BBA trading in line with expectations, IAG profits fall by more than half
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 64 points higher on Friday, having closed down 0.87% at 7,207.41 on Thursday.
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Aviation support company BBA Aviation said trading remained in line with expectations, with revenue for the first four months of 2019 up 23.1% year-on year, reflecting organic growth along with the acquisitions of EPIC, Firstmark and Ontic licences acquired during 2018. Like-for-like revenue was up 1.1% at constant currency rates, adjusting for fuel prices and before acquisitions.
Specialist international distribution and services group Bunzl said finance director Brian May has decided to retire after more than 13 years in the role and 25 years at the company. He will be succeeded by Richard Howes, who will join the group on 1 September, initially as chief financial officer designate, before joining the board and becoming CFO on 1 January 2020.
International Consolidated Airlines’ (IAG) profit more than halved in the first quarter as the owner of British Airways was buffeted by rising fuel costs and stiff competition. Operating profit in the three months to the end of March dropped 60% to €135m (£117m). Total revenue increased 5.9% to €5.32bn but passenger revenue per available seat fell 0.8% to 6.16 cents.
Newspaper round-up
Financial markets were braced for a full-blown trade war between the world’s two economic superpowers as the US imposed higher tariffs on $200bn worth of Chinese goods. Last-minute talks in Washington between Chinese vice premier Liu He and US trade representative Robert Lighthizer failed to salvage months of talks on a deal and at 12.01am on Friday tariffs on Chinese goods were raised to 25% from 10%. – Guardian
The famous London toy retailer Hamleys has been sold to its Indian business partner, Reliance Industries, in a deal worth nearly £70m. Founded in 1760, Hamleys is the world’s oldest toy shop and over the last 16 years the retailer, best known for its seven-storey store on Regent Street, in London, has passed from owners in Iceland, to France and, most recently, to China. – Guardian
Uber, the American cab-hailing app, is set to go public on Friday at a valuation of $82bn (£63bn), the biggest tech flotation in five years, and one that will mint hundreds of millionaires. Since it was formed in 2009, Uber has transformed cities. 93 million people use it every month to get around, and 1.5bn Uber journeys took place in the first three months of this year. – Telegraph
Jaguar Land Rover could tie up with Peugeot and Vauxhall-owner PSA Groupe as the French company swoops in a move that raises fears about job losses – but could help stem losses at Britain’s biggest carmaker. Leaked “post-integration documents” identifying benefits such as shared administrative functions of a combination – possibly a sale of part of Tata-owned JLR to PSA – are circulating at high levels within the companies, according to sources. – Telegraph
Metro Bank could substantially increase the amount of capital it raises in a planned rights issue and unveil a new management team as part of efforts to stabilise the high street lender reeling from an accounting blunder. Shares in Metro slumped another 8 per cent yesterday to a new record low on speculation that the bank could tap investors for even more than the £350 million it said in February it would raise. Banking sources said that they expected the bank to have to change its senior management as the price for its recent mistakes and the sharp fall in the share price. – The Times
US close
US stocks closed lower on Thursday following as the White House revealed it would move ahead with preparations to increase tariffs on Chinese exports even as a negotiating team from Beijing arrived in Washington for two days of talks.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.54% at 25,828.36, while the S&P 500 closed 0.30% weaker at 2,870.72 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.41% to 7,910.59.
The Dow closed 138 points lower on Thursday, despite being down almost 400 points earlier in the session, as stocks dropped across the board, following on from a mostly lower session a day earlier and extending the S&P 500 and Nasdaq's losing streak to a fourth straight day on the back of the escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing.
With sentiment already hit by the current state of the trade talks themselves, Trump seemed determined to further exacerbate things at a Republican Party rally on Wednesday.
"You see the tariffs we're doing? Because they broke the deal. They broke the deal," Trump said. "They can’t do that, so they’ll be paying."