Market News:

FTSE 100 Index Rises as Travel, Leisure Stocks Gain; Burberry Falls

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.5% at 7049.05 in early trade, tracking gains in European stocks and led by gains for travel and leisure stocks ahead of an easing of all pandemic-related restrictions in England from Monday. Whitbread, which owns the Premier Inn hotel brand, rises 3%, while InterContinental Hotels was up 2.6% and British Airways-owner International Consolidated Airlines gains 2.4%. Sports-betting and gambling company Entain rose 1.7%, while support-services company DCC is the biggest riser, up 3.5% after it announced strong growth for the first quarter. Shares in luxury-goods-company Burberry dropped 3.6%, however, with analysts saying concerns over the forthcoming departure of CEO Marco Gobbetti outweigh an upbeat trading update. Rio Tinto shares fell 1.4% after it reported lower second-quarter iron-ore shipments. 


 
Companies News:

Micro Focus Settles Wapp Patent Litigation Case with $67.5 Mln Payment

Micro Focus International PLC said Friday that it has settled its patent litigation case against Wapp Tech Limited Partnership and Wapp Tech Corp., reaching a settlement for payment of $67.5 million.

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DS Smith Sells De Hoop Paper Mill in the Netherlands for EUR50M

DS Smith PLC said Friday that it is selling its De Hoop paper mill in the Netherlands for 50 million euros ($59.1 million) as part of its strategy to have a "short paper" position in Northern Europe.

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Learning Technologies Raises GBP85 Mln Via Share Placing, More Than Planned

Learning Technologies Group PLC said Friday that it has now raised 85 million pounds ($117.5 million) under the share placing first announced late Thursday, more than initially planned.

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Eve Sleep 1H Revenue Grew 13%; Cautions on Global Supply Issues

Eve Sleep PLC said Friday that revenue for the first half of the year grew 13%, and cautioned that it might continue to experience further disruption and inflationary pressures if the coronavirus pandemic continues to hurt global supply chains.

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Homeserve Backs Fiscal 2022 Outlook

Homeserve PLC on Friday backed its outlook for fiscal 2022, saying product usage across its business continued to be strong for the period April 1 to July 15.

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Bonhill Group Expects 1H Revenue Fall, Narrower Pretax Loss

Bonhill Group PLC said Friday that first-half trading is expected to be in line with market expectations, with slight fall in revenue but a narrower pretax loss on year.

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RBG Holdings 1H Trading in Line With Views; To Pay Interim Dividend

RBG Holdings PLC said Friday that it continues to trade in line with market expectations for the first half of 2021 and that the board intends to pay an interim dividend.

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Nucleus Financial 2Q Assets Under Administration Rose

Nucleus Financial Group PLC said Friday that assets under administration rose 19% in the second quarter.

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Burberry 1Q Comparable Sales and Retail Revenue Rose, Full-Year Guidance Largely Unchanged

Apart from wholesale, which is now seen rising by around 60% on-year in 1H, full-year guidance is unchanged

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Pantheon Resources Shares Rise on Upgraded Resource Estimate at Alaska Well

Shares of Pantheon Resources PLC rose as much as 15% in early trade Friday after the company said that recent analysis of the SMD-B zone at the Talitha #A well in Alaska indicates higher resources than initially thought.

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Luceco 2Q Trading Performance Continues to Improve; Raises 1H Guidance

Luceco PLC said Friday that its trading performance during the second quarter has continued to improve, and raised its guidance for the first half.

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Renold FY 2021 Profit Grew Despite Revenue Fall

Renold PLC said Friday that its fiscal-year pretax profit grew despite revenue being hurt by the coronavirus pandemic.

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Ascential Buys 51% of Digital Content Business ASR Group for $122M -- Deal Digest

ACQUIRER: Ascential PLC

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Burford Capital Receives Full $103 Mln Entitlement From Akhmedov Matter

Burford Capital Ltd. said Friday that it has received the full cash entitlement of around $103 million from the Akhmedov matter, boosting its 2021 operating profit. 


 
Market Talk:

Burberry's Positive 1Q Update Deflated by Caution From CEO Year-End Departure

0811 GMT - British luxury-goods company Burberry's update would usually reassure but uncertainty around senior-management transitions is likely to persist after it said its chief executive officer will depart at the end of the year, Citi says. Usually Burberry's first-quarter retail sales beat and raised wholesale guidance would be sufficient to drive a small earnings upgrade, reinforce investor sentiment on the reality of Burberry's brand turnaround and make it a perfect day for the shares, but caution remains, the U.S. bank says. "We think Burberry's strong brand heritage, global scale, public listing and attractive compensation could attract a lot of top candidates," Citi says. Citi keep a neutral rating on the stock, with a 2,250 pence target price. Shares are down 3.4% at 1,999 pence.

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End of BOE's QE Raises Likelihood of Rate Rises, Bond Tapering

0750 GMT - An early end to the Bank of England's bond-buying program could signal earlier rate rises and the unwinding of the central bank's balance sheet, says HSBC. The end of quantitative easing might signal "a greater likelihood of interest rate rises in the coming months, given inflation concerns and might suggest a desire to keep the size of the balance sheet in check," economists at the bank say. They add that this might point to the BOE reducing the size of the balance sheet sooner rather than later or even before rates start rising.

Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires; +44-20-7842-931

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-16-21 0443ET