Wednesday’s Master Investor Market Report

– The FTSE 100 closed the day at 6,669.10, down 99.97 points.
– The FTSE 250 fell by 114.01 points to 17,641.88.
– The FTSE All Share sank 47.87 points to 3,640.07.
– The FTSE AIM All Share finished 4.61 points higher at 753.60.

Johnson Matthey (JMAT) recorded a 1% drop in pre-tax profits for the quarter ended 30th June. Underlying profits before tax also fell by £1 million to £94 million due to the divestment of the gold and silver refining divisions late last year. Management warned that if current exchange rates with the US dollar are maintained, then the company will take an additional hit to its full year earnings. Shares in the manufacturer dropped by 113p to 2,899p.

Shares in brewer and pub landlord Marston’s (MARS) rose by 2% to 158.2p after the company revealed that trading in the forty weeks ended 18th July was positive. In the leased sector, profits per pub were up by 4% and sales growth in other divisions was between 1.6% and 2%. Management also commented that although they would be impacted by the Government’s minimum wage plans, the effect on forecasts would be dampened by the fact that they had already budgeted for above-inflation wage rises in the coming years.

Shares in microchip maker ARM Holdings (ARM) dropped by 69p to 970p despite profits before tax for the six months ended 30th June rising by over 30% to £123.9 million. Analysts had hoped for a greater improvement and the company was also negatively impacted by the disappointing results posted by Apple overnight. RBC Capital Markets said that ARM looks attractive at the moment with the P/E ratio below its historic range.

Defense and aerospace firm Qinetiq (QQ.) performed in line with expectations during the three months ended 30th June, despite some customers in the key EMEA region deferring decisions on new contracts. In the UK, some of these delays were due to the start of the Government’s Strategic Defense and Security Review. The firm also completed an additional £22 million share buyback scheme during the quarter, but Investec believes that budgetary concerns will prevent another campaign from being launched. The shares dropped by 2.1p to 232.4p.

Tomorrow’s news today

Breedon Aggregates (BREE) and Howden Joinery (HWDN) are among the firms that will publish interim results tomorrow.

Quote of the day

“You work to earn money. But in Japan, that idea has a bad image, and you’re not supposed to say that.”
– Shuji Nakamura