FTSE 100 Falls as Traders Digest Earnings, US-China Tensions Flare

0747 GMT - The FTSE 100 drops 0.1% to 7410 points as traders assess corporate results and as U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to visit to Taiwan, escalating U.S.-China tensions. Fresnillo is the worst performer, falling 4.9%, after the miner reported a sharp drop in first-half profit. Housebuilders decline after Nationwide data showed U.K. house prices rose at a slower month-on-month pace in July. BP is the bigger riser, up 4.1%, after the energy giant posted its highest quarterly profit in 14 years and raised its dividend. Software company Sage Group climbs 0.4% after saying it expects full-year organic recurring revenue growth to reach the top end of its guidance range. A weaker sterling also boosts multinational stocks. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)


 
Companies News: 

NWF Group FY 2022 Profit Rose on High Prices, FY 2023 to Date Meeting Views

NWF Group PLC said Tuesday that fiscal 2022 pretax profit rose on significantly higher revenue driven by increased prices, and performance in fiscal 2023 to date is meeting management views.

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Rotork 1H Profit, Revenue Fell on Supply Chain Issues; Raises Dividend

Rotork PLC said Tuesday that first half pretax profit together with revenue slipped due to supply chain challenges, and raised its dividend.

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Global Invacom 1H Revenue Fell, Loss Widened Amid Semiconductor Shortages

Global Invacom Group Ltd. said Tuesday that it expects to report a widened net loss after tax and lower revenue for the first half as semiconductor shortages hurt its ability to meet orders.

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Ricardo Sells Software Business to Up $20.5 million

Ricardo PLC said Tuesday that it has completed the sale of its software business to Constellation Software Inc.'s business division, FOG Software Group, for a maximum consideration of $20.5 million in cash.

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Pebble Beach Sees Modest 1H Growth; Confident in Meeting 2022 Views

Pebble Beach Systems Group PLC said Tuesday that it expects to report modest revenue growth for the first half of 2022 amid supply-chain issues, but is confident in achieving full-year views.

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Engage XR 1H Revenue Rose, in Line With Views

Engage XR Holdings PLC said Tuesday that revenue increased in the first half of the year, adding that its overall performance was in line with market expectations.

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SourceBio Core Business Revenue Rose in 1H; Adj. Ebitda Fell

SourceBio International PLC said Tuesday that first-half revenue from its core healthcare diagnostics, genomics and stability storage business units rose 63%, though adjusted Ebitda fell.

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Bango Expects to Meet 2022 Expectations

Bango PLC said Tuesday that it expects to meet revenue and adjusted Ebitda expectations for 2022.

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Filtronic FY 2022 Pretax Profit Rose; Well Placed Entering FY 2023

Filtronic PLC said Tuesday that its fiscal 2022 pretax profit rose together with revenue and that it is well positioned heading into fiscal 2023.

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Revolution Beauty Shares Drop on Expected Swing to 1H Adj Ebitda Loss

Shares in Revolution Beauty Group PLC on Tuesday dropped after the company said it expects to finish the first half of fiscal 2023 with a swing to a small adjusted Ebitda loss and low-single-digit revenue growth.

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Gamma Communications 1H in Line After Cost Discipline, Price Increases

Gamma Communications PLC said Tuesday that it performed well in the first six months of the year with strong on-year adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization growth.

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EnQuest on Track to Meet 2022 Guidance

EnQuest PLC on Tuesday reiterated its expectations for 2022, although production at its Kraken oil field was above the top end of full-year guidance in the first half of the year.

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Devro 1H Pretax Profit Fell on Higher Costs; Raises Dividend

Devro PLC said Tuesday that pretax profit fell for the first half of 2022 on higher costs, and raised its dividend payout.

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Panther Metals Shares Fall on Discounted GBP1.1 Mln Equity Issue89

Shares in Panther Metals PLC fell Tuesday in early trading after the company said that it has raised 1.1 million pounds ($1.3 million) in a discounted equity issue.

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Biome Technologies 2Q Revenue Seen Below Views on Supply Delays

Biome Technologies PLC said Tuesday that revenue for the second quarter was slightly lower than management expectations amid delays of materials from suppliers, but that delayed revenue from the quarter is expected to be recovered during the next three months.

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Genel Energy 1H Net Profit, Revenue Jump After Oil Price Strength

Genel Energy PLC said Tuesday that net profit and revenue rose for the first half as the market experienced strong oil prices.

