By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – At 07:36GMT, FTSE 100 futures are trading higher by 0.15% at 7,536.
In FX markets, GBP/USD is trading at 1.3515, EUR/GBP is trading at 0.8435. The US Dollar Index is down 0.3%.
Bitcoin is trading at $44,868.
Today’s calendar highlights include US Trade Balance, Canadian Trade Balance.
Stocks
BP (LON:BP) - Q4 underlying replacement cost profit was $4.1 billion. Q4 reported profit for the quarter was $2.3 billion, compared with a loss of $2.5 billion for Q3. Announced a dividend of 5.46 cents per ordinary share payable in March 2022. Intends to execute a further $1.5 billion share buyback from 2021 surplus cash flow prior to announcing its first quarter 2022 results. For 2022, BP is committed to using 60% of surplus cash flow for share buybacks and intends to allocate the remaining 40% to strengthen the balance sheet.
Vodafone (LON:VOD) - Iliad has reportedly bid for Vodafone’s Italian unit. (Bloomberg)
Ocado (LON:OCDO) - FY group revenue up 7.2% to £2.5 billion. Ocado Retail sales up 4.6% to £2.3 billion. Loss before tax of £176.9 million reflects increased investment in Solutions business. Guides for Ocado Retail to return to strong, mid-teens revenue growth in 2022. Guides for OSP fee revenue to more than double in 2022. Total capital expenditure for the Group is expected to be around £800 million in 2022, driven by accelerating roll out of OSP worldwide. Did not declare a dividend.
SSE (LON:SSE) - Upgrading its expectations for full-year 2021/22 adjusted EPS to at least 90 pence from at least 83 pence. Intends to recommend a full-year dividend of 81p per share plus RPI for 2021/22.
Tui (LON:TUIT) - Q1 group revenue increased to €2.4 billion from €0.5 billion last year. 67% of Q1 2019 capacity was operated in Q1 2022, in line with expectations. Q1 Group underlying EBITDA almost break-even at €65.4 million loss. 6.0 million bookings across Winter 2021/22 and Summer 2022, with an acceleration in bookings since the start of the new year. Summer 2022 bookings are 72% of Summer 2019 levels.
DCC (LON:DCC) - Q3 group operating profit was in line with expectations and ahead of the prior year. DCC continues to expect that the year ending 31 March 2022 will be another year of strong operating profit growth, in line with current market consensus expectations, notwithstanding the adverse impact of currency translation and the significant increase in the wholesale cost of energy products.
Micro Focus (LON:MCRO) - FY revenue falls 5% on constant currency basis to $2.9 billion. Adjusted EBITDA of $1.040 billion at a margin of 36%. Recommended final dividend of 20.3 cents per share. On track to deliver goals of FY23 exit with a flat or better revenue trajectory.
Hipgnosis Songs Fund (LON:SONG) - Declared interim dividend of 1.3125 pence per share.
Sirius Real Estate (LON:SRET) - Bizspace’s annualised rent roll increased by 6.7% in August to December period. predominantly due to growth in average rental rates. This increase in annualised rent roll is expected to have a modest impact on BizSpace's contribution to the Group's results in the financial year to 31 March 2022.
Bellway (LON:BWY) - H1 overall reservation rate increased 5.8% to 202 per week. Completed a record 5,694 homes. Average selling price increased 2.8% to £311,800. Strong forward sales position, with an order book comprising 6,628 homes. Remains on target to deliver volume growth of around 10% to over 11,100 homes this financial year.
Avon Protection (LON:AVON) - Awarded a contract to supply the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency with the second-generation Advanced Combat Helmet. The contract has a maximum value of $204 million over a five-year duration, being a one-year base period with a maximum value of $46 million plus four further one-year extension options.
Centamin (LON:CEY) - Underground operations at its Sukari Gold Mine will transition from contractor-mining to owner-operator mining with immediate effect. This change will deliver significant cost savings and improve operational control and mining flexibility, whilst also enabling the company to upskill the local workforce. There is no change to the 2022 annual production and cost guidance. As a result of purchasing the incumbent contractor underground mining fleet, the annual capital expenditure guidance for 2022 is increased by $10.5 million to $225.5 million.
Joules Group (LON:JOUL) - H1 revenue increased 35% to £127.9 million. Gross margin increased by 0.2 percentage points to 50.4%.