Informa, The Restaurant Group and Caffyns

“The FTSE100 edged into positive territory in early trading with sterling lower on the dollar and crude oil prices softer after OPEC yesterday extended its output pledge by a further nine months leading into 2018. Traders are continuing to assess yesterday's news of slower-than-expected UK gross domestic product growth in Q1 while this afternoon the focus will be on US preliminary GDP, durable goods, consumer sentiment and inflation expectations data,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“International exhibitions, events, business intelligence and academic publishing group Informa topped the blue-chip board in early trading on a bullish update ahead of today’s annual general meeting. The group continues to benefit from its strengthened operating capabilities, increased scale and international breadth and remains on track for a fourth consecutive year of growth in revenue, earnings and cash flow. Informa’s shares were up by more than 2.9%.

“The Restaurant Group led the FTSE250 board with a double-digit rise despite like-for-like sales falling in the 20 weeks to 21 May, although the figures have improved from the end of last year. The group has seen a strong performance from concessions in airports due to strong passenger numbers and its pubs business which has been helped by good weather. The group is also continuing to tackle the competitiveness of its leisure businesses and is focused on achieving a sustainable volume-led turnaround. The group’s shares were u buy over 10.1% in early trading.

“New and used car dealer Caffyns was up in early trading following a strong full-year performance. The group bucked the trend with like-for-like new car sales up 9.3% compared with a 1% drop in the sector while used car sales rose by 15.9%. Underlying pre-tax profits were up by 40% in a challenging marketplace. The group’s shares were up by more than 4%.”

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