FTSE 100 not up to much as Europe stays in the green

Liam Roche
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FTSE 100 not up to much as Europe stays in the green

With no data of its own to deal with, the FTSE 100 wasn’t up to much, rising 0.1% to 6,970, after failing to hold at 7,000 on Thursday. On the final day of the month the European markets erred on the positive, after stumbling at yesterday’s close.

“News that the German economy contracted faster than forecast – shrinking by 1.7% in Q1 against the expected 1.5% – failed to stop the DAX climbing 0.4%. Though that’s in large part due to the size of yesterday’s pullback,” said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex.

“If estimates are accurate, the Eurozone as a whole is set to have contracted by 0.8% in Q1, quickening the pace of its problems when compared to the -0.7% seen in the fourth quarter of 2020,” he added.

“Potentially set to disrupt these fragile gains, the Dow Jones is heading for a 0.2% drop when trading starts Stateside. That’d knock the index back below 34,000 after it clawed its way above that key level last night,” Campbell says.

FTSE 100 Top Movers

Smurfitt Kappa (4.35%), AstraZeneca (4.14%) and British American Tobacco (2.4%) are the top risers on the FTSE 100 two hours into the day.

At the bottom on Friday, as the week draws to a close, is Barclays (-5.7%), Anglo American (-2.08%) and Flutter Entertainment (-1.87%).

AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca earned $275m in revenue in Q1 from its Covid-19 vaccine, which it is not making a profit from, as sales of its cancer drugs and growth in emerging markets allowed the pharmaceutical company to surpass its expectations.

The FTSE 100 drugmaker confirmed it revenue grew by 15% during the first quarter of 2021, as its post-tax profit climbed from £750m to £1.56bn.

UK House Prices

UK house prices grew in April at the quickest rate in over 15 years, research by Nationwide has revealed. Compared to the month before, the average house price was up by 2.1%, which is the biggest increase since early 2004.

Year-on-year house price growth rose to 7.1% in April compared to 5.7% in March, as property values reached a record high of £238,831.

AstraZeneca makes $275m from sales of vaccines

Liam Roche
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AstraZeneca makes $275m from sales of vaccines

AstraZeneca share price up by over 4%

AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) earned $275m in revenue in Q1 from its Covid-19 vaccine, which it is not making a profit from, as sales of its cancer drugs and growth in emerging markets allowed the pharmaceutical company to surpass its expectations.

The FTSE 100 drugmaker confirmed it revenue grew by 15% during the first quarter of 2021, as its post-tax profit climbed from £750m to £1.56bn.

AstraZeneca confirmed $275m of sales after it delivered nearly 70m doses across the world, as the vaccine roll-out picked up momentum. This figure is way up from $2m in Q4 of last year.

Pascal Soriot, AstraZeneca’s chief executive, said the strong performance came in the face of a number of challenges faced due to the pandemic. “We delivered solid progress in the first quarter of 2021 and continued to advance our portfolio of life-changing medicines,” he said. “We expect the impact of Covid to reduce and anticipate a performance acceleration in the second half of 2021.”

The AstraZeneca share price is up by 4.29% at mid-morning trading. Year-to-date the company’s stock is up to 7,713p, from 7,422p, an increase of just under 4%.

April sees biggest monthly rise in UK house prices since 2004

Liam Roche
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0
April sees biggest monthly rise in UK house prices since 2004

Property values reached a record high of £238,831

UK house prices grew in April at the quickest rate in over 15 years, research by Nationwide has revealed.

Compared to the month before, the average house price was up by 2.1%, which is the biggest increase since early 2004.

Year-on-year house price growth rose to 7.1% in April compared to 5.7% in March, as property values reached a record high of £238,831.

According to Nationwide, UK house prices have increased by £15,916 over the past year.

Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner said: “Just as expectations of the end of the stamp duty holiday led to a slowdown in house price growth in March, so the extension of the stamp duty holiday in the Budget prompted a reacceleration in April.

“However, our research suggests that while the stamp duty holiday is impacting the timing of housing transactions, for most people it is not the key motivating factor prompting them to move in the first place.”

Gardner added: “Housing market activity is likely to remain fairly buoyant over the next six months as a result of the stamp duty extension and additional support for the labour market included in the Budget, especially given continued low borrowing costs and with many people still motivated to move as a result of changing housing preferences in the wake of the pandemic.”

Amazon profits surge as pandemic shifts consumer behaviour

Liam Roche
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0
Amazon profits surge as pandemic shifts consumer behaviour

Amazon income more than tripled to $8.1bn

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) has confirmed its sales have exceeded $100bn for the second quarter in succession as it continues to benefit from the pandemic.

With consumers across the world increasingly shopping online, streaming videos and working from home, as their behaviour has shifted during lockdowns, Amazon has reported net sales of $108.5bn for the first quarter of the year, up by 44% from the same period a year before.

Amazon’s income more than tripled to $8.1bn, as its share price rose by 3% to a record above $3,590 in after-hours trading.

