34.87 points to 3,638.94.
– The FTSE AIM All Share finished at 754.26, a rise of 0.74 points.
After yesterday’s inflation news, the People’s Bank of China announced a “one-off” depreciation of the Yuan, reducing the centre of the currency’s trading band by 1.9%. Masafumi Yamamoto from Monex commented that “the yuan had become relatively expensive as other Asian currencies weakened against the dollar. With fears of an economic slowdown mounting, devaluing the yuan was the only thing China had not tried after implementing monetary, fiscal and equity-boosting policies”.
Video games retailer GAME Digital (GMD) has announced that it is on track to meet full year expectations, reassuring those who had feared that January’s profit warning could lead to further guidance cuts. The company said that its overall margins improved, leading to a gross profit increase of roughly 9% for the financial year ended July. Analysts from N+1 Singer were surprised that there was no profit warning, given current industry conditions. The shares climbed 5p to 264.75p.
Pollster and market research outfit YouGov (YOU) said that it will post double digit revenue growth for the year ended 31st July, beating the wider sector. The company added that its US operations were performing particularly well. Shares in the firm were up 3p at 116.5p.
Bookmaker Ladbrokes (LAD) saw its pre-tax profits fall by 43.9% to £24.7 million due to tax changes, store closures and the withdrawal from grey markets. The company also faced challenging revenue comparatives due to last year’s world cup, but still managed to record growth in the UK and online. The interim divided was cut by more than three quarters to 1p. Ladbrokes shares fell by 2p to 108p.
Newspaper publisher Johnston Press (JPR) said that despite a 5% drop in revenues during the 26 weeks ended 4th July, it has managed to turn last year’s £6.3 million pre-tax loss into a £2.2 million profit. The slowdown in revenues was due to the continuing woes of the print advertising division, but management said that there was some improvement during July. The company’s shares advanced 2.25p to 109.75p.
Insurer Prudential (PRU) reported a 17% increase in operating profits to £1.88 billion for the half year ended 30th June, driven by a strong performance from business units in the UK and Asia. The company’s US subsidiary Jackson Life also beat expectations with operating profits of £843 million. Shore Capital and Hargreaves Lansdown reiterated “buy” recommendations. Prudential shares shot up by 70.50p to 1,577p.
Tomorrow’s news today
Balfour Beatty (BBY), G4S (GFS), Interserve (IRV), and Lookers (LOOK) are among the firms that will publish interim results tomorrow.
Quote of the day
“You don’t have to be a genius or a visionary or even a college graduate to be successful. You just need a framework and a dream.”
– Michael Dell