DCC revenue rises, Taylor Wimpey reports strong trading

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 65 points higher on Monday, after closing down 1.43% at 6,730.43 on Friday.

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Irish distribution and business support services company DCC’s half year revenue rose as it continues its expansion strategy, while it expects both operating profit and adjusted earnings per share to be “significantly” ahead of expectations. Revenue for the six months ended 30 September, excluding DCC Energy, climbed 13.3% to £6.59bn, compared to last year, while operating profit increased by 33.3% to £117.8m, or up 26.5% on a constant currency basis.

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey said the UK housing market remained resilient, despite the implications of Brexit still being unclear. The company said trading during the second half of this year had been strong. “Looking ahead, we remain confident that our business model and strategy focused on managing the business through the cycle positions us to perform well through all market conditions,” Taylor said in a trading statement.

Legal & General said its retirement sales had risen by roughly £1.3bn in the last month and a half, boosted by the new £1.1bn buyout of a pension scheme from Rolls-Royce. Total retirement sales in the year to date have risen to £6.7bn, up from £5.4bn towards the end of September.

The possible strategic combination involving FTSE 100 company Standard Life’s Indian joint venture, HDFC Life, hit a roadblock on Monday, with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority expressing reservations about the scheme of amalgamation between HDFC Life, Max Life, Max Financial Services and Max India in its current form. It said HDFC Life continued to believe the arrangement was in compliance with all applicable laws, and its was working with the Max companies to make suitable representations to the regulator.

Newspaper round-up

Britain must “adapt to the moment and evolve its thinking” to become a global leader in free trade, Theresa May is to say. The prime minister will pledge to lead the charge in remaking globalisation, days after Donald Trump was elected US president on the promise of protecting American industry and ending a string of free trade agreements. - Guardian

Britain must “adapt to the moment and evolve its thinking” to become a global leader in free trade, Theresa May is to say. The prime minister will pledge to lead the charge in remaking globalisation, days after Donald Trump was elected US president on the promise of protecting American industry and ending a string of free trade agreements. - Guardian

Real wages are likely to fall next year and employment growth to slow as companies grapple with rising inflation, research shows. Employers are predicting median rises in basic pay of only 1.1 per cent for the 12 months ahead, according to the latest quarterly survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and the recruitment agency Adecco. - The Times

Sir Martin Sorrell’s advertising group, WPP, has called an end to the Brexit shock that has hammered the ad market since the EU referendum vote in June and upgraded its forecast for the industry. The world’s largest marketing services company, which manages more than $100bn (£79bn) a year in advertising spend through its Group M media arm, said it was surprised to be upping its forecasts for ad spending in 2016 and 2017, describing the short-term impact of the Brexit vote as negligible. - Guardian

Bargain hunters may love “Black Friday” but most UK retailers now believe that the American-style shopping bonanza is unprofitable and unsustainable. Research shows that almost two thirds of leading retailers feel that the event — which takes place on the 25th of this month — puts increasing strain on their business with little profitable return. - The Times

US close

Wall Street ended the week on a mixed note but only after a post-election surge that saw the biggest weekly gains for the main equity benchmarks for several years.

Nevertheless, while stocks were the main beneficiaries of the surprise election victory by Donald Trump, some data appeared to indicate that global fund managers were either undecided or mixed on how to proceed following Tuesday night´s unexpected result.

The Dow Jones Industrials tacked on 0.21% or 39.78 points to end at 18,847.66 on Friday, the S&P 500 drifted lower by 0.14% or 3.03 points to end at 2,164.45 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.54% or 28.32 points to finish at 5,237.11.

To take note of, Goldman Sachs´s equity strategists estimated that each percentage point reduction in the US corporate tax rate was worth $1.50 of S&P 500 2017 earnings per share, Bloomberg reported.

For the week as a whole, the Dow Industrials advanced 959 points - its best weekly performance in five years - while the S&P 500 rose 3.8% and the Nasdaq-100 was up 1.5%.

Financial Analyst Connor Campbell at Spreadex commented: “The markets remained a mess this Friday afternoon, a variety of different post-election interpretations causing the trading boards to become increasingly splashed with red.”