JD profits jump 56pc, Vedanta claims record first quarter
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Following its flat start to the week, the FTSE 100 is predicted to fall 12.5 points on Tuesday.
Stocks to watch
JD Sports Fashion reported annual profits before tax and exceptional items up 56% to £244.8m on revenue up 31% to £2.4bn. The FTSE 250 group, which had £213m net cash at year end, lifted the final dividend 4.8% to 1.30p to bring the total dividend to 1.55p, an increase of 4.7%.
After a ramp up in production in the first quarter, Vedanta Resources achieved record levels of aluminium, zinc, silver and copper production at its India mines. The FTSE 250 miner’s subsidiaries also announced record interim dividends in March with Hindustan Zinc declaring a dividend of about $2.1bn, including dividend distribution tax, and Vedanta Limited declaring a dividend of around $1bn, of which about $500m will be received by Vedanta Plc to be used towards early redemption of 2018 bonds.
Rockhopper Exploration increased its economic production to 1,350 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2016, the company said in a statement. At year-end, the Falklands and Greater Mediterranean-focused outfit's liquidity position stood at $81.0m (£64.8m) and the company was debt free. Furthermore, existing production was expected to largely cover general and administrative costs going forward as the outfit continued to make progress on bringing its Sea Lion field online.
Newspaper round-up
Britain’s retailers suffered a third consecutive month of falling sales in March, according to industry figures that add to evidence that a post-referendum rise in living costs is denting consumer spending. In advance of official inflation figures on Tuesday, expected to confirm sharper price rises in the shops, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said takings were down 1% compared with March last year. - Guardian
UK energy suppliers have shouldered the highest wholesale market costs in two years and face further cost hikes ahead alongside a political crackdown on rising bills. The energy sector is braced for a political blow as the Government mulls stepping in to cap prices after a flurry of energy tariff increases from some of the largest suppliers raised prices for millions of households. - Telegraph
Royal Dutch Shell was accused of taking part in 'one of the worst corruption scandals the industry has ever seen' after buying an oil field in Nigeria. The Anglo-Dutch giant joined forces with Italian rival Eni to acquire the site off the coast of the West African country for £1billion – giving it access to 9bn barrels of oil, worth nearly half a trillion dollars at today's prices. - Mail
US close
Stocks on Wall Street eked out some small gains on Monday as strength in the energy sector helped to offset losses in the financials space ahead of key bank earnings later in the week, with geopolitical tensions never far from investors’ minds.
The Dow Jones Industrial ended flat at 20,658.02, the S&P 500 nudged up 0.1% to 2,357.16 and the Nasdaq added 0.1% to close at 5,880.93.
Energy shares got a boost as oil prices rallied following another shutdown at Libya's Sharara oilfield and amid growing concerns over Syria after the US missile strike last week.
However, financials were under pressure as market participants eyed the start of earnings season, with results due from banking heavyweights JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo on Thursday.