Market Report
Revenue strong but earnings fall at Millennium & Copthorne
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels posted its first quarter results for the three months to 31 March on Friday, with revenue per available room (RevPAR) rising 17. 7% to £70. 66 during the period, and total revenue improving 16. 1% to £223m.
Kennedy Wilson Europe's portfolio value stays flat in first quarter
Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate saw no growth in its portfolio value in the first quarter but confirmed it was on track to deliver an annualised dividend of 48. 0p per share.
Redcentric says full year trading in line
AIM-listed IT managed services provider Redcentric said on Friday that trading in the year to the end of March was in line with the board's expectations.
Allied Minds portfolio company BridgeSat raises $6m in financing
Allied Minds' portfolio company, BridgeSat, has completed a $6m Series A funding round, including participation from Space Angels, an early stage investment group comprising experts in the Space 2. 0 field.
London open: Stocks nudge lower ahead of payrolls; Pearson surges
London stocks nudged lower in early trade as investors awaited the release of the US non-farm payrolls report, while oil prices continued to retreat.
Pearson surges as investors cheer cost-cutting, strategic review
Pearson surged on Friday as the education publisher posted a 6% increase in first-quarter underlying sales, reiterated its guidance for the full year and announced further cost-cutting measures and a strategic review of its K12 courseware publishing business.
Europe open: Stocks slip on oil price weakness ahead of US jobs data
European stocks are tracking the slight losses seen overnight on Wall Street ahead of the release of the all-important US jobs report for April which may well put paid to expectations of a US central bank rate hike in June.
Inmarsat's supply-demand imbalance leads to Barclays downgrade
Although Inmarsat is "well set for recovery", Barclays has downgraded its shares to an 'underweight' rating from 'equalweight' due to concerns over demand in the medium-term.
Elliott says AkzoNobel will lose four times more jobs without PPG takeover
Elliott Advisors, which owns a 3% stake in AkzoNobel, said on Friday that the Dulux owner could lose up to 6,400 jobs if it remains a standalone company rather than combining with US rival PPG Industries.
Smurfit Kappa profits fall but rising packaging prices lifts outlook
Irish packaging group Smurfit Kappa took a dent to profits in the first quarter but also confidence from solid demand leading to improved volumes, which set the scene for it to increase box prices over the course of the year.
Morgan Advanced Materials trading in line
Morgan Advanced Materials said on Friday that trading conditions since the full year are in line with management expectations.
EasyJet passenger numbers fly higher in April
Low-cost airline easyJet posted its passenger statistics for April on Friday, with total passenger numbers up 11. 7% at 7. 12 million, and its load factor rising 2. 5 percentage points to 92. 9%.
IAG profits take off as passenger revenues recover
British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group reported record first quarter profits well ahead of expectations as a drop in costs offset lower but improving passenger revenues, and said it expected a profit gain over the full year.
London pre-open: Stocks seen lower as investors eye payrolls
London stocks were set for a negative open on Friday as investors awaited the release of the US non-farm payrolls report.
Friday newspaper round-up: Amazon, Elliott Advisors, Sports Direct
Amazon is to more than triple its research and development team in Cambridge working on tech innovations such as its Alexa digital assistant, delivery drones and Echo smart speaker. The US online retailer is opening a new building in the city with room for 400 experts in mathematical modelling, speech science, machine learning and “knowledge engineering”. – Guardian.