Rightmove profits fall sharply, TP ICAP sees revenue improve
By Josh White
Date: Friday 07 Aug 2020
(Sharecast News) - London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open three points lower on Friday, having closed down 1.27% on Thursday, at 6,026.94.
Stocks to watch
Online real estate agency Rightmove posted a sharp fall in half-year profits and agency branches, reflecting the impact of the coronavirus lockdown as it reported a cautiously optimistic outlook from trading in July. Operating profit fell 43% to £61.7m on revenue of £98m, a fall of 34%. Membership numbers for agency branches and new home developments combined were 3.3% lower since the start of the year to 19,158. Broken down that revealed a 3.5% decline in agency branches together with a 2.1% fall in new homes developments.
TP ICAP reported an improvement in underlying revenue in its first half on Friday, to £990m for the six months ended 30 June, from £922m a year earlier. The FTSE 250 company said its operating profit was up marginally to £159m from £158m, while basic earnings per share were 19.9p, rising from 19.3p. It said a 5.6p per share interim dividend would be paid on 6 November, in line with the interim dividend last year.
Standard Life Aberdeen proposed an unchanged dividend as the investment manager reported a 30% drop in first-half profit and declining revenue. Adjusted pretax profit for the six months to the end of June fell to £195m from £280m as fee-based revenue dropped 13% to £706m. The company proposed an interim dividend of 7.3p a share - the same as a year earlier.
Newspaper round-up
British tourists planning to visit France are being warned that they may have to quarantine on their return amid fears of a second wave of coronavirus there. Holidaymakers should only book trips that can be easily rearranged at 24 hours' notice, a senior aviation source said last night, adding that France was "bubbling" with cases. - The Times
A restaurateur who used the early 1990s recession to rapidly expand Pizza Express is hoping to pull off the same feat again with dining chains Franco Manca and The Real Greek. David Page, boss of AIM-listed Fulham Shore, said he has been inundated with requests from landlords to take on sites left empty by rival chains that have fallen victim to the coronavirus lockdown. - Telegraph
The NHS will be inflicting pain, misery and risk of death on tens of thousands of patients if it again shuts down normal care when a second wave of Covid-19 hits, doctors' and surgeons' leaders are warning. They are urging NHS bosses not to use the same sweeping closures of services that were introduced in March to help hospitals cope with the huge influx of patients seriously ill with Covid. - Guardian
The Bank of England has warned lenders not to be tempted to turn off the credit taps this autumn, saying businesses face a £200 billion cash shortfall and need financial support. In evidence that Threadneedle Street is concerned banks might call in loans or fail to extend credit in order to conserve capital, the Bank argued it was in the "collective" best interests of the sector to keep lending. - The Times
News Corp has posted a US$1.5bn loss, with its Australian and United Kingdom newspaper businesses suffering sharp declines in revenue and its Foxtel pay-TV business in Australia bleeding subscribers, new financial results for 2019-20 show. The global media giant released its financial results for 2019/20 on Thursday in the US. The reports paint a grim picture across the last quarter and year, with the exception of its Dow Jones business. - Guardian
US close
Wall Street stocks closed higher on Thursday after this week's initial jobless claims report revealed a surprise decline to their lowest level since the onset of the pandemic and a tech rally late in the session gave indices a boost.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.68% at 27,386.98, while the S&P 500 was 0.64% firmer at 3,349.16 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.00% stronger at 11,108.07.
The Dow closed 185.46 points higher on Thursday, continuing on the upward trajectory seen in the previous session as investors thumbed through a slew of data and earnings releases.
Market participants were reading over some new jobless claims figures from the Labor Department that revealed jobless claims in America unexpectedly broke significantly lower last week. Initial unemployment claims for the week ending on 1 August fell by 249,000 to 1.18m, while secondary unemployment claims also decreased - down 844,000 to 16.1m.
Gains were initially capped as traders were still keeping a keen eye on Washington for clues regarding the next Covid-19 stimulus package. While the Trump administration appeared to make a slight compromise on its opposition to continued federal support for unemployment benefits, offering to extend extra federal unemployment insurance at $400 per week until December, the two parties have still been unable to reach a final deal.
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