Rio Tinto swings to profit, Hargreaves Lansdown H1 strong
London’s FTSE 100 was set to open four points lower at 7,182.
Stocks to watch
Mining giant Rio Tinto swung to a profit in the year to the end of December thanks to a recovery in commodity prices, as it announced a better dividend than expected and a $500m share buyback.
Net earnings came in at $4.6bn compared to a loss of $866m the year before, while underlying earnings rose 12% to $5.1bn.
Following its recent admission to the FTSE 100 index, packaging company Smurfit Kappa reported that earnings grew last year despite headwinds from higher raw material costs and adverse currency effects, while it hiked its dividend by 20%.
For calendar 2016, the company made record earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortisation of €1.23bn, up 5% from the previous year, and the EBITDA margin increased to 15.1% from 14.6% due to volume growth across markets, resilient box pricing and investment in high return projects.
Boosted by a much-elevated level of share dealing since the Brexit vote, Hargreaves Lansdown posted a strong set of half-year numbers and hiked its dividend 10%.
The investments and pensions group generated £184.8m of revenue for the six months ending 31 December, a 16% jump for the same period the previous year, while good cost control led to profit before tax leaping 21% to £131m.
In the press
The UK could lose 30,000 finance sector jobs as a result of Brexit, but EU rivals need to act to avoid importing banking risk to the continent, according to an influential thinktank with close ties to the European commission. The City of London stands to lose 10,000 banking jobs and 20,000 roles in accountancy, law and consulting, as EU clients move business worth €1.8tn (£1.6tn) to the continent after Brexit, according to Brussels-based Bruegel. – Guardian
Royal Dutch Shell is to call time on four decades of history as it prepares to publish multi-billion pound plans to dismantle the colossal oil rigs in the Brent oilfield in what will be viewed as a major milestone for the industry. The oil giant will today submit its decommissioning plans to the Government, putting an end to the decade it has spent grappling with how to safely retire the aging field. – Telegraph
Charles Wilson’s charm offensive to win support for Booker’s proposed £3.7 billion merger with Tesco made a positive start yesterday, with one independent shopkeeper calling him a “goose that lays the golden eggs”. The chief executive of Britain’s largest wholesaler and Steve Fox, Booker’s managing director for retail, were at Hampden Park in Glasgow for the first of a series of meetings with operators of its “symbol group” stores, such as Premier, Budgens, Londis and Family Shopper. – The Times
The government could demand that the Bank of England blocks the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse’s merger, under powers granted to the Treasury when the central bank was nationalised 71 years ago. Senior legal sources said that the chancellor retained the right to direct the Bank’s decision on whether to wave through the increasingly contentious deal in the light of the Brexit vote. – The Times
US close
US stocks pared earlier gains on Tuesday after the Dow and the Nasdaq reached intraday records as investors weighed a slew of corporate earnings and trade data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.19% to 20,090.29 points after climbing to an intraday record of 20,155.35 earlier in the session.
The Nasdaq was 0.19% higher to 5,647.22 points at the closing bell after hitting an intraday all-time high of 5,689.60 earlier.
The S&P 500 index finished with a slight increase of 0.02% to 2,293.08 points.