Market News: 
 
FTSE 100: 7168.55   18.71  0.26% 
FTSE 250: 24226.27 -24.56 -0.1% 
FTSE AIM: 1306.73   2.36   0.18% 
 

The FTSE 100 closed slightly higher Thursday, with energy stocks leading the way as hurricane Ida causes a slump in U.S. production. The energy sector was a notable outperformer, with Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. following the lead set by BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC, IG Group senior market analyst Joshua Mahony says. The hurricane-drive disruption led Brent crude prices to their highest level in a month. "OPEC has shown few signs of bending to Joe Biden's wish for higher production thus far, and thus the sharp decline in U.S. output provides yet another reason for confidence from oil bulls," Mr. Mahony says.


 
Companies News: 

Gym Group 1H Loss Narrowed

Gym Group PLC on Thursday reported a narrowed loss for the first half of the year, and said it has experienced strong demand since the U.K. started to lift coronavirus-related restrictions.

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88 Energy Raised A$24 Mln in Share Placing to Fund Alaska Well

88 Energy Ltd. said Thursday that it raised around 24 million Australian dollars ($17.7 million) in a share placing to finance the Merlin-2 oil well in Alaska.

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Ecotricity Receives Limited Support for Good Energy Group Offer

Ecotricity Group Ltd. on Thursday said that it had received acceptances representing 1.8% of Good Energy Group PLC shares for its takeover offer for the renewable-energy company.

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Jet2 Says Financial Contribution From Flying for July 19 to Date Has Been Positive

Jet2 PLC said Thursday that from July 19 to date, the company has generated a positive financial contribution from flying despite limited booking visibility in the summer.

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Headlam Group Swung to 1H Pretax Profit; Trading in Line With Views

Headlam Group PLC said Thursday that it swung to a first-half pretax profit as revenue increased, and that it continues to perform in line with market expectations.

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Gem Diamonds Swung to 1H Profit as Underlying Ebitda Tripled

Gem Diamonds Ltd. on Thursday reported a profit for the first half of the year, as revenue and earnings bounced back above pre-pandemic levels.

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Lekoil Shares Dive After Company Acknowledges Internal Dispute With Lekoil Nigeria

Shares in Lekoil Ltd. plummeted Thursday after it acknowledged a dispute for the control of the group with Lekoil Nigeria and suggested it will raise equity in the fourth quarter.

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Mobile Streams Shares Rise as LiveScore Subscribers in Mexico Exceed Target

Shares in Mobile Streams PLC surged Thursday morning after it said its LiveScore service in Mexico more than tripled the targeted number of subscribers.

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Thor Mining Executive Chairman Resigns From Company Effective Immediately

Thor Mining PLC said Thursday that Executive Chairman Mick Billing has resigned from the company with immediate effect.

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Wentworth Resources 1H Profit, Revenue Rose

Wentworth Resources PLC said Thursday that pretax profit rose for the first half as revenue increased, and that it remained focused on meeting its full year potential as well as Tanzania's growing demand for reliable low-cost power.

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Energean 1H Pretax Loss Narrowed, Backs 2021 Production Guidance

Energean PLC said on Thursday that its pretax loss for the first half narrowed as revenue rose, and backed its production guidance for the year.

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MPAC Raises 2021 Expectations After 1H Profit, Revenue Growth

MPAC Group PLC said Thursday that it expects its 2021 results to beat market expectations after its profit and revenue for the first half rose.

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Integrated Diagnostics 1H Profit Boosted by Covid-19 Tests

Integrated Diagnostics Holdings PLC posted an improved profit in the first half of the year, driven by its Covid-19 tests and a recovery in its conventional test offering.

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XLMedia Buys Saturday Football Inc.

XLMedia PLC said Thursday that it has bought Saturday Football Inc. for $23 million cash, plus $1 million in incentive shares.

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600 Group Books Swing to FY 2021 Adjusted Pretax Profit

Industrial-engineering conglomerate 600 Group PLC said Thursday that it swung to an adjusted pretax profit in the fiscal year to end-March, despite lower revenue.

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Camellia 1H Pretax Loss Narrowed Despite Challenges

Camellia PLC said Thursday that its first-half pretax loss narrowed despite challenges in the period.


 
Market Talk: 

Barratt Developments Completions Remain Below Pre-Pandemic Levels Despite Tailwinds

0842 GMT - Barratt Developments completion volumes remained below pre-pandemic levels in the year ended June 30, even with a housing market riper than most of us have ever seen, Freetrade's Gemma Boothroyd says. Despite having a rush of tailwinds in its favor, the FTSE 100 company's new builds were 3.4% lower than in fiscal 2019, the analyst notes. "Today's results show Barratt has been on the receiving end of some terrific revenue growth. But did it do everything it could to exploit the year's market boom? As the stamp duty gets phased out by the end of this month, estate agents are still reporting a lack of supply on the market," Boothroyd says.

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Barratt Developments' FY 2021 Seen as Reassuring, Outlook Supports Expectations

0826 GMT - Barratt Developments reported an underlying pretax profit of GBP920 million for the year ended June 30, slightly above the GBP913 million consensus, Citi says. In addition, outlook comments remain reassuring, with management targeting volumes back to fiscal 2019 levels in fiscal 2022, and guiding for wholly-owned completions of 17,000-17,250 units along with modest gross margin improvement, the U.S. bank says. Citi has a buy rating on the FTSE 100 home builder's shares. "While the group's progress remains encouraging and demand backdrop looks resilient, further upside to near term volume expectations are likely to be driven by higher build rates," the bank says.

Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires; Write to Sarka Halas at sarka.halas@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

09-02-21 1209ET