LONDON MARKET OPEN: Market cheers Moongpig's new gifting foray

(Alliance News) - European equities made a confident start to the new trading week on Monday, for now setting aside the inflation and economic growth worries that have stifled markets in recent weeks and months.

The FTSE 100 index was up 60.93 points, or 0.8%, at 7,450.91 early Monday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 210.27 points, or 1.1%, at 20,046.22. The AIM All-Share index was up 7.49 points, or 0.8%, at 964.13.

The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.9% at 742.98. The Cboe 250 was up 1.1% at 17,762.53, and the Cboe Small Companies was flat 14,674.30.

In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.7%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 1.5% early Monday.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 closed 1.0% higher. The Shanghai Composite ended marginally higher, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was 1.4% lower in late trade. The S&P/ASX 200 ended fractionally higher in Sydney.

In the US on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 staged a late rally to close flat, reversing heavy losses. The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.3%.

The dollar was weaker early Monday.

Sterling was quoted at USD1.2569 early Monday in London, rising from USD1.2463 late Friday. The euro traded at USD1.0607, up from USD1.0547. Against the yen, the dollar faded to JPY127.67 from JPY127.86.

The weaker greenback lifted gold. Gold was priced at USD1,856.68 an ounce early Monday, up from USD1,846.32 late Friday.

"The latest positive push paves the way for a further rise toward the USD1,875/USD1,880 range. The recent retreat in the dollar and the US yields are what support the higher valuation in gold since last week, therefore any change of direction on the dollar, and yields front could stop the rally," Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya commented.

On the London Stock Exchange, Kingfisher shares were 2.7% higher. It said first-quarter sales were above pre-pandemic levels but had weakened year-on-year. The owner of the B&Q chain of DIY stores also unveiled a GBP300 million share buyback.

Kingfisher said group sales in the three months to April 30 fell 5.8% year-on-year to GBP3.25 billion. At constant currency, sales were down 4.2%. On a like-for-like basis, they were 5.4% lower.

The retailer said its quarterly performance was "in line with our expectations".

Sales were 16% higher on a like-for-like basis compared to three years earlier, before the onset of the pandemic.

Chief Executive Thierry Garnier said: "While facing very strong comparatives in the prior year, our continued strategic progress has enabled us to retain a significant proportion of the increased sales during the pandemic.

"Looking forward, we are reiterating our profit guidance for [financial year 2023]. We are focused on delivering on our strategic objectives and growth initiatives, including the growth of our scalable e-commerce marketplace, the expansion of Screwfix in the UK and France, new store openings in Poland, further increasing our trade customer base."

Kingfisher expects adjusted pretax profit of GBP770 million for the current financial year, which runs to the end of January 2023. This would be a 4.5% improvement from GBP737 million in financial 2022.

The company also has more "surplus capital", which in line with policy will be returned to shareholders.

"Further to the ordinary dividend and the recently completed GBP300 million share buyback, the board is pleased to announce the return of a further GBP300 million of surplus capital via a share buyback programme. The first tranche of this programme will commence soon," Kingfisher said.

Software firm Kainos jumped 17%, the best mid-cap performer.

It said revenue in the year that ended March 31 climbed 29% to GBP302.6 million from GBP234.7 million. The figure topped a GBP297 million forecast from Shore Capital Markets.

Pretax profit declined 8.6% to GBP46.0 million from GBP50.3 million. Adjusted pretax profit inched up 3.0% to GBP58.8 million from GBP57.1 million.

The Belfast-based company provides digital services to the public sector, healthcare market and commercial customers. In addition, it is a partner of Pleasanton, California-based enterprise software provider Workday.

Moonpig rose 12% as it unveiled the GBP124 million of Smartbox, which trades as Buyagift. The new acquisition is a provider of physical and experiential gifts.

It is a "step-change" from Moonpig's current proposition, the online greeting cards firm said. The UK gift experiences market is worth GBP6 billion, Moonpig said.

Playtech sat at the other end of the FTSE 250 index, slipping 1.2% and returning some gains from Friday. It had risen 6.7% on Friday as it said talks with suitor TTB Partners are continuing.

Futura Medical surged 19%. The AIM listing said it has landed an exclusive licensing agreement with Cooper Consumer Health. The pact will see Futura's MED3000 erectile dysfunction treatment commercialised throughout the European Economic Area, UK and Switzerland.

Elsewhere on AIM, Ince tumbled 29% as it said revenue for the year ended March 31 was "slightly below the prior year" at GBP97 million.

This was down to a "challenging last quarter" which included a cyberattack on the company in mid-March.

"Together with some adverse movements in our overheads, this will mean that reported pretax profits are expected to be short of market expectations," Ince warned.

Brent oil was trading at USD113.28 a barrel early Monday in London, up from USD112.40 at the time of the London equities close on Friday.

Monday's economic calendar has the latest Ifo German business climate index at 0900 BST.

By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com