Vodafone reports better-than-expected revenue, Beazley swings to profit

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 35 points higher on Friday, having closed down 0.43% at 6,968.30 on Thursday.

Stocks to watch

Telecoms operator Vodafone reported a better-than-expected rise in first quarter revenue as European and African services returned to growth. The company on Friday said total revenue grew 5.7% to €11.1bn with Europe mobile churn 1.6 percentage points lower than the same period last year, although commercial activity had yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. Reported service revenue grew 3.1% to €9.3bn and 3.3% on an organic basis against analyst expectations of 1.4%.

Beazley reported a profit before tax of $167.3m in its first half on Friday, swinging from a loss of $13.8m a year earlier, as its gross premiums written increased 22% to $2.04bn for the six months ended 30 June. The FTSE 250 insurer said its combined ratio for the period was 94%, compared to 107% in the prior year, as the board declared no interim dividend.

Newspaper round-up

Workers from 16 key sectors including health, transport and energy will not have to isolate after being pinged by the NHS Covid app, as it was revealed that more than 600,000 people in England and Wales were sent self-isolation alerts last week The raft of changes, after days of frantic talks with industry leaders, came amid open Conservative revolt over the so-called “pingdemic” with the former health secretary Jeremy Hunt warning the government that it was facing a crisis of public trust in the system. - Guardian

Welcome to the world of private equity, also known as the “billionaire factory”, where already super-rich firms have used low interest rates and their considerable financial firepower to embark on a multi-billion dollar buying spree this year. Mere mortals were this week given a rare glimpse inside the money-spinning and highly secretive private equity industry – which buys up companies, often using more debt than stock market investors would tolerate, then floats or sells them on again – as the London firm Bridgepoint floated on the stock market. - Guardian

Britain and France are in talks to roll out a “wallet” travel app to ensure holidaymakers have all the necessary Covid documentation before heading to the airport. Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, met his French counterpart Jean-Baptiste Djebbari in Folkestone on Wednesday to discuss using an app developed by the owner of the Channel Tunnel to avoid chaos at the border. - Telegraph

The world’s largest private equity firm doubled its profits in the latest quarter. Blackstone benefited from a record increase in the value of its investments, bolstered by a string of initial public offerings. With its private equity portfolio value up by 13.8 per cent in the three months to June 30, well ahead of the S&P 500 share index, the American fund highlighted the recent listings of TaskUs, the outsourcer, and Sona Comstar, an Indian car components maker. Total net income attributable to Blackstone hit $1.31 billion, up from $568 million in the same quarter in 2020. - The Times

Starling said yesterday that its revenues were growing and that it had been profitable for ten months. Anne Boden, chief executive of the digital bank, said that the results put the financial technology group on track for a flotation either late next year or in 2023. “As soon as you get to profitability, you break free,” she said. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed higher on Thursday despite a surprise increase in weekly jobless claims.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.07% at 34,823.35, while the S&P 500 was 0.20% firmer at 4,367.48 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.36% stronger at 14,684.60.

The Dow closed 25.35 points higher on Thursday as strong second-quarter earnings continued to flow in.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was slightly higher on Thursday at 1.29%, up from the 1.17% seen earlier in the week that startled investors.

As always, market participants were digesting this week's jobless claims report, this time revealing that first time unemployment claims in the US bounced back unexpectedly in the week ended 17 July, pushed higher by the annual retooling of automakers.