FTSE gathers momentum amid positive corporate performance

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The FTSE 100 was in recovery mode after the recent big sell-off gaining as several companies reported positive results. By midday on Wednesday the index was up 1.6% to 6,990.22.

Fashion retailer Next jumped 8.4% to £80.16 after upgrading its annual guidance and pledging special dividends, having enjoyed a stronger-than-expected sales performance so far in the second quarter.

Next's pre-tax profit for the year through January, on a pre-IFRS 16 basis, was now expected at £750 million at the 'central' guidance level, up from previous guidance given in May of £720 million.

Next said surplus cash for the full year was forecast to be £240 million, to be distributed through special dividends during the current financial year, the first to be paid in September.

Specialist media platform Future rallied 6.7% to £34.54, having guided for a full-year profit 'materially ahead' of current market expectations.

Future cited robust digital advertising revenue and ongoing eCommerce product affiliate revenue growth, plus a recovery in magazine sales.

Elsewhere, letter and parcel delivery group Royal Mail reversed 3.0% to 514.8p, even as its first-quarter revenue grew 13% and it said its prospects for the full year were unchanged.

Compared to two years earlier, Royal Mail's revenue had risen 20%.

Mining company BHP gained 0.8% to £22.06 after Bloomberg News reported that it was mulling a $15 billion exit from its oil and gas business, citing sources familiar with the plans.

Fellow miner Rio Tinto added 0.2% to £58.47 after it agreed with community members in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea to assess the environmental and human rights impacts of the the Panguna mine, which ceased operating in 1989.

Chile-focused copper play Antofagasta rose 2.0% to £13.91, having maintained its annual output guidance despite reporting a fall in production for the second quarter, owing to lower grades.

Information services provider Euromoney Institutional Investor rose 1.0% to £10.12 as it reported a 14% rise in third-quarter revenue, led by growth in its subscription business.

Looking ahead to full-year 2021, Euromoney said it remained 'confident' of delivering a result in line with its expectations.

Technology company Computacenter climbed 2.2% to £25.3935 as it touted 'substantial growth' for 2021 after forecasting first-half adjusted pre-tax profit to be about 50% up year-on-year.

Wickes, the DIY chain recently spun out of Travis Perkins, gained 2.0% to 252p on announcing that its first-half sales had risen 33% year-on-year, while sticking to its profit guidance.

Wickes said its adjusted pre-tax profit for the six months through 26 June was still expected to be around £45 million.

Defence technology group QinetiQ added 0.5% to 343.2p as it announced that it still expected to post annual revenue growth in the mid single digits.

QinetiQ said its visibility on revenue under contract for the full year had risen to £940 million, up from £800 million in April 2021.

Russia-focused gold miner Petropavlovsk firmed 0.7% to 21.38p even as its output sank 39% in the first half, as expected, with a higher gold price partially offsetting the blow.

Petropavlovsk's production for the six months through June dropped to 195,000 ounces, though the company stuck to annual guidance of 430,000-to-470,000 ounces.

Infection prevention products group Tristel slumped 9.9% to 594.41p, despite nudging up its annual profit guidance after the rate of hospital admissions for non-Covid-related conditions began to recover.

Tristel, however, also announced that it would write off the value of an equity investment in a medical device company focussed on women's health to the tune of £0.8 million.