Higher production helps boost Polymetal, PureTech Health sees interim revenue fall
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 19 points lower on Tuesday, having closed down 0.47% at 7,094.98 on Friday.
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Higher production helped Polymetal report a strong rise in interim adjusted core earnings as its Kyzyl operation delivered at full capacity. Adjusted earnings earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 34% $403m on gold equivalent production growth of 22%. Gold sales were 604,000 oz, up 36% year-on-year, while silver sales were down 15% to 10.3m oz, in line with production volume dynamics, Polymetal said on Tuesday.
PureTech Health reported a 12% drop in interim revenue as grant revenue plummeted from $3.3m to $0.4m, which more than offset impressive contract revenue growth. With administrative fees and research and development spending on the rise, the healthcare firm's operations loss deepened from $52.3m to $70.3m, though the company swung to a profit before tax of $11.1m from a loss of $16.1m after a gain in the value of its investments.
Russia-focussed real estate company AFI Development reported revenue of $182m in its half-year results on Tuesday, which included rental and hotel operating income of $63.2m. The London-listed firm said gross profit for the six months ended 30 June was $92.8m, while it held cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities at the end of the period totalling $99.1m.
Newspaper round-up
George Osborne’s northern powerhouse thinktank is undertaking its own pro-HS2 review amid concern that the £55.6bn project may be doomed under Boris Johnson’s premiership. The Northern Powerhouse Partnership (NPP) said its study would make sure the region is properly heard ahead of the government’s own “go or no go” review into the high-speed rail line. – Guardian
The pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson ran a “false and dangerous” sales campaign that caused addiction and death as it drove America’s opioid epidemic, an Oklahoma court has ruled in the first judgement of its kind against the drug industry. In a damning 42-page decision, Judge Thad Balkman ruled that the company bore a wide responsibility for helping to create the worst drug epidemic in US history. He said it not only aggressively pushed false claims about the safety and effectiveness of its own narcotic painkillers, but that it changed medical practice with “deceptive” claims intended to break down caution among doctors about prescribing opioids. That included using its huge resources to fund organisations and research to promote narcotics. – Guardian
Small companies are being crippled by an “air-con tax” which means their business rates increase if they install equipment to keep workers cool in the heatwave. The Government is this week being urged to lift the tax after Britain baked in record Bank Holiday temperatures of 33.3C. – Telegraph
The owner of the Daily Mail has cashed in its energy information arm for £300m in the latest stage of a radical pruning that has increased its focus on the tough newspaper market. DMGT announced today that it had sold Genscape, which provides data on oil and gas markets, among other fields of energy, to Wood Mackenzie, the Edinburgh-based consultancy arm of US giant Verisk Analytics. – Telegraph
Industry leaders have attacked “confused” advice on how companies can trade with the European Union after a no-deal Brexit as the government modifies its official guidance. Over the weekend, London and Brussels were forced to clarify information for businesses that export to continental Europe. Officials conceded they “could have been clearer” about what firms need to do before October 31 to continuing supplying customers across the Channel. – The Times
Bristol-Myers Squibb moved a step closer to completing the largest takeover deal in the healthcare industry after Celgene, its target, agreed to sell its blockbuster psoriasis treatment to Amgen for $13.4 billion. Celgene put the treatment, Otezla, up for sale in June to assuage US competition regulators’ concerns that its combination with Bristol-Myers Squibb could give the new company too much power in the market for anti-inflammatory drugs. – The Times
US close
Wall Street markets finished in the green on Monday, after US president Donald Trump gave investors renewed hope of the chances of a trade deal with China at the G7 meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.05% to close at 25,898.83, the S&P 500 increased 1.1% to 2,878.38, and the Nasdaq 100 was 1.47% higher at 7,575.02.
Trump had told media at the meeting that the Chinese “want to make a deal very badly”, and added he was not considering tariffs on Japanese vehicles at this stage.