Market News 
 
FTSE 100: 7137.35   14.40  0.20% 
FTSE 250: 23489.78  33.62  0.14% 
FTSE AIM: 1260.90  -0.73  -0.06%

The FTSE 100 has eked out small gains despite a mixed day for stocks, an impressive achievement when weakness in oil majors is taken into account, IG Group PLC chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp said. Concern surrounding the delta variant of the coronavirus appear to be driving most of the losses in London, along with the drop in oil prices, but after a weak start to the Monday session it looks as if the index has put its best foot forward, rallying off the lows despite the drop for BP PLC and Shell. "Ultimately indices continue to lack direction, a state of affairs that may well prevail for the rest of the month, as August lives up to its reputation as a rather dull month for equities," Mr. Beauchamp says. 


 
Companies News:

Philip Morris Raises Offer for Vectura to $1.42 Bln

Philip Morris International Inc. said Monday that it has increased its offer for Vectura Group PLC to 1.02 billion pounds ($1.42 billion), trumping Friday's offer from Carlyle Europe Partners V for the U.K. pharmaceutical company.

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Hargreaves Lansdown FY 2021 Assets Under Administration Rose

Hargreaves Lansdown PLC on Monday reported a rise in assets under administration for fiscal 2021, and said it delivered a record performance in the year as a whole.

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U.K. Takeover Panel Extends Clayton Dubilier Bid Deadline for Wm. Morrison

The U.K. Takeover Panel said Monday that it has extended the deadline for Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC to make an offer for U.K. grocer Wm. Morrison Supermarkets PLC in light of the latest offer by SoftBank Group Corp.'s Fortress Investment Group Ltd.

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Halma Acquires Three Companies for GBP48.8 Mln

Halma PLC said Monday that it has recently completed three acquisitions for a total consideration of 48.8 million pounds ($67.7 million), and closed the sale of security systems provider Texecom Ltd. for GBP65 million.

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Deliveroo: Delivery Hero Owns 5.09% of Issued Share Capital

Deliveroo PLC said Monday that it received a notification late Friday that Berlin-based food-delivery services company Delivery Hero SE now owns 5.09% of its issued share capital.

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McColl's Is Considering Capital Raise

McColl's Retail Group PLC on Monday confirmed that it is considering a capital raise to develop its Morrisons Daily stores.

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Argo Blockchain 1H Pretax Profit Jumped to More Than GBP10 Mln

Argo Blockchain PLC on Monday reported improved profit for the first half of the year, reflecting higher production and Bitcoin prices.

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Lok 'n Store FY 2021 Self-Storage Revenue, Occupancy Space Rose

Lok 'n Store Group PLC said Monday that it closed its fiscal 2021 with an increase in self-storage revenue and total occupancy space.

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PageGroup Swung to a 1H Pretax Profit; Resumed Dividends

PageGroup PLC on Monday reported a swing to a pretax profit for the first half of the year, showing a strong recovery from its performance in the year-earlier period, which was significantly hit by the effects of Covid-19.

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Rothermere Gets Extension to Bid Deadline for Daily Mail & General Trust

Daily Mail & General Trust PLC said Monday that the U.K. Takeover Panel has extended the deadline for Rothermere Continuation Ltd. to either make an offer for the media group or walk away.

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Esken Estimates Ryanair's Southend Base Closure Could Hit Ebitda by GBP1.4 Mln in FY 2023

Esken Ltd. said Monday that the closure of Ryanair Holdings PLC's base at the London Southend airport could have an impact of around 1.4 million pounds ($1.9 million) on its Ebitda and cash headroom for fiscal 2023 if no mitigating actions are taken.

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Smartspace Software 1H Revenue Expected to Rise

Smartspace Software PLC said Monday that revenue for the first half of fiscal 2022 is expected to increase, and that growth is also anticipated to accelerate in the second half of the year.

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Domino's Pizza Group Exits Switzerland

Domino's Pizza Group PLC said Monday that it has reached agreements to sell its shareholding in Domino's Pizza GmbH for 0.3 million Swiss franc ($327,833).

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Nightcap to Open New London Cocktail Club Site in Bristol

Nightcap PLC said Monday that it has entered into a lease for a new London Cocktail Club site in central Bristol.

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Polygon Global Partners Gets 1.03% Watchstone Offer Acceptances

U.K.-based investment-management company Polygon Global Partners LLP said Monday that it has received acceptances from Watchstone Group PLC shareholders owning 1.03% of its issued share capital in relation to Polygon's 15.7 million pound ($21.8 million) mandatory offer.

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Clarkson 1H Pretax Profit, Revenue Rose

Clarkson PLC said Monday that pretax profit and revenue increased in the first half of the year, with strong performance across all business areas.

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Smartspace Software's Shares Fall on Weaker 1H Performance in Two Businesses

Shares in Smartspace Software PLC fell on Monday after the company said that sales in its strategic partner Evoko Naso were lower than expected in the first half of fiscal 2022 and that its Anders & Kern business suffered a hit in revenue.

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H&T Names New CFO; Reports Decline in 1H Pretax Profit

H&T Group PLC said on Monday that it has appointed Diane Giddy as chief financial officer and reported a decline in first-half earnings related to Covid-19 restrictions that hurt business early in the year.

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Euro Sun Mining to Float on London Stock Exchange in 3Q

Euro Sun Mining Inc. said Monday that it is planning to float on the London Stock Exchange later this year but won't be raising any extra funds.

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Lamprell's Resolutions on Directors' Pay, Share Plans Face Shareholder Opposition at AGM

Lamprell PLC on Monday reported that three resolutions regarding directors' pay and the company's share plans were passed with around 28.4% of votes cast against them at the annual general meeting.

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Amala Foods to Achieve Commercial Traction, Fund Operations Into 1Q 2022

Amala Foods PLC said Thursday that it will be able to achieve commercial traction and fund operations into the first quarter of 2022 after receiving the remaining balance of an extended loan. 


 
Market Talk:

Hargreaves Lansdown Shares Drop After FY Falls Short

0846 GMT - Hargreaves Lansdown drops 10% after the stockbroker's annual results fell short of market expectations. Though HL previously flagged better-than-expected trading, conditions subsequently normalized more rapidly, leaving estimates exposed, Panmure Gordon says. "It would be easy, therefore, to talk only of 'a miss' but that, in our view, would be missing much more important points about Hargreaves's performance over the last year," Panmure analysts say. "Firstly, client growth has continued apace, with a further 233k customers added, and younger customers at that. Secondly the platform has coped during a period of exceptional market challenges. The short term has shouldered the costs, but the medium term will reap the benefits." (philip.waller@wsj.com)

Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires; +44-20-7842-931

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

08-09-21 1211ET