UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 24 (updated)

Indus Towers

24/04/2024 07:48

(Adds new items, updates futures)
       April 24 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100  .FTSE  index is
seen opening higher on Wednesday, with futures  FFIc1  up 0.56%.
   
    * LLOYDS: Lloyds Banking Group  LLOY.L  reported a 28% fall
in first-quarter pretax profit, in line with analyst
expectations, as rising costs, peaking interest rates and
intensifying competition in the mortgage market hurt income.
        * VODAFONE: Bharti Airtel  BRTI.NS  is not in talks to
buy UK-based Vodafone Group's  VOD.L  21.05% stake in Indus
Towers  INUS.NS , the Indian telecom operator said, after a
newspaper reported that it was eyeing the stake.
        * PZ CUSSONS: PZ Cussons  PZC.L  said it will divest
several of its assets across the globe, including its popular
self-tanning brand St. Tropez, to reduce its debt levels.
    * Reckitt: Reckitt'S  RKT.L  like-for-like sales growth beat
estimates in the first quarter as more people bought its Lysol,
Dettol and Finish cleaning products even as prices rose.
        * HALEON: Haleon  HLN.L  said Dawn Allen has been
appointed as its new chief financial officer, effective Nov. 1.
    * JET2: Jet2  JET2.L  forecast a 33% jump in its annual
profit, and said 55% of seats were sold for this summer season
on strong forward bookings for package-holiday customers and
demand from flight-only passengers.
        * QUILTER: British wealth manager Quilter  QLT.L 
reported a 5% rise in its assets under management for the first
quarter, helped by improved net inflows and a pick-up in equity
markets, although that was partly offset by rising bond yields.
        * SERICA: Serica Energy's  SQZ.L  post-tax profit
slumped by 42% to 103 million pounds ($128.18 million), it said.
        * OIL: Oil prices were slightly higher after industry
data showed a surprise drop in U.S. crude stocks last week.


        
  
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 (Reporting by Prerna Bedi and DhanushVignesh Babu in Bengaluru)
 ((Prerna.Bedi@thomsonreuters.com; +91 98052 24616;))