The Times - UK (2020-07-31)

the times | Friday July 31 2020 1GM 45

MarketsBusiness

Exchange rates

Bank sells Bank buys

Australia $ 1.716 1.973

Canada $ 1.641 1.887

Denmark Kr 7.739 8.827

Euro ¤ 1.054 1.204

Hong Kong $ 9.501 10.802

Hungary 345.501 419.947

Indonesia 17232.700 21604.200

Israel Shk 4.148 4.862

Japan Yen 127.659 147.404

New Zealand $ 1.843 2.179

Norway Kr 11.052 12.786

Poland 4.411 5.383

Russia 84.399 101.353

S Africa Rd 20.108 23.745

Sweden Kr 10.793 12.139

Switzerland Fr 1.126 1.307

Turkey Lira 8.692 10.160

USA $ 1.242 1.415

Rates for banknotes as traded by Royal Bank of

Scotland plc yesterday

Dollar rates

Australia 1.4000-1.4000

Canada 1.3441-1.3442

Denmark 6.3094-6.3099

Euro 0.8477-0.8477

Hong Kong 7.7498-7.7503

Japan 105.00-105.01

Malaysia 4.2370-4.2420

Norway 9.1202-9.1227

Singapore 1.3747-1.3748

Sweden 8.7389-8.7424

Switzerland 0.9115-0.9118

Other Sterling

Argentina peso 94.328-94.336

Australia dollar 1.8277-1.8279

Bahrain dinar 0.4889-0.4955

Brazil real 6.7385-6.7568

Euro 1.1066-1.1068

Hong Kong dollar 10.117-10.118

India rupee 97.752-97.780

Indonesia rupiah 18861-18994

Kuwait dinar KD 0.3981-0.4003

Malaysia ringgit 5.5324-5.5389

New Zealand dollar 1.9641-1.9645

Singapore dollar 1.7939-1.7959

S Africa rand 22.034-22.047

U A E dirham 4.7851-4.7856

Money rates %

Base Rates Clearing Banks 0.10 ECB Refi -0.50 US Fed Fd 0.00-0.25

Halifax Mortgage Rate 3.74

Treasury Bills (Dis) Buy: 1 mth 0.023; 3 mth 0.041. Sell: 1 mth 0.000; 3 mth -0.020

1 mth 2 mth 3 mth 6 mth 12 mth

Interbank Rates 0.0649 0.0891 0.1065 0.1703 0.3109

Eurodollar Deps 0.05-0.25 0.06-0.31 0.07-0.32 0.11-0.36 0.26-0.51

Mkt Rates for Range Close 1 month 3 month

Copenhagen 8.1969-8.2519 8.2367-8.2379 43ds 128ds

Euro 1.1090-1.1016 1.1068-1.1067 4pr 13pr

Montreal 1.7308-1.7580 1.7546-1.7549 1pr 4pr

New York 1.2945-1.3069 1.3055-1.3056 2pr 6pr

Oslo 11.713-11.970 11.906-11.910 1ds 16pr

Stockholm 11.312-11.452 11.409-11.413 20ds 56ds

Tokyo 136.08-137.34 137.08-137.10 3ds 10ds

Zurich 1.1831-1.1921 1.1901-1.1906 9ds 26ds

Premium = pr Discount = ds

Sterling spot and forward rates

London Grain Futures

LIFFE Wheat (close £/t)

Nov 166.00 Jan unq Mar unq
May unq Jul unq Volume: 602

London Metal Exchange

(Official)

Cash 3mth Dec 21

Copper Gde A ($/tonne)

6433.5-6433.5 6428.0-6428.0 6420.0-6420.0

Lead ($/tonne)

1841.5-1841.5 1860.0-1860.0 1900.0-1900.0

Zinc Spec Hi Gde ($/tonne)

2275.0-2275.0 2284.0-2284.0 2320.0-2320.0

Alum Hi Gde ($/tonne)

1681.5-1681.5 1719.0-1719.0 1798.0-1798.0

Nickel ($/tonne)

13716.0-13716.0 13771.0-13771.0 14010.0-14010.0

Tin ($/tonne) 15mth

17920.0-17920.0 17884.0-17884.0 17635.0-17635.0

Gold/Precious

metals (US dollars per ounce)

European money

deposits %

Currency

1mth 3mth 6mth 12mth

Dollar

0.13 0.20 0.29 0.55

Sterling

0.06 0.11 0.17 0.31

Euro

0.10 0.15 0.20 0.50

Bullion: Open $1966.50

Close $1947.52-1948.12 High $1969.10

Low $1939.97

AM $1932.20 PM $1957.65

Krugerrand $1928.00-2032.00 (£1476.69-1556.35)

Platinum $903.00 (£691.63)

Silver $23.28 (£17.83)

Palladium $2082.00 (£1594.64)

Data as shown is

for information

purposes only. No offer is made by

Morningstar or this publication

A

campaign to

shorten stock

market trading

hours has hit trouble

amid opposition from

European exchanges

(Ben Martin writes).

