By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – At 08:44BST, the FTSE 100 is trading higher by 0.3% at 7,038.75. The midcap FTSE 250 index is trading higher by 0.2% at 23,064.05.
Gainers
Rentokil (LON:RTO) (+4.5%) – Expects market expectations for annual profit to increase following H1 results which were “slightly ahead of expectations”.
Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) (+3.4%) – To buyback $2 billion shares, raise dividend as higher oil prices boosted earnings.
Anglo American (LON:AAL) (+4.1%) – Record profit in the first half of the year. Declared dividend of $3.1 billion and share buyback of $1 billion.
Lloyds (LON:LLOY) (+1.2%)– Restores dividend after reporting pretax profit of £3.9 billion in the first half.
BAE Systems (LON:BAES) (+2.2%) – Raises dividend by 5% and additional $500 million share buyback. Expects underlying EPS to grow by 3%-5% over last year.
Relx (LON:REL) (+2.4%) – Expects revenue and profit growth to be slightly above historical trends. Increasing interim dividend by 5% to 14.3p.
Laggards
Smith & Nephew (LON:SN) (-7.0%) – On track to meet full-year guidance assuming surgery volumes not constrained by the pandemic in the second half of the year.
BT Group (LON:BT) (-5.5%) – Revenue of £5.07 billion slightly below consensus of £5.15 billion.
National Express (LON:NEX) (-3.9%) – Half year revenue down 3.8% vs 2020. Group EBITDA increased 45% to £128.1 million.