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“Blue-chips opened in negative territory as traders mulled the impact of the US interest rate rise, which sent Wall Street indices south and the price of gold lower The UK makes its rate call at midday but the prospects of a change in policy seems unlikely,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“British Gas parent Centrica topped the blue-chip board in early trading after raising its profit guidance following a strong second half. The group has made savings of more than £300m as part of its £750m per annum cost efficiency programme. The group’s better-than-expected profits will, though, focus even more attention on whether it is doing enough to ensure customers are getting value for money. British Gas has been ‘named and shamed’ by regulator Ofgem for having 74% of customers on expensive standard rates when they could save £174 a year by moving to a cheaper deal. Centrica’s shares were up by more than 2.9%.
“Transport giant Go-Ahead Group has warned that the performance of its rail division will be slightly below its previous estimates. This is primarily due to higher than expected costs with the GTR franchise which includes the strike-hit Southern services. The GTR team continues to try to resolve these issues and provide the best possible service to customers under the circumstances but in doing so, Go-Ahead is set to incur additional costs.
“JD Sports Fashion’s shares fell after working conditions at its warehouse on the Kingsway Business Park in Rochdale were described as being worse than a prison in a Channel 4 documentary. JD Sports believes a large number of the allegations made are untrue and it is disappointed that factual evidence it provided was not taken into account. The group’s shares were down by over 3%.”
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