First half profits rise for Fresnillo, Reckitt Benckiser interim revenue grows

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The FTSE 100 is expected to open 16 points higher on Tuesday, having closed down 0.31% at 6,104.88 on Monday.

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Fresnillo reported gross profit of $321.2m (£249.75m) in its first half on Tuesday, up 56.3% year-on-year. The FTSE 100 company said that included a $65.1m benefit from the reassessment of the recoverable gold inventories on the leaching pads at Herradura. It said its operating profit and EBITDA came in at $216.9m and $469.9m for the six months ended 30 June, up 232.1% and 52.6%, respectively.

Consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser reported a 10.8% jump in first-half net revenue on Tuesday thanks to a strong performance from its health and hygiene businesses amid solid demand for cleaning and pain relief products. Total revenue for the half rose to £6.9bn, with revenue from the hygiene business up 13.9% to £2.7bn, while the health segment saw an 8.8% increase to £4.2bn.

Asset manager St.James's Place beat analysts' estimates on many metrics for the first half of its financial year, posting funds under management of £115.7bn, with both gross inflows and net inflows edging past forecasts. At 140%, the group's solvency ratio was also well ahead of some analysts' estimates. Over the same period, the group's IFRS profit after tax did nearly quadrupled to £178.1m, coming in far ahead of estimates. However, the underlying cash result of £114.4m was slightly worse than the £116bn that the consensus had pencilled in.

Newspaper round-up

The number of people claiming unemployment benefits per job vacancy in Britain has increased fivefold since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, according to an employment thinktank. The Institute for Employment Studies (IES) said approximately eight people are claiming benefits support for every job opening, up from 1.5 people per job before the crisis began in March. – Guardian

The government’s stamp duty cut to reboot Britain’s virus-stricken property market has benefited London most and had little impact elsewhere so far, according to Zoopla. In a reflection of the disproportionate benefit for wealthier buyers, the property website said that agreed house sales in the capital jumped by 27% in the first two weeks of the stamp duty holiday. – Guardian

Restaurants have warned they could be crippled by a Whitehall push for mandatory calorie labels on menus as the hospitality industry battles for survival. Pub and restaurant bosses said the plans could deal a fresh hammer blow to the beleaguered industry as it emerged that hospitality outlets lost close to £30bn in sales during the second quarter of 2020. – Telegraph

The City regulator has been criticised for a lack of enforcement action over misleading financial promotions despite a spate of scandals which cost ordinary investors hundreds of millions of pounds. The Financial Conduct Authority did not prosecute any authorised firm or individual over errant financial promotions between 2013 and 2019 and fined only three groups of authorised firms and individuals, according to a freedom of information request. – The Times

Investors who bought Boohoo shares because of its high ethical ratings missed a “clear red flag” that should have alerted them to problems in its supply chain, a leading City broker says. In a highly critical research note, Liberum said some of the fast-fashion group’s institutional investors should have queried limited disclosures on the sources of its cut-price clothing. – The Times

US close

US stocks closed higher on Monday as market participants prepared for a week full of major corporate earnings amid continued stimulus talks in Washington.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.43% at 26,584.77, while the S&P 500 was 0.74% firmer at 3,239.41 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.67% stronger at 10,536.27.

The Dow closed 114.88 points higher on Monday, reversing most of the losses recorded at the end of last week amid ratcheting up in tensions between the US and China following the closure of a Chinese consulate in Houston and a US consulate in Chengdu.

Gold prices hit a new record high of $1,943.92 prior to the open, before slipping to $1,930.91 later on, as investors seemed to stock up on more traditional safe havens as those same US-Sino relations remained strained going into the new week. Silver also hit its highest level in almost seven years as

Not only were political relations frayed, but fears regarding the Covid-19 crisis were also doing the rounds, especially in hard-hit states like Florida, Texas and Arizona.