London pre-open: Stocks seen touch higher; William Hill, Bovis in focus

London stocks were set to open a little higher on Monday following a mixed session in Asia and the release of weaker-than-expected Japanese economic growth figures.

The FTSE 100 was expected to open nine points higher than Friday’s close at 6,925.

CMC Markets’ Michael Hewson said: “As we look ahead to a new week Europe’s markets look set to open slightly higher after Asia markets underwent a mixed session in the wake of the latest Japanese Q2 GDP numbers which came in at 0%, sharply down from the 0.5% seen in Q1, and below expectations of 0.2%.

“Of greater concern was that business spending also slid 0.4% when it was expected to rise 0.2%, meaning that for all the additional measures announced by Prime Minister Abe as well as the Bank of Japan in the last quarter the economy continues to struggle. Following on from last week’s disappointing US and Chinese data and it would appear that the global economy slowed down quite markedly in the second quarter.”

On the data front, there are no major UK releases due. In the US, Empire manufacturing is at 1330 BST, while the NAHB housing market index is at 1500 BST.

In corporate news, William Hill rejected an improved cash-and-shares offer from Rank Group and 888 Holdings received over the weekend and continued to refuse to enter talks.

Casino operator Rank and online gaming specialist 888 launched the improved offer on Sunday that valued the UK's biggest bookmaker at 352p per share.

Bovis Homes posted its results for the six months to 30 June on Monday, with an 18% jump in revenue to £412.8m, from £350.7m a year ago.

The FTSE 250 firm’s housing gross profit jumped 19% to £100.3m, while its operating profit grew 18% to £63.9m.

Operating profit margins remained stable at 15.5%.

Bovis reported profit before tax of £61.7m - up 15% - while basic earnings per share grew 14% to 36.5p.

“We have delivered a record number of homes in the first half of 2016 which has driven strong profit growth, improved returns and a 9% increase in the interim dividend,” said Bovis Homes chief executive David Ritchie.

Genus has lost a US legal dispute and been ordered to pay its opponents $1.5m upfront in damages plus an ongoing royalty for the patent its Genus Sexed Semen (GSS) processing technology was said to have infringed.

Genus has now sought an injunction from the court to allow its ABS subsidiary to terminate the 2012 semen sorting agreement on ninety days notice and to provide relief from the restrictive provisions under that agreement.