UK Stock News:
Barclays (LON:BARC) posted 1Q results: “Group attributable profit decreased 7% to £433M, resulting in a basic EPS of 2.7p (Q115: 2.9p). Core attributable profit increased 53% to £950M, resulting in a basic EPS contribution of 5.8p (Q115: 3.8p) (…) Group profit before tax of £793M (Q115: £1,057M) reflected an 18% increase in Core profit before tax to £1,608M, more than offset by an increased Non-Core loss before tax of £815M (Q115: £310M) (…) Group return on average tangible shareholders’ equity (RoTE) of 3.8% (Q115: 4.0%). Core RoTE of 9.9% (Q115: 7.1%) (…) Group performance in the quarter was impacted by the Non-Core results, with a loss before tax of £815M (Q115: £310M) driven by negative total income of £242M (Q115: positive income of £222M), including fair value losses on the Education, Social Housing and Local Authority Losses (ESHLA) portfolio of £374M (Q115: £149M). (…) Common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio declined modestly to 11.3% (December 2015: 11.4%) due to increased regulatory deductions and the acquisition of intangibles in relation to the JetBlue credit card portfolio, within US consumer cards. (…) Group RWAs increased £5B in the quarter to £363B and leverage exposure increased £54B to £1,082B.”
London Stock Exchange Group (LON:LSE) published a 1Q Interim Management Statement: “Q1 total income from continuing operations up 9% to £387.6M (…) The Group has started the year well and delivered a strong Q1 financial performance. We achieved underlying growth in each of our core business areas, with particularly strong performances in LCH’s OTC clearing, at FTSE Russell and good results across Capital Markets. We also continued to make good progress integrating recent acquisitions, developing innovative new products and expanding services and partnerships in line with our successful open access strategy.”
CRH (LON:CRH) Plc said in its trading update: “Group sales for the first quarter of 2016 increased by 9% compared with proforma 2015, largely driven by continued positive momentum in the Americas where the economic and business environment remains favourable. (…) we expect total Group EBITDA for the seasonally less significant first half of the year to be close to E1B, representing mid-single digit percentage growth compared with proforma 2015. (…) we expect to continue to make progress on a Group EBITDA basis in H2 2016.”
Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) reported 1Q production: “Copper production in Q1 2016 was 157,100 tonnes, an increase of 7.3% on Q1 2015 with the first full quarter of production from Zaldivar and increases at Antucoya offset by lower production at Centinela Cathodes, as grade declined, (…) Copper production in the quarter was 7.5% lower than in Q4 2015 (…) Gold production in Q1 2016 was 56,700 ounces, a 1.8% increase on Q4 2015 largely due to higher gold recoveries at Centinela (…) Molybdenum production at Los Pelambres was 1,700 tonnes in Q1 2016, compared to 2,100 tonnes in Q1 2015, principally due to a fall in grade (…) Cash costs before by-product credits in Q1 2016 were $1.72/lb, 6.0% lower than in Q1 2015, but 4.2% higher than in Q4 2015.”
Home Retail Group (LON:HOME) announced FY results: “Sales down 1% to £5,668M; flat at Argos, down 3% at Homebase (…) Benchmark profit before tax decreased by 28% to £94.7M (…) Basic benchmark EPS decreased by 28% to 9.3p.”
DS Smith (LON:SMDS) issued a pre-close trading statement: “Group performance remains in line with our expectations. The trends described in our trading statement of 9 March 2016 have continued, with good volume growth across the business, and returns on sales and on average capital employed improved versus the comparable period.”
Global News
In Asia stocks were mostly lower on Wednesday, as investors stayed cautious ahead of U.S. and Japanese central bank policy decisions, while crude oil prices hovered near 2016 highs. Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.4% as Japan-based suppliers of iPhone parts fell after Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported its first-ever decline in iPhone sales and its first revenue fall in over a decade overnight.
In Currency Markets the Australian dollar fell more than 1 percent to $0.7672 after data showed Australia’s consumer prices unexpectedly fell 0.2% in January-March, undershooting median forecast of a 0.3% rise. The euro was back up at $1.1309. The dollar held at 111.18 yen after reversing from 110.67. Sterling last stood at $1.4580.
Oil futures rose half a dollar in early Asian trading on Wednesday and remained near 2016 highs on the back of strong investor sentiment and a weak dollar, although analysts warned this month’s bull-run could soon run out of steam. International Brent crude futures were trading at $46.26 per barrel, up 1.1%, from their last settlement. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was also up 1.2 percent, at $44.56 a barrel. WTI was further lifted after the American Petroleum Institute reported a drawdown of nearly 1.1 million barrels in U.S. crude inventories last week versus a 2.4 million-barrel build expected by analysts.
In the US the S&P 500 stock indexes higher last night, buoyed by gains in the energy and materials sectors, even though lackluster economic data weakened the U.S. dollar, thereby giving support to oil and gold prices. The S&P 500 gained 0.19%, to 2,091.7. Apple shares (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell almost 7.0% after the bell as its earnings fell below expectations and its outlook also disappointed. Shares were down 0.7% at the end of the regular session. Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) shares lost more than 10% in late trading after it reported lower-than-expected revenue for the first quarter, hurt by weaker spending by big advertisers.
Economic Calendar
09:30 GMT+1 UK Prelim GDP q/q
15:30 GMT+1 US Crude Oil Inventories
19:00 GMT+1 US FOMC Statement
19:00 GMT+1 US Federal Funds Rate
22:00 GMT+1 NZD Official Cash Rate
22:00 GMT+1 NZD RBNZ Rate Statement
US Equities After the Close Earnings highlights
Apple (AAPL) – Q2 Adj. EPS USD 1.90 vs. Exp. USD 2.00 and Q2 Revenue USD 50.56bln vs. Exp. USD51.97bln. They forecast Q3 Revenue between USD 41bln-43bln vs. Exp. USD 47.32bln. Q2 iPhone sales51.2mln units vs. Prev. 61.2mln units last year and Q2 iPad sales 10.3mln units vs. Prev. 12.6mln units lastyear. Additionally, the Co. authorised an increase of USD 50bln to the return capital program.
AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) – Q1 Adj. EPS USD 0.72 vs. Exp. USD 0.69 and Q1 Revenue USD 40.5bln vs. Exp. USD 40.5bln.The Co. forecast that they are on track for their FY guidance. Q1 mobility revenues USD 18.0bln (-1.3% Y/Y)and they reported a net gain of 2.3mln NA wireless subscribers in the quarter.
Comcast (CMCSA) – Co. is in discussions to acquire DreamWorks Animation (DWA) for over USD 3bln.
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