Updates from Burberry, SABMiller and Halfords
A small 21-point bump for the FTSE 100 on Wednesday, lifting it to 6,297.2. St James's Place and Merlin Entertainments both saw 2.5% rises to 971p and 410.30p respectively. There was also encouragement for Experian and household goods maker ReckittBenckiser, both up 2.2%. However Sainsbury's shares crashed more than 7% to 253p following its dismal trading news yesterday: half-year profits slumped 18%.
Stateside, more drift for the Dow Jones. The index gave away almost 56 points to 17,702 with almost 2% falls from Nike and Wal-Mart; energy stocks also weakened following a crude oil jolt.
We commence with fragrance-to-macs-to-bags player Burberry and good half-year numbers: profit before tax surges 9% to £155m (2014: £142m); adjusted retail and wholesale profit are up 5% on an underlying basis.
The profits news is better than expected; the interim dividend meanwhile climbs 5% to 10.2p. "In an evolving luxury environment," says boss Christopher Bailey, "we see compelling opportunities by channel, region and product, underpinned by the strength and distinctiveness of our authentic British brand."
However Burberry also warns that the market is still very tough and their results "reflects decisive action as the external environment became more challenging in key markets over the period. We enter the second half mindful of this backdrop".
Next, SABMiller and a six-month trading update: pre-tax profits are down 18% to $2.3bn though its performance was better than it looks after removing currency gusts the company claims.
SABMiller points to underlying performance with group net producer revenue (NPR) growth of 4%; there was also premium lager brands NPR growth of 7%.
The interim dividend per share climbs to 28.2 US cents, up 9%. "Our cost programme," says the brewer, "is on track to deliver more than US$430m of annualised savings by the year end."
Lastly, a quick stop at Halfords. Though total group revenues rise 1.8% to £533.5m group earnings as a whole are down 1.9% to £62.3m from £63.6m for the 26 weeks to 2 October. Like-for-like sales growth was 1.7%, substantially down on last year.
Some of the blame appear to lies with Cycling, due to weak sales in July and August Halfords says, though the longer term picture is rather better for this category insists Halfords. It's the company's first report with new boss Jill McDonald in the saddle.
"The Cycling performance," says McDonald, "in the second quarter was disappointing and, given the seasonal mix towards Cycling during the summer, this contributed to the decline in Group profitability for the period."
Breaking news: FirstGroup makes a first-half £7.5m loss following franchise losses
