FTSE 100 Closes Up Boosted by Barclays Earnings

The FTSE 100 closed up on Wednesday boosted by strong earnings from Barclays--who reported a better-than-expected rise in fourth quarter pretax profit--despite the geopolitical tension between Ukraine and Russia. "So far the sanctions imposed by the West aren't as heavy as might have been expected and the market is apparently taking this as a win amid hints Putin might be open to a diplomatic solution," AJ Bell said. Furthermore Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, said that sanctions against Russia posed no threat to the U.K's financial stability. Still the day's biggest faller was Russia-focused steel maker Evraz, with its shares down 13% at 246 pence.

 
Companies News: 

Barclays 4Q Pretax Profit Rose Ahead of Views; Appoints Anna Cross as Finance Director

Barclays PLC reported Wednesday a rise in fourth-quarter pretax profit that beat market views, and said that it has appointed Anna Cross as its new finance director.

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Capital & Counties Properties Swung to Net Profit in 2021

Capital & Counties Properties PLC on Wednesday reported a profit for 2021, as rental income rose.

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Union Jack Oil Intends to Start Shareholder Distributions

Union Jack Oil PLC said Wednesday that it intends to adopt a capital allocation and distribution policy to allow the payment of dividends or repurchase of shares.

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Metro Bank 2021 Pretax Loss Narrowed

Metro Bank PLC on Wednesday reported a narrowed pretax loss for 2021 and said that the return to profitability gathered momentum in the year despite the volatility experienced.

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Ted Baker 4Q Sales Rose 35%, Reiterates FY 2023 Guidance

Ted Baker PLC said on Wednesday that sales growth for its fourth quarter increased as the company's margins benefited from its repositioning to being a premium brand.

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Seraphine Group Sees FY 2022 Revenue, Ebitda Below Market Views

Seraphine Group PLC said Wednesday that it expects to report revenue for fiscal 2022 "marginally" below market expectations, and adjusted Ebitda "significantly" below.

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Nostra Terra Oil & Gas 4Q Revenue Rose on Higher Production, Prices -- Energy Comment

Nostra Terra Oil & Gas Company PLC on Wednesday reported a 37% increase in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2021, as both oil production and prices strengthened. Here's what the Texas-focused energy company had to say:

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Hochschild 2021 Profit Rose on Higher Precious-Metals Production

Hochschild Mining PLC on Wednesday reported higher profit for 2021, as gold and silver production increased during the year.

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Begbies Traynor 3Q Trading in Line With 1H; FY 2022 to Meet Market Forecasts

Begbies Traynor Group PLC said Wednesday that trading in the third quarter of fiscal 2022 has been broadly in line with the first half and that it expects adjusted pretax profit to be within the range of market forecasts, and ahead of last year.

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Peel Hunt Sees 2022 Performance Below Market Expectations; Shares Fall

Peel Hunt Ltd. shares fell on Wednesday after the company said earnings for fiscal 2022 are expected to be below market expectations.

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Unite Group Reports 2021 Profit, Sees Positive Outlook

Unite Group PLC on Wednesday reported a swing to a profit for 2021, and said the outlook for the 2022-2023 academic year is positive.

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ADVFN Receives Proposal for Investment in Company

ADVFN PLC said Wednesday that it has received an indicative proposal in relation to a minority investment and business collaboration from a new unnamed investor.

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International Personal Finance Shares Rise on Swing to 2021 Pretax Profit, Resumption of Dividend

Shares in International Personal Finance PLC rose Wednesday after the company reported a swing to pretax profit in 2021 on the back of a low impairment charge, and said it will resume its dividend payout.

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N4 Pharma Shares Fall After Reporting 2021 Results

Shares in N4 Pharma PLC fell Wednesday after the AIM-listed pharmaceutical company reported a widened loss for 2021.

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Rio Tinto Posts Record Annual Profit, Nearly Doubles Dividend -- Update

Rio Tinto PLC, one of the world's biggest mining companies, said it made a record profit in 2021 and would nearly double its full-year payout to shareholders, becoming the latest resources company to report a surge in earnings from increased commodity prices.

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Seeing Machines to Report 20% Rise in 1H Revenue; to Meet FY Market Views

Seeing Machines Ltd. said Wednesday that it expects to report a 20% rise in revenue for the first half of fiscal 2022 and meet market forecasts for the year.

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Gooch & Housego Four-Month Performance Hurt by Pandemic-Related Factors

Gooch & Housego PLC said Wednesday that its performance over the first four months of the new fiscal year have been hurt by pandemic-related factors, and that business will be more second-half weighted than expected.

