Senior posts strong first half, Clarksons reiterates expectations

Stocks to watch

Senior reported strong first-half results on Monday, with a 7% increase in sales and a 13% rise in adjusted operating profit. The FTSE 250 company said it secured significant contract wins in both its Aerospace and Flexonics divisions, contributing to a book-to-bill ratio of 1.15. Its full-year outlook remains positive, with an anticipated growth in line with previous expectations, and the interim dividend was increased 25% to 0.75p.

Shipping services firm Clarksons reiterated its expectations for the full year even as it posted a drop in interim profit and revenue. In the six months to 30 June, underlying pre-tax profit fell to £51.5m from £53.1m in the same period a year earlier, with revenue down to £310.1m from £321.1m. Clarksons said that both spot and forward business transacted in the first ahead of the same period last year in the broking division.

Newspaper round-up

Imported food coming into the UK through Brexit border posts is being sent back to Europe to be tested due to a lack of laboratory capacity in Britain, food bodies have said. The SPS Certification Working Group, which represents 30 trade bodies covering £100bn worth of the UK’s food supply, has written to the government warning that members are being advised that some samples of imported foods are being sent to countries such as Germany to be tested before they can be released at the border. – Guardian

Britain’s trade union and manufacturing leaders have warned that major international manufacturers are holding back investments in the UK until Labour shows it is committed to boosting the industry. A month after Keir Starmer’s landslide victory, the heads of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and Make UK, which represents 20,000 employers across the UK, have joined forces to warn the government that rapid action is required to launch a long-term industrial strategy, or risk losing billions of pounds in investment abroad. – Guardian

Britain must work more closely with the EU to shore up the Continent’s defences, according to the boss of a major Royal Navy helicopter supplier. Clive Higgins, chief executive of defence giant Leonardo UK, backed the Government’s efforts to foster closer ties with Brussels as cash-strapped administrations on both sides of the Channel look to stretch their military budgets further. – Telegraph

An independent report that upheld claims that a senior executive at the Financial Conduct Authority had behaved in an “aggressive, unpleasant and bullying” way has been withdrawn after the regulator admitted it had botched its handling of the complaint. The Financial Regulators Complaints Commissioner had published a “final report” that said the authority should apologise to the creditor of a collapsed payments firm over the alleged conduct of Mark Steward, its former director of enforcement and market oversight. – The Times

The number of jobs in financial services in London has continued to decline, with the amount of new vacancies in the second quarter falling by 25 percent compared with the same period last year. The rise of offshoring in the sector, the impact of Brexit as well as slower economic growth in the UK and elsewhere have prompted a long-lasting slowdown in hiring in financial services. – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed sharply on Friday amid resurgent fears of a potentially oncoming recession.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.51% at 39,737.26, while the S&P 500 lost 1.84% to 5,346.56 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 2.43% weaker at 16,776.16.

The Dow closed 610.71 points lower on Friday, extending losses recorded in the previous session as fears that it may be too late for the Fed to start cutting rates if it wants to avoid a recession sent shares sharply lower.

Friday's primary focus was July's nonfarm payrolls report, which revealed hiring in the US slowed abruptly last month, prompting talk in markets of "policy mistakes" by the central bank and of a "growth scare".

According to the Department of Labor, non-farm payrolls rose by 114,000 in July, below economists' expectations for an increase to 175,000.