The boss of

Euronext, whose

exchanges include

Paris and Dublin, said

that it would not

change the way it

operates its markets.

That threatens to

derail a proposal from

the Investment

Association and the

Association for

Financial Markets in

Europe, which want a

cent, to £11.13¾; BP retreated 10½p, or

3.6 per cent, to 283½p.

Vesuvius, which supplies products

to the steel and foundry industries,

gained 51½p, or 13.6 per cent, to 431¼p

after its interim results showed that

its restructuring and cost saving have

limited the reduction of its

profitability. First-half revenue fell by

19 per cent to £720 million and

operating profit fell by 48.3 per cent

to £51.1 million. However, the

company pointed to signs of

improvement in steel and foundry

and analysts said that it was well

placed to cash in on a recovery.

Among the smaller stocks, HML

Holdings rose by 7p, or 23.7 per cent,

to 36½p after the residential property

managers company said that it had

been subject to a takeover offer from

BDB Nominee, a private firm.

Belvoir, the lettings and estate

agent, rose by 11½p, or 8.8 per cent, to

142½p after the company said that it

was confident of meeting its pre-

Covid expectations for this year.

IAN LANGSDON/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

Defence spending sets up

Ultra for double payout

Louisa Clarence-Smith Market report

A

British defence group

shrugged off the markets

rout after it promised to

dispense a double dividend

to investors.

Ultra Electronics, which supplies

sonar equipment to the Royal Navy,

announced the payout as it said that

defence spending remains “robust” in

its key five-eyes markets of Australia,

Canada, New Zealand, Britain and the

US, despite the impact of the Covid-

19 pandemic.

The company, based in west

London, pledged to pay its previously

deferred final dividend from March

alongside an interim dividend of 15½p

a share. It released a strong set of

first-half results, with both order book

growth and cash conversion ahead of

market expectations.

Ultra’s revenue rose 6.7 per cent to

£413.1 million year-on-year while

profit before tax rose 3 per cent to

£47.9 million. Over the period its

order book grew 15.7 per cent to

£1.2 billion, with sales including a

$101 million order for sonobuoys. Its

cash conversion of 98 per cent cut net

debt to £107.4 million.

The update lifted shares in the

FTSE 250 company by 202p, or 9.2

per cent, to £23.90.

Elsewhere, disappointing financial

results and fears of the impact of a

potential second wave of the

coronavirus and further lockdown

measures weighed on the stock

market. The FTSE 100 retreated

141.47 points, or 2.3 per cent, to

5,989.99. The broader FTSE 250 lost

230.61 points, or 1.3 per cent, to

17,017.05.

Equiniti Group slumped 26½p, or

18.4 per cent, to 116¾p after the

provider of pensions and share

registration and dividend payment

services posted a drop in first-half

earnings, citing the economic impacts

of the pandemic, which had

compounded an “already weakening

environment”. Covid-19 has resulted

in a reduction in interest rates, a

sharp fall in dividend payments by

corporate clients and delays to

projects caused by lockdown.

Travel stocks were among the

biggest fallers after a warning that the

government could impose further

isolation measures, a week after a 14-

day quarantine on people arriving in

the UK from Spain dampened hopes

of a summer boost for the tourism

industry.

Tui, Britain’s biggest travel operator,

closed down 17p, or 5.3 per cent, to

306½p. Wizz Air, the budget airline,

fell 210p, or 6 per cent, to £33;

International Consolidated Airlines

Group, owner of British Airways, lost

3½p, or 1.9 per cent, to 181p.

Oil stocks fell because of fears that

new quarantine measures could

further constrain demand. Royal

Dutch Shell B lost 67½p, or 5.7 per

Morgan’s retirement home move

construction

T

he founder of

Redrow, the

housebuilder,

has built up a 3.4 per

cent stake in

McCarthy & Stone,

Britain’s biggest

builder of retirement

homes.

