Aviva profits fall but dividend rises 10pc
Aviva (LON:AV) shares fell in morning trading on Thursday, after reporting a slight fall in profit in the first half of the year.
Operating profit fell 2 percent to £1.44 billion, down from £1.47 billion a year earlier, with operating earnings per share increased 4 percent to 26.8 pence.
The insurance giant attributed the weak results to a slowdown in the Canadian motor insurance sector, alongside adverse weather and various business divestments. However, looking towards the second half the company is more positive.
“Aviva remains financially strong with a capital surplus of £11 billion. In the first half of 2018, we started a £600 million share buy-back and paid off €500 million of expensive debt,” said Mark Wilson, Group Chief Executive Officer.
The group boosted its interim dividend per share by 10 percent to 9.25 pence from 8.40 pence the year previously.
Centamin profits up despite decline in production
Gold miner Centamin (LON:CEY) saw shares edge down in morning trading on Thursday, despite profit rising by over a third over the period.
Profit before tax rose 34 percent in the six months to June 30th, with total revenues rising by 2 percent to hit $296.4 million. Earnings (EBITDA) rose by 16 percent to $129.7 million.
This all came despite the group selling and producing less gold over the period, with gold production figures for the half year falling by 7 percent to 217,099 ounces. Gold sales fell 3 percent to 228,672 ounces.
Looking ahead, however, the company said gold production was likely to pick back up.
“Significantly stronger production is expected for the second half (“H2″), driven by continued improvements in grade from the open pit as mining progresses into the sulphide ore and an increase in high grade stoping tonnes from the underground,” the company said.
Shares in Centamin are currently trading down 0.79 percent at 112.60 (1153GMT).
London Stock Exchange profits strong as it begins Brexit preparations
London Stock Exchange Group (LON:LSE) saw shares rise nearly 3 percent on Thursday morning, after strong performance from its information services division led to a profit increase.
For the six months to 30 June, profit before tax rose 30 percent to £360 million, with adjusted operating profit up 21 percent to £480 million. Revenue also saw an increase by 12 percent, after its information services division saw revenue jump by 16 percent.
‘We remain well positioned in an evolving regulatory and macroeconomic environment and remain focused on achieving the 2019 financial targets,’ the company said.
The group also said that it had started implementing contingency plans in preparation for a possible hard Brexit. These include developing new entities in “the EU27 and applications for authorisation within the EU27 for certain group businesses”.
“However, the complexity and the lack of clarity of the application of a hard Brexit may decrease the effectiveness, or applicability of some of these contingency plans.”
Shares in the London Stock Exchange (LON:LSE) are currently trading up 2.85 percent at 4,481.00 (1123GMT).
Countrywide shares dive as it announces fundraiser
Estate agency group Countrywide Plc (LON:CWD) have seen their shares dip 61% following the announcement of a discounted shares placement.
The shares are being sold at a reduced price, in an attempt to raise £140 million, which will be put towards paying off their backlog of debt.
This news comes after a report announced that the firm’s adjusted earnings EBITDA had dropped by 61.5% on-year for the first half, to £10.7 million. There have also been worries surrounding sales and lettings, which were down 8.7%.
Within the last eight months, the company have issued four profit warnings. High street sales have declined sharply over the last year, with increasing liquidity on the online housing market. While this has been the case for Countrywide, they have been losing out in recent months to online rivals such as Zoopla and Rightmove.
The company’s closing share price of 49p a share was down 50% within the first hour of trading, with placement shares trading at 10p a share. Analysts from Citigroup have retained their ‘Neutral’ stance on Countrywide stock.
Garmin shares up on higher profits
Shares in Garmin were up 1.5 percent after the group reported better than expected quarterly profits.
Sales in the group’s fitness products increased 24.3 percent to $225.1 million following the growing demand in smartwatches and other wearable devices.
Shares were up 1.5 percent at $63.40 (£48.30) on Wednesday. The stock price has increased by 27 percent over the past year.
Joe Wittine, the Longbow Research analyst, wrote in a note: “We believe the quarter will go a long way toward establishing confidence in Garmin’s fitness business, having clear differentiation versus mainstream fitness tracker and mainstream smartwatch competitors.”
Garmin’s sales in its outdoor segment also rose about four percent to $201.6 million.
The group’s total revenue for the second quarter was $894 million, an increase of eight percent over the previous year.
Garmin has raised its full-year forecast. The group now expects a total revenue for this year at $3.3 billion. This is an increase of $100 million for its previous forecast.
Shares in the group (NASDAQ: GRMN) are currently trading 3.28 percent at 64.50 (1007GMT)
Tesla shares soar 9pc despite record loss
Shares in Tesla soared over nine percent in after-hours trading on Wednesday despite the record $717.5 million loss for the second quarter.
Despite the $3.06-per-share loss, Elon Musk reassured investors on an analyst call and said: “We believe we can be sustainably profitable from Q3 onwards.”
“From an operating plant standpoint, from onwards I really want to emphasize our goal is to be profitable and cash flow positive for every quarter going forward,” he added.
According to the Musk, the group had also achieved a “mind-blowing leap forward” in vehicle production. The car manufacturer reported a production of 53,339 vehicles in the quarter and delivered 40,768.
Tesla is now aiming to achieve a production goal of 6,000 vehicles per week by August. By the end of the year, the group hopes to manufacture 10,000 per week.
In an unlikely move by Musk, apologised for the comments made on the previous analyst phone call where he accused Wall Street analysts of asking “boring bonehead questions.”
“I’d like to apologize for being impolite on the prior call,” he said. “There’s no excuse for bad manners.”
The company has made headlines over this year due to various outbursts and controversies from Musk.
