By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – At 08:56BST, the FTSE 100 is trading higher by 0.3% at 7,183. The midcap FTSE 250 is trading higher by 0.1% at 23,592.
In FX markets, GBP/USD is trading at 1.3819, EUR/GBP is trading at 0.8475. The US Dollar Index is up 0.1%.
Today’s calendar highlights include US CPI which may provide further clarity on the Federal Reserve’s taper timeline. The US Energy Information Administration will announce its latest weekly oil inventory report at 15:30BST.
Stocks
Deliveroo (LON:ROO) - H1 revenue up 82% to £922 million. Gross transaction value more than doubles to £3.386 billion. Reiterates upgraded full year guidance from Q2 trading update.
Phoenix Group (LON:PHNX) - H1 cash generation more than doubles to £872 million, on track to deliver at top end of target range. Declares interim dividend of 24.1p per share.
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (LON:SPX) - H1 organic revenue up 17% to £643.7 million. Adjusted operating profit up 42%. Strong first half performance improves full year outlook.
Avast (LON:AVST) - Agreed merger with NortonLifeLock (NASDAQ:NLOK). Under terms of agreement, Avast shareholders will receive $7.61 in cash and 0.0302 of a new NortonLifeLock share. Values Avast between £6.2-6.6 billion.
Admiral Group (LON:ADML) - H1 group profit before tax from cont ops up 76% to £482.2 million. Boosts interim dividend 63% to 115p per share.
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd (LON:PSHP) (NYSE:SQ) - Acquires 7.1% of Universal Music Group from Vivendi (PA:VIV) for $2.8 billion.
CLS Holdings (LON:CLSH) - Rent collection high with 99% of H1 rent collected and 97% of Q3 contracted rent collected to date. Interim dividend maintained at 2.35p per share. H1 shaped by pandemic with higher vacancy and stable property valuations.
Quilter (LON:QLT) - Net client cash flow increased 127% in H1 to £2.5 billion. Total AUM up 7% to £126.6 billion. Receives regulatory approval for £100 million share buyback.
4Imprint (LON:FOUR) - H1 revenue increases to $326.8 million. Processed 616,000 total orders. Reintroduction of biannual dividend payments; interim dividend of 15.00c per share declared.