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“The FTSE100 was in negative territory in early trading following gains on Wall Street overnight but a mixed performance in Asia,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“Advertising giant WPP led the blue-chip board despite a 40.1% drop in pre-tax profits. The fall reflected net exceptional write-downs of £122m and investors focused instead on the group’s headline figures which showed pre-tax profits up by nearly 16%. Advertising is a bellwether for the economy as a whole and WPP’s performance in the first seven months has been reasonably strong following a record performance in 2015 and despite worldwide GDP growth slowing.
“Drugmaker Hikma Pharmaceuticals has reiterated its full year revenue guidance after a solid first half. Core revenues rose in the first half but core operating profits fell due to delays in product launches in its generics business. Its global Injectables business is performing well, with revenue growth and strong profitability driven by a favourable product mix.
“Engineering solutions provider Costain was an early riser after it closed its first half with a record order book of £3.9bn. Costain sees exciting times ahead as billions of pounds are being spent upgrading and renewing the country's energy, water and transportation infrastructure.”
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