Musk and the chief financial officer, Deepak Ahuja, wrote in the shareholder letter: “It took 15 years to execute on our initial goal to produce an affordable, long-range electric vehicle that can also be highly profitable.”
“In the second half of 2018, we expect, for the first time in our history, to become both sustainably profitable and cash flow positive.”
Shares in Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) are currently trading up 0.91 percent at 300.84 (0952GMT).
House of Fraser rescue deal dropped by C.banner
C.banner (HKG: 1028), the owner of Hamleys, has rejected previous plans to rescue House of Fraser.
In a blow to the department store, C.banner had planned to take control of House of Fraser and invest £70 million to revive the chain.
The Hong Kong-listed owner of Hamleys said on Wednesday that the saviour of House of Fraser had been “rendered impracticable and inadvisable.”
C. banner said in a statement that was issued to the Hong Kong stock exchange: “In view of the fact that the recent market prices of the shares as quoted on the stock exchange have significantly dropped to a level which is far below the placing price range of HK$2.40 to HK$3.00 per placing share, the company and the placing agent are of the opinion that the placing has been rendered impracticable and inadvisable, and therefore no longer intend to proceed with the placing.”
House of Fraser is seeking £50 million to avoid collapse, which would lead to the risk of 17,000 jobs.
“This is a real blow to House of Fraser,” said Richard Lim of Retail Economics.
“They’re in desperate need of a rescue deal and without this fresh injection of around £70 million, it’s almost inevitable that they’ll fall into administration. This could be within a matter of weeks.”
The department store has said it is “exploring options to obtain the required investment on the same timetable.” Potential investors include Sports Direct’s, Mike Ashley.
Andrew Busby, of the consultancy Retail Reflections, has said that House of Fraser will need to consider a merger with Debenhams (LON: DEB) for its survival.
House of Debenhams is becoming more and more of a reality – that’s the best outcome for House of Fraser,” he said. “Unless you are Harrods or Selfridges the department store concept is not quite dead, but severely challenged.”
Apple set to hit a trillion dollars despite Huawei surge
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) has surged to a valuation of $935 billion, with analysts estimating that the company will hit the $1 trillion threshold if they fulfill their trade estimates within Q4.
Q3 sales were above expected, with iPhone revenues up 32% on the same period last year. overall sales up 17% to $53.3 billion and sales of home wares such as the Apple TV and HomePod Speaker up 37% on-year.
In the meantime, Huawei have knocked Apple off of the number two spot in the global mobile phone market, with Samsung occupying the top spot. The news comes after positive feedback from Asia on the iPhone X, but unfortunately for Apple, Chinese tech firm Huawei were able to most effectively capture the growing mobile phone market in their home country.
“Apple is not in a very comfortable position,” said Nicole Peng, mobility analyst for Canalys. “Consumers have to make a hard choice between Apple and its peers in China.”
Despite the news, Apple shares have rallied 4.92% since trading began, up $9.37 to $199.66 – a far-cry from the $11 share price when the iPhone was released in 2007.
Apple CEO Tim Cook does not appear to be phased by the news on Huawei, which is perhaps not surprising as trade conflicts with the US have meant that the Chinese firm have been forced to capitalise on their domestic market.
With Chinese figures not knocking Apple investor confidence, an optimistic message of consensus rings around the Apple camp as they look ahead to the fourth quarter:
“Growth was strong all around the world,” said Apple Finance Chief, Luca Maestri.
Apple have published optimistic sales targets, ahead of analyst expectations for Q4. They will look to capitalise on their pre-existing strengths and build on their relatively recent successes such as Apple Pay and Apple Music, as well as hoping to branch out into software and hardware for other areas of technology.
Vitesse Media raise £18.7 million to fund InvestmentNews acquisition
Publishing group Vitesse Media (LON:VIS) has raised around £18.7 million to fund its planned acquisition of InvestmentNews, it was announced on Wednesday.
The group raised the funds from a discounted share placing launched on Tuesday, with the aim of raising around £22.5 million. New shares in the company were issued at 2 pence each, a 41 percent discount to the closing price of Vitesse shares on Monday.
“We are delighted with the interest and support we have received in the placing,” chief executive Simon Stilwell said.
“We welcome our new shareholders and thank our existing shareholders for their ongoing support.”
Vitesse Media organise events focusing on enterprise technology, growth business, investment and diversity, as well as running several magazines both digitally and in print. The acquisition of InvestmentNews will be the group’s first foray into the US market.
Stillwell, who was appointed CEO of Vitesse in August 2017, said the acquisition is part of the company’s ongoing strategy to expand in the following areas: providing business information, live events and data & insights in the technology, financial services and diversity and inclusion sectors.
“Since I joined Vitesse last year we have overhauled the board and management team as well as the strategy and this is the first major step in executing on our growth plan,” he said.
St James’s Place please investors with 20pc dividend hike
Wealth manager St. James’s Place gave investors a boost by increasing its dividend by 20 percent, after a strong first half performance.
The group declared an interim dividend of 18.49p per share, with CEO Andrew Croft saying there had been “continued strong growth across all areas of our business”.
Pre-tax profit rose 4 percent to £82.5 million over the period, with underlying cash profit, after tax, up 29 percent to £147.1 million.
Gross inflows grew by 15 percent to £7.9 billion, with net inflows up 21 percent to £5.2 billion.
“The environment we are operating in, together with these investments, provides us with the confidence that we can continue to achieve our medium-term growth objectives,” Croft continued.
“Supporting the above, we have a strong balance sheet and the knowledge of a growing income from our existing business both of which underpin the growing return to shareholders as shown by the 20 percent increase in the interim dividend.”
Shares in St James’s Place (LON:STJ) are currently trading down 2.78 percent at 1.172.00 (1003GMT).