After a taster with yesterday’s Reckitt Benckiser (LON:RB) bungle, Tuesday saw the proper start of a headache-inducing busy week for UK earnings.
HSBC (LON:HSBA) was arguably the day’s highlight, though given the bank missed full year profit and revenue expectations, perhaps highlight isn’t the right word. Now, a 5% rise in revenue to $51.5 billion, ending 6 consecutive years of contraction, alongside an 11% surge in pre-tax profit to $20.99 billion, is nothing to be sniffed at; yet sniff investors did, sending the bank nearly 3% lower after the bell as they mourned the lack of an immediately announced share buyback.
Investors also weren’t happy with Holiday Inn-owner InterContinental Hotels (LON:IHG). The group’s figures largely impressed, with better than forecast full year operating profit, up 7% to $759 million, and Q4 revenue per available room, which rose 4% against the 1.7% expected. Yet news that there wouldn’t be any special payouts in 2018 as it plans to launch a new upscale brand put investors off, dragging the stock down by 5%.
BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) was another of the FTSE’s reporting firms in the doghouse, with the miner quickly dropping 3% as its interim profit, the company’s best since 2014, missed estimates. This meant investors chose to overlook the firm’s chunky 55 cents per share dividend, a 37.5% increase on this time last year.
Ignoring all this earnings negativity the FTSE managed to eke out a 0.1% rise after the bell, keeping the index the right side of 7250. That’s likely because sterling itself was in trouble this Tuesday; the currency fell a further 0.4% against the dollar, leaving cable back below $1.395 for the first time in almost a week as sterling displayed some pre-David Davis Brexit speech jitters.
Disclaimer: Spreadex provides an execution only service and the comments above do not constitute (or should not be construed as constituting) investment advice or recommendations, or a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. Any person placing trades based on their interpretations of the above comments does so entirely at their own risk. Spreadex Ltd is a financial and sports spread betting and sports fixed odds betting firm, which specialises in the personal service and credit area. Founded in 1999, Spreadex is recognised as one of the longest established spread betting firms in the industry with a strong reputation for its high level of customer service and account management.
In relation to spread betting, Spreadex Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital and can result in losses larger than your initial stake/deposit. It may not be suitable for everyone, so please ensure you fully understand the risks involved. In relation to fixed odds, Spreadex Ltd is licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission under licence number.