“There is little to indicate a slow down in Amazon’s growth,” said Daniel Newman, analyst at Futurum Research. “Its businesses across the board, ecommerce, cloud, advertising, devices, are all seeing growth and I expect this to continue into the next quarter.”

Nearly 50% of Amazon’s operating income of $4.2bn came from its cloud division Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS’s revenue has grown by 32% year-on-year.

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, has said that he will be stepping down and instead will take on the roll of executive chair. Andy Jassy, chief executive of AWS, will replace Bezos, while the company gave no update on when the succession will take place.

Amazon is expecting its sales to continue too rise, even as lockdowns come to an end, as the company’s guidance suggests revenue somewhere between $110bn and $116bn for the current quarter.

Amazon will spend $1.5bn on coronavirus related procedures within its logistics, and the company believes its net income will be between $4.5bn and $8bn this quarter.

Prime Video has been used by 175m Prime members over the past year, with “streaming hours” up 70% year-on-year.

J. Stern & Co.’s Christopher Rossbach said of the record haul:

“Amazon has continued its extraordinary growth, with revenues well in excess of $100bn again this quarter, which equates to over $13,000 a second. This is another significant milestone as the company continues to break records, and with over 200m Prime households now, the company is entering a new paradigm.”

Revolting shareholders: Scottish remuneration policy rebellion

Andrew Hore
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Revolting shareholders: Scottish remuneration policy rebellion

Shareholders in STV Group (LON: STVG) have not been totally supportive of the media company’s remuneration policy. A shareholder vote on the policy happens every three years. One-quarter of the votes cast were against the directors’ remuneration policy, which is up from one-fifth three years earlier.
However, the vote against the directors’ remuneration report was 1.92%, down from 16.1% against the resolution at the previous AGM.
Management says that it consulted with the largest shareholders ahead of the latest AGM and the policy was revised. STV currently pays 20% of the chief executive’s sa...

Shell share price rises as company lifts quarterly dividend by 4%

Liam Roche
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0
Shell share price rises as company lifts quarterly dividend by 4%

Shell Share Price

The Shell share price (LON:RDSA) is up by over 1% on Thursday as the Anglo-Dutch company announced its results for the first quarter of the year. This follows a sharp decline, from early March through to late April, when the company’s stock tumbled from 1,584p per share to 1,355p, a fall of 17%. It is a continuation of what has been a volatile year for the oil giant which has struggled to recover from a dramatic fall at the beginning of the pandemic.

Q1 Results

Shell announced on Thursday that its profits rose during Q1 as the oil giant showed signs of recovery from the pandemic-induced downturn through a resurgence in energy consumption and prices. Profits at the Anglo-Dutch FTSE 100 company increased by 13% to $3.2bn compared to the same period the year before. The oil industry more generally is in the early stages of a recovery following the damage caused by Covid-19, which made energy companies tighten their spending and reduce costs.

As a result, Shell made the decision to increase its quarterly dividend by 4% thanks to its improvement in trading. It is the second increase since the company cut its payout, for the first time since the second world war, by two-thirds at the beginning of last year due to the pandemic.

Oil

The immediate outlook for the Shell oil price is dependent on the price of oil. “Market sentiment was dented on worries that a surging number of COVID-19 cases in some countries, especially in India, will slash fuel demand,” said Kazuhiko Saito, chief analyst at commodities broker Fujitomi Co. This caused the price of oil to fall on Monday as Covid-19 cases surged India, one of the world’s biggest oil importers. However, Brent crude futures is up 2.5% to $68.72 on Thursday, while West Texas intermediate (WTI) crude futures are up by 2.25% to $65.11 a barrel.

The technical committee of the OPEC+ has forecast global oil consumption to rebound by 6m bbl/day this year, according to delegates who attended the panel. US benchmark crude futures are up more than 6% so far this month amid signs of a consumption recovery in some parts of the world. However, if the anticipated global economic recovery doesn’t arrive then it could spell trouble for Shell.

Global shares move upwards on Fed support and Biden stimulus

Liam Roche
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0
Global shares move upwards on Fed support and Biden stimulus

MSCI world equity index rose by 0.2%

Shares across the world made further gains on Thursday following the Federal Reserve saying that it was too soon to consider pulling back emergency support for the economy, while Joe Biden proposed a stimulus package.

The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 49 countries, rose by 0.2%, on the way to its best month since November, Reuters reported.

US Treasury yields advance 1.8 basis points to 1.6486, below Wednesday’s two-week high, as euro zone government bond yields stayed below two-month highs.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said yesterday that “it is not time yet” to start discussing any policy changes after the US central bank left interest rates and its bond-buying programme unchanged, despite holding a positive outlook over the US’s economic recovery.

The Fed’s position, robust US corporate earnings and the notion that Biden is going big on infrastructure were all supportive for markets, said François Savary, chief investment officer at Swiss wealth manager Prime Partners.

