Diageo, Anglo American and AstraZeneca

“Blue-chips edged into positive territory following on from gains on Wall Street and in Asia. Oil prices weakened overnight, while precious metals were on the up,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“Drinks giant Diageo led the FTSE100 in early trading following strong full-year results with operating profits up 25% at £3.6bn. The group has seen a consistently strong improvement across all regions and continues to expect mid-single digit top line growth. Diageo, which has already committed to return up to £1.5bn to shareholders through a share buyback programme, has recommended a 5% increase in the final dividend which would take the total payout for the year to 62.2p per share. Diageo’s shares were up by more than 5.5%.

“Anglo American was a strong early riser after it resumed dividends having slashed its net debt by to $6.2bn in the first half, which is ahead of its $7bn year-end target. The group has delivered cost and volume improvement of $0.6bn and is on track to meet its $1bn target for the full year. Anglo American’s shares were up by over 3.3%.

“AstraZeneca’s shares slumped after it continued to feel the impact of the loss of patents on profitable drugs in the US and disappointing results for a lung cancer drug trial. AstraZeneca has reiterated its full-year guidance but the drop in first half revenues and the cancer trial results proved to be a toxic combination as far as investors were concerned with the group’s shares down by more than 14.5%.”

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