Imperial Brands tobacco enjoying 'much stronger' sales, Next raises guidance after solid summer
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The FTSE 100 is expected to open three points lower on Tuesday, having closed down 0.42% at 7,458.41 on Monday.
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Imperial Brands said its tobacco business was enjoying "much stronger" sales half and said it plans to launch its heat-not-burn tobacco product early in 2019. Ahead of a capital markets event in London on Tuesday, the FTSE 100 group said it remained on track to deliver full year constant currency revenue and earnings growth in line with its previous guidance range.
Close Brothers reported a “good performance” for the year ended 31 July on Tuesday, with a 4% increase in adjusted operating profit to £278.6m, an improvement of 5% in adjusted basic earnings per share to 140.2p and a return on equity of 17.0%. The FTSE 250 company said the proposed full year dividend per share of 63.0p represented growth of 5%.
Next has raised its guidance for annual profit after trading in August and early September was better than expected. Group pre-tax profit will be £727m in 2018, broadly in line with the year before, Next predicted. In May it estimated profit would fall to £717m.
Newspaper round-up
Theresa May has faced down cabinet critics of her Chequers plan and won backing from ministers to sell it to next week’s Conservative Party conference. The prime minister also secured cabinet agreement yesterday for a new immigration system after Brexit despite objections from Philip Hammond, the chancellor, on how the change should be managed. - The Times
Keir Starmer has been forced to reaffirm that Labour has not ruled out a referendum that could cancel Brexit, after John McDonnell appeared to insist the party could only back a vote on the deal itself. Labour has said it intends to vote against Theresa May’s deal, if it resembles the Chequers proposals set out in the summer white paper. However it is highly uncertain what would happen next if MPs reject her agreement. - Guardian
Amazon has made two preliminary approaches for Deliveroo, as the food delivery company is circled by ride-hailing giant Uber. Deliveroo, known for its green-jacketed bike couriers, has raised hundreds of millions of pounds in investment and is currently valued at about $2bn. - Telegraph
US close
US stocks finished on a mixed note on Monday, as trade tensions resurfaced after China called off planned trade talks with Washington over the weekend and as fresh tariffs on Chinese imports kick in.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended its session down 0.68% at 26,562.05 and the S&P 500 lost 0.35% to 2,919.37, while the Nasdaq 100 added 0.23% to 7,548.75.
Traders were also reacting to the fact that US and European Union officials were set to meet to talk about trade over the coming week.
“While markets no doubt believe that the current trade concerns are unlikely to be the beginning of a long-term phenomenon, the latest breakdown in talks highlights the possibility that this will rumble on for some time yet,” said Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG.
“With the US midterms ahead, Trump is unlikely to give any concessions at the risk of seeming less effective, thus lessening any hopes of a breakthrough in the coming months.”