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Stock prices in London were mixed on Tuesday morning, with London’s blue chip index outperforming European peers, boosted by HSBC and Airtel Africa. The FTSE 100 index opened up 10.16 points, 0.1%, at 9,664.33. The FTSE 250 was down 45.58 points, 0.2%, at 22,465.90, and the AIM All-Share was down 4.39 points, 0.6%, at 768.01. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.1% at 964.87, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.4% at 19,537.78, and the Cboe Small Companies was slightly lower at 17,695.68. In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 0.3% lower. Investors are closely watching relations between the US and China, with presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping set to meet in South Korea later this week. The US and Japan signed an agreement for ‘securing’ supplies of critical minerals and rare earths, the White House said, as US President Donald Trump visited Tokyo. The deal comes as the US tries to boost access to critical minerals with China tightening controls on rare earths. The objective of the deal is ‘to assist both countries in achieving resilience and security of critical minerals and rare earths supply chains,’ the statement said. Sterling was at $1.3308 on Tuesday morning, down from $1.3331 at the London equities close on Monday. The euro was higher at $1.1652 from $1.1639. Against the yen, the dollar was lower at JP¥151.92 versus JP¥153.04. In Asia on Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 0.6%, the Shanghai Composite in China lost 0.2%, and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong retreated 0.3%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed 0.5% lower. In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.7%, the S&P 500 gained 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.9%. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury narrowed to 3.97% on Tuesday from 4.02% on Monday. The yield on the 30-year was at 4.54%, slimmed from 4.59%. In London, Airtel Africa led the FTSE 100 and jumped 7.4% as it said it will increase investment to build on the improved sales, earnings and customer numbers reported in the first half of the financial year. Pretax profit ballooned to $656 million in the half year to September 30 from $178 million the year prior. The prior period was significantly impacted by derivative and foreign exchange losses, primarily in Nigeria, while the current period benefitted from a $90 million gain largely arising from Nigerian naira appreciation during the current quarter and the Central African franc appreciation during the previous quarter. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased 33% to $1.45 billion from $1.09 billion a year ago at a Ebitda margin of 48.5%, improved from 45.8%. Revenue jumped 26% to $2.98 billion from $2.37 billion and basic earnings per share multiplied to 8.3 US cents from 0.8 cents. Chief Executive Sunil Taldar said: ‘The scale of the opportunity across our markets remains substantial.’ The dividend was increased by 9.2% to 2.84 cents per share from 2.60 cents. HSBC shares were 3.1% higher as the bank raised its profitability outlook for 2025 and reported robust double-digit net interest and fee income growth. The Asia-focused, London-based universal bank said pretax profit fell 14% to $7.30 billion in the three months ended September 30, down from $8.48 billion a year earlier. Diluted earnings per share declined 18% to $0.28 from $0.34 previously. Net interest income rose 15% to $8.78 billion from $7.64 billion, while net fee income grew 12% to $3.51 billion from $3.12 billion. Net operating income increased 4.8% to $16.78 billion from $16.01 billion, with total operating expenses excluding amortisation and impairment of intangible assets 20% higher at $9.12 billion from $7.60 billion. ‘The positive progress we are making gives us confidence in our ability to upgrade our targets and we now expect 2025 [return on average tangible equity] excluding notable items to be mid-teens, or better,’ said Chief Executive Officer Georges Elhedery. On the FTSE 250 index, shares in C&C Group were down 0.9% as it said profit rose in the first half of the year despite lower revenue. Pretax profit increased by 57% to €25.8 million in the six months to the end of August from €16.4 million a year prior, as operating costs were reduced €790.0 million from €832.9 million. Excluding exceptional items, pretax profit was up 12% to €32.1 million from €28.6 million. Net revenue fell 4.1% to €825.7 million from €861.4 million. C&C said the decline was due to the transfer of Budweiser Brewing Group volume in Ireland. C&C declared an interim dividend of 2.08 cents per share, up 4.0% from 2.00 cents a year prior. It said it still intends to return €150 million shareholders via a combination of dividends and share buybacks in the three years to financial 2027. ‘We have delivered a solid first-half performance against a challenging market backdrop,’ said CEO Roger White. ‘We believe we are well prepared for the all-important festive trading period, and whilst we expect challenging economic conditions to persist, we remain committed to the delivery of our full-year earnings targets.’ On the AIM index, shares in Idox jumped 25% as it agreed to be bought by a newly-formed company indirectly owned by investment funds of Long Path Partners, a privately-owned investment firm. Under the deal, Idox shareholders will receive 71.5 pence per share, 27% higher than Monday’s closing price of 56.40p. It valued Idox’s share capital at £339.5 million. Long Path Partners expects the takeover to become effective during the first quarter of 2026. Idox Chair Chris Stone said the company is confident in its standalone prospects, while he noted plans by the potential buyer to invest in Idox’s product suite. ‘Following careful consideration, as a board we have unanimously concluded that the acquisition is in the interests of our key stakeholders,’ he added. Gold was lower at $3,890.50 an ounce early on Tuesday from $3,993.32 late Monday. Brent oil was trading lower at $63.80 a barrel from $65.99. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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