“The Fed confirmed the roadmap for any change in policy, which is a reassuring factor,” he said. “It looks like tapering won’t materialise until 2022 and that has induced weakness for the dollar, is supportive of market liquidity and means less pressure on emerging markets.”

Unilever to buy back €3bn of shares after strong quarter

Liam Roche
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0
Unilever to buy back €3bn of shares after strong quarter

Sales of Hellman’s mayonnaise surged thanks to Super Bowl ad

Unilever (LON:ULVR) said on Thursday that it will buy back €3bn of shares after robust sales, specifically of ice cream and mayonnaise, led the company to report strong growth during Q1.

The owner of brands including Marmite, Hellman’s mayonnaise and Magnum ice cream stated its intention to repurchase stock in May and finalise the programme by the end of the year.

The decision came about as the FTSE 100 company recorded growth in its underlying sales of 5.7% for Q1, easily surpassing expectations of 3.9%.

The company’s strong results came about as Unilever’s foods and refreshment division grew by 9.8%, in part thanks to people being able to socialise outdoors, while the company’s marketing company, including an advert during the Super Bowl, helped propel sales to double-digits.

Growth came largely thanks to the respective recoveries in China and India, although the latter is experiencing a worrying spike in Covid-19 cases.

The plan for the buyback “reflects our strong cash flow delivery and balance sheet position,” said chief financial officer Graeme Pitkethly.

“We have had a good start to the year. We are growing faster than our markets,” Pitkethly said.

A year or two ago, the market was questioning whether Unilever could grow at all, yet now it is beating its sales growth target.

AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould, reflected on the company’s performance:

“Amid expectations of inflation accelerating this year, Unilever’s pricing power strengths will be put to the test,” said Mould.

“It has flagged additional supply chain costs and raw material inflation, which is putting pressure on margins, so the solution would be to pass on those costs to the end customer.”

“Of the 5.7% sales growth in the first quarter, 1% can be attributed to higher selling prices and the rest greater sales volumes, so it is already displaying pricing power, particularly in its food and refreshment products.”

Apple off to a flyer in 2021 as iPhone sales soar

Liam Roche
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0
Apple off to a flyer in 2021 as iPhone sales soar

Apple’s net income doubled to $23.6bn

A dramatic increase in the number of iPhone sales has seen Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) record its best-ever start to a year as the company enjoys renewed demand for its gadgets.

Apple’s total revenues rose by more than 50% to $89.6bn, surpassing analysts’ expectations. It was a record for Q2 as its smartphones and computers sold at unexpectedly high rates.

The FAANG company’s net income doubled to $23.6bn as strong levels of demand for Apple’s new iPhone 12 model, which was released last autumn, cemented its position. Sales of the iPhone surged by nearly 66% to $47.94bn.

Apple also announced a $90 billion share buyback, a day after Alphabet, parent company of Google, promised to repurchase $50 billion in stock.

CEO of Apple Tim Cook, said that the company swerved the chip shortage in Q2 by using up its supply buffers.

In the fiscal third quarter, the shortage could cost the company $3 billion to $4 billion in revenue, said Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri.

Tim Cook, chief executive, added: “This quarter reflects both the enduring ways our products have helped our users meet this moment in their own lives, as well as the optimism consumers seem to feel about better days ahead for all of us.”

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, is one of the world’s most valuable companies with a market value of over $2.2 trillion. As well as making iPhones, iPads and Mac computers, it also provides services such as the iCloud storage library and App Store.

Shell increases quarterly dividend by 4% as profits jump

Liam Roche
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0
Shell increases quarterly dividend by 4% as profits jump

Shell profits up by 13% to $3.2bn

Shell announced on Thursday that its profits rose during Q1 as the oil giant recovered from the pandemic-induced downturn through a recovery in energy consumption and prices.

Profits at the Anglo-Dutch FTSE 100 company increased by 13% to $3.2bn compared to the same period the year before.

As a result, Shell made the decision to increase its quarterly dividend by 4% thanks to its improvement in trading. Following the announcement Shell shares are up by 1.37% in mid-morning trading.

The oil industry more generally is in the early stages of a recovery following the damage caused by Covid-19, which made energy companies tighten their spending and reduce costs.

Brent crude oil, the benchmark used across the world for the commodity, had remained above $60 per barrel in recent weeks as major producers have put in place supply cuts as demand returns to normal levels.

Royal Dutch Shell confirmed earlier this month that the impact of the Texas winter storm saw the company lose out on $200m in the first quarter of 2021.

Chief executive Ben van Beurden said: “Shell has made a strong start to 2021, generating over $8bn of cash in the quarter. Our integrated business model is ideally positioned to benefit from recovering demand. 

“Our competitive and robust financial performance provides the platform to achieve the goals of our Powering Progress strategy.”

He also said that Shell had reduced net debt by more than $4bn in the quarter, progressing towards the $65bn milestone it needs to hit before increasing shareholder distributions.

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