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Invinity Gets UK Government Funding for Solar Energy Storage Project

Invinity Energy Systems PLC said Wednesday that it has been awarded 708,371 pounds ($962,392) funding from the U.K. Government, under the first phase of its Longer Duration Energy Storage Demonstration competition.

 
Market Talk: 

Oil and Gas Bonds Underperform as Ukraine Crisis Deepens

0926 GMT - Corporate bonds of oil and gas companies are under pressure as the Ukraine crisis deepens, UniCredit says. European corporate credit spreads widened again Tuesday, with the oil and gas component of the iBoxx index underperforming as it widened 8 basis points, analysts at the bank say. Oil and gas prices jumped Tuesday as Western countries moved to impose sanctions on Russia. Germany suspended the certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, retraces some of Tuesday's strong gains, falling 0.5% to $93.37 a barrel. ([e-mail])

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Barclays's 4Q Seen Strong, Guidance Seen as 'Decent'

0842 GMT - Barclays's set of results for the fourth quarter of 2021 were solid, marked by decent new guides for 2022 and beyond, Jefferies says. The FTSE 100 listed bank's CET 1 ratio was better than in the prior year and the share buyback program of GBP1.0 billion was modestly ahead of market views of a program of up to GBP950 million, Jefferies adds. The U.S. bank has a buy recommendation on the stock and a target price of 321.00 pence a share. Shares are up 2.7% at 195.36 pence. ([e-mail]; @sabelaojeaguix)

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For European Banks, High Payouts Look Sustainable Despite Expected Regulatory Hit to Capital

0834 GMT - The latest report on the impact of Basel IV capital requirements reassures on European banks' ability to return capital to shareholders, Citi analysts say. The implementation of the rules is expected to hit large European banks' capital by 3 percentage points, but this looks manageable and adds clarity on payouts, Citi says. "With strong existing capital ratios, a clearer outlook on asset quality and easing regulatory headwinds, we expect banks to recommence high payouts now that capital return restrictions have been removed," Citi says. The U.S. bank expects an all-in yield of about 8% for the sector and flags ING, UniCredit, NatWest, Intesa Sanpaolo, UBS, Nordea and BNP Paribas as particularly attractive in this sense. ([e-mail]; @_cristinaroca)

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Ukraine Crisis Seen Adding to Market Volatility, Scale of Impact Yet to Be Seen

0811 GMT - There is no question that the latest developments around the Ukraine-Russia crisis point to increased volatility on the international markets in the coming weeks, say St. Galler Kantonalbank Deutschland AG's strategists. What is uncertain, however, is the dimension that the new "bad weather" situation could take on the markets, they add. "After all, this is hitting a breeding ground that is not entirely unproblematic for the global economy, consisting of globally disrupted supply chains, material shortages, significantly higher inflation and a changing interest rate environment," they say. ([e-mail])

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Barclays Seen Growing Long Term, Despite Mixed Guidance

0811 GMT - The key highlights of Barclays's fourth-quarter results are its corporate and investment-bank cost discipline, a net impairment release and higher than expected profit, but its outlook for 2022 was mixed, Citi says. The U.K. bank's 2022 net-interest-margin guidance is slightly ahead of consensus, while cost outlook appears in-line, but otherwise the outlook commentary is more qualitative than quantitative, Citi says. "Overall a solid set of numbers, but we expect a fairly muted reaction," the U.S. bank says. Citi has a target price of 225.00 pence on the stock, which assumes long-term growth of 2%, a cost equity of around 11% and a RoTE of around 8%-9%. Shares are up 2.5% at 194.98 pence. ([e-mail]; @sabelaojeaguix)

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Rio Tinto's Analyst Call Likely to Focus on Capital Management, Costs

0755 GMT - Rio Tinto's bumper 2021 dividends are likely to be well-received by the market, although cost pressures could lead to lower consensus earnings for 2022, says Citi. The focus of an upcoming analyst call on the miner's annual earnings "is likely to be on capital management, cost inflation (especially in iron ore and copper divisions) and decarbonization spend," Citi says. The bank says Rio Tinto's guidance for 2022 reflects cost inflation reported throughout the industry, "but the 9% increase in [its] critical iron-ore division is arguably at the higher end of market expectations." ([e-mail]; @RhiannonHoyle)

Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires; Dow Jones Newswires; [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-23-22 1248ET