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PHSC Swung to FY 2022 Pretax Loss on Higher Costs; Shares Fall

Shares in PHSC PLC fell in opening trading on Tuesday after it said that it swung to a pretax loss for fiscal 2022 on higher cost of sales and impairments.

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GYG PLC's Shares Fall on Expected Decline in Revenue for 2022

Shares in GYG PLC on Tuesday fell after the company said that, even though the positive momentum experienced in the first quarter of the year continued into the second quarter, it expects to end 2022 with a decline in revenue.

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Biffa FY 2022 Pretax Loss Narrowed as Revenue Rose on Pandemic Recovery

Biffa PLC reported Tuesday a significantly narrowed pretax loss for fiscal 2022 as revenue recovered from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Keller Group Posts Higher 1H Pretax Profit, Raises Dividend

Keller Group PLC said Tuesday that its pretax profit increased in the first half of fiscal 2022 on robust revenue, and that it will increase its dividend payout.


 
Market Talk: 

Travis Perkins's Weak Toolstation Results Leave 1H Looking Light

0759 GMT - Travis Perkins's first-half EBITA of GBP163 million missed forecasts of GBP174 million, solely driven by a weaker-than-expected Toolstation performance and partly offset by higher property profits, RBC Capital Market says. Despite the U.K. building-materials retailer's weak Toolstation division performance--partly explained by a normalization in its customer base post-pandemic--there looks to be long-term value in the business, and the performance of merchanting in particular is encouraging, RBC analysts Andrew Brooke and Karl Green say in a research note. "We continue to see value in the shares after the recent weakness," the Canadian bank says. RBC retains an outperform rating on the stock and 1,500 pence price target. Shares are down 7.4% at 953.4 pence. (joseph.hoppe@wsj.com)

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Fresnillo's 1H Results Look Underwhelming, Missing Consensus

0750 GMT - Fresnillo's shares are set to underperform after the company reported an underwhelming set of results for 1H, Jefferies says. The Mexican precious-metals miner posted an Ebitda of $459 million, around 15% below the company-compiled consensus, and the interim dividend of 3.4 cents a share also missed expectations by 53%, Jefferies analysts say in a research note. The weaker Ebitda was primarily top-down--with a lower revenue representing around 70% of the Ebitda miss to consensus--while supply chain bottlenecks and cost inflation are expected to remain headwinds in 2H, the U.S. bank says. Jefferies reiterates its hold rating and 725.0 pence price target. Shares are down 4.3% at 696.8 pence. (joseph.hoppe@wsj.com)

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Direct Line's 1H Seen as Broadly In Line

0747 GMT - Direct Line Insurance 1H results were broadly in-line with views and there was no significant new information from the previous update despite changes on margin targets for the motor division, Citi analyst James Shuck says in a research note. The key update is that the non-life insurer's motor division is now setting target margins backed on latest claims assumptions, the analyst says. "Interestingly, there is no mention of this being driven by improvements to pricing, but instead attributed primarily to internal factors such as enhanced motor pricing capabilities and risk pricing models," Shuck adds. Citi has a neutral recommendation on the stock. (michael.susin@wsj.com)

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BP Isn't Expected to Change Path Despite Bumper Profit

0736 GMT - BP reported a higher-than-expected profit and upgraded shareholder distributions for 2Q, but Third Bridge doesn't see the company changing its business plans on the back of this strength. "Despite today's elevated oil and gas pricing environment, our experts don't expect BP to alter its investment plans in the next 12-18 months," Third Bridge analyst Allegra Dawes says. "Should they decide to accelerate spending there will face significant challenges, especially for large scale projects," the investment-research firm says. Investors are expecting more share repurchases and dividends going forward, Dawes says. (jaime.llinares@wsj.com)

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Sterling to Fall if BOE Signals it Will Slow Rate Rises

0734 GMT - Sterling would fall if the Bank of England raises interest rates 50 basis points on Thursday but signals it will act less aggressively going forward due to concerns about weaker economic growth, Commerzbank says. A reduction in the speed and the peak of the rate-rise cycle would probably hit sterling hard, particularly given high inflation, Commerzbank currency analyst Antje Praefcke says in a note. "GBP/USD might then have another go at the 1.20-mark." Sterling should remain stable against the euro, however, after weaker eurozone purchasing managers' index data and it's unclear to what extent the European Central Bank will raise rates after September, Praefcke says. GBP/USD falls 0.3% to 1.2206 and EUR/GBP rises 0.2% to 0.8390. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

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BP Shares Rise as 2Q Profit, Distributions Beat Expectations

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08-02-22 0446ET