Updates from TSB, Auto Trader and Interserve
A bad day for stocks on Thursday with the FTSE 100 down almost 1.9% to 6,178.6, an 118-point fall. The biggest shocker was Rolls-Royce Holdings, plunging almost 20% to 536.50p after a new profits warning - its fourth in just over 12 months. Miners AngloAmerican and Glencore also saw heavy falls, down 8.7% and 7.6%, spurred by more falls in commodities including oil.
Over in the US the Dow Jones also turned south, down 1.4% to 17,448 with Caterpillar slumping almost 4.5% on more jobs and outlets pressure. For the week the Dow Jones is down 2.6% in total.
The big news this morning is that TSB Bank is snapping up more than £3bn of ex Northern Rock loans and mortgages from Cerberus Capital, which has bought £13bn of Northern Rock debt from the Treasury.
It's thought two other players, including Blackstone and Goldman Sachs, also bid. The move by TSB should make strategic sense say analysts, upping organic growth through acquisition. Northern Rock was split in two five years ago with one part of the business eventually going to Virgin Money.
The new loans should be easily transplanted into TSB's existing infrastructure though the financial terms of the mortgages are not clear yet.
We motor next to Auto Trader Group. In a six month update it claims revenues rise 8% to £138.2m (H1 20151: £127.5m) while underlying operating profit is up 17% to £83.0m (H1 2015: £70.8m).
Reported operating profit is up 23% to £82.9m (H1 2015: £67.5m) while basic earnings per share from continuing operations comes in at 5.98p per share (H1 2015: 0.95p).
"Auto Trader," it said in a statement, "has delivered a strong first half performance, as retailers, consumers and manufacturers alike are increasingly recognising the value of our marketplace."
Lastly, a Q3 trading statement from Interserve. Support Services continues to perform well it claims while international demand for operational support functions continues "to be strong".
On the construction side in the UK, its building and fit-out businesses is "encouraging", though there have been three loss-making energy process contracts within its infrastructure business.
"This is due," says the company, "in large part to sub-contractor insolvencies and the consequential impacts on project timing and costs."
Breaking news: German growth slows in the July-to-September third quarter, from 0.4% to 0.3%