Steve Morgan, 67,

who established

Redrow when he was

21 and left the

company last year,

has bought the

holding through

Bridgemere

Investments, his

Guernsey-based

investment vehicle.

He remains Redrow’s

biggest shareholder,

with a 16 per cent

stake in the group.

The Flintshire-

based Redrow floated

in 1994 and has

expanded to become a

£1.6 billion company,

making Mr Morgan

one of Britain’s

richest people,

estimated to be worth

about £750 million.

Mr Morgan is

chairman of

Bridgemere Group,

which invests in a

range of sectors and

finances development

projects in Europe.

McCarthy & Stone

fell to a £25 million

loss in the first half of

its financial year after

sales fell by 44 per

cent. However, it is

predicting a strong

increase in demand

for retirement living

and said this month it

had more than

£100 million available

to invest in new land

opportunities. It plans

to buy 60 or more

sites in the next year.

Shares in McCarthy

& Stone fell 1.4 per

cent to 69p.

Steve Morgan has built

up a 3.4 per cent stake

in McCarthy & Stone

Wall Street report

Data painted a worrying economic

picture, dragging down the Dow

Jones industrial average by 225.92

points, or 0.85 per cent, to 26,313.65.

However, the big tech stocks were

bright. The Nasdaq Composite put

on 0.43 per cent to 10,587.81 points.

Company Change

Vesuvius Interims show positive impact of restructing and cost actions 13.6%
Ultra Electronics Serves up double dividend 9.2%

BAE Systems Restarts dividend payments 5.9%

Shaftesbury Investors buy in after recent share price fall 3.5%
PPHE Hotel Investors start to see upside after sharp fall during lockdowns 3.3%

Petrofac Talks of fresh quarantine restrictions raises fear of further slump in demand -7.0%
Just Group Lloyds and Standard Chartered results offer gloomy outlook for financial services -7.4%

Lloyds Banking Group Swings to first-half loss after taking provision for bad debts -7.6%

Inchape Reports first-half loss and says it is unable to provide financial guidance -12.1%
Equiniti Posts drop in first-half earnings -18.4%

The day’s biggest movers

Name Pre-tax figure

Profit (+) loss (-)

Dividend

Anglo American (resources HY) $471m ($1.88bn) $0.28 p Sep25

Astrazeneca (health HY) $1.89bn ($899m) $0.9 p Sep 14

BAE Systems (engineer HY) £689m (£776m) 13.8p p Sep 14
Equiniti Group (support HY) -£0.7m (£11.6m) nil

Franchise Brands (support HY) £0.9m (£1.8m) 0.3p p Oct 19

Fuller Smith & Turner (leisure FY) £166.2m (£26.1m) nil

GoCo Group (media HY) £6.1m (£7.6m) 0.4p p Oct 2
Greencoat UK Wind (finance HY) £32.4m (£16.6m) 3.5p p Aug 28

Hutchison China Meditech (health HY) -$49.7m (-$45.4m) nil

Inchcape (retail HY) -£188m (£154m( nil

Indivior (health HY) -$171m ($166m) nil
Jardine Matheson (industrials HY) -$775m (-$2.25bn) $0.44 p Oct 14

Lloyds Banking Group (banking HY) -£602m (£2.89bn) nil

Man Group (banking HY) $55m ($110m) $0.049 p Sep 2
Morgan Advanced Materials (engineer HY) -£25.5)m (£54.7m) nil

Robert Walters (support HY) £4.3m (£20.9m) nil

Rentokil Initial (support HY) £61.8m (£113,8m) nil

Restore (support HY) -£3.1m (£12m) nil
Royal Dutch Shell (resources HY) -$18.4bn ($3bn) $0.16 p Sep 21

RSA Insurance (finance HY) £211m (£227m) nil

Schroders (banking HY) £280.1m (£319.3m) 35p p Sep 24
Standard Chartered (banking HY) $1.6bn ($2.4bn) nil

Ultra Electronics (engineer HY) £47.9m (£46.5m) 54.6p p Sep 18

Vesuvius (engineer HY) £34.6m (£78.6m) nil
6 Results in brief are given for all companies valued at more than £30 million. f = final p = payable

Results in brief

shorter trading day to

improve the work-life

balance for financial

services workers.

The London Stock

Exchange has not yet

made a decision on the

idea but opposition in

Europe could make it

difficult for the group

to shorten its trading

day if it put it out of

alignment with the

Continent.

Europeans

oppose cut in

trading day