TI Fluid Systems earnings rise in first half, AstraZeneca gets another approval for 'Forxiga'

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The FTSE 100 is expected to open 27 points lower on Monday, having closed up 0.04% at 7,122.95 on Friday.

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TI Fluid Systems reported a 32.7% improvement in revenue at constant currency in its first half on Monday, to €1.52bn (£1.29bn), as its adjusted EBIT rose to €127.8m, from €27.6m. The FTSE 250 company said its margin for the six months ended 30 June was 8.4%, up from 2.3% in the first half of 2020. Its board announced an interim dividend of 1.93 euro cents per share, which it noted could represent a full year pay-out in line with its 30% of adjusted net income dividend policy.

AstraZeneca said on Monday that ‘Forxiga’, or dapagliflozin, a sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, has been approved in the European Union for the treatment of chronic kidney disease in adults with and without type-2 diabetes. The FTSE 100 pharmaceuticals giant said the approval by the European Commission was based on positive results from the ‘DAPA-CKD’ phase 3 trial.

Newspaper round-up

A letter to Boris Johnson sent a fortnight ago by James Ramsbotham called on the prime minister to save the north-east from the “damage being done to our economy” by Brexit and urged him to give it his “most urgent and personal attention”. Two weeks later, it remains unanswered. Ramsbotham is the chief executive of the North East England Chamber of Commerce and speaks for thousands of businesses caught by the red tape and extra costs of complying with EU rules. In a recent survey, 38% of members said sales to Europe had fallen since January. - Guardian

The relaxation of lockdown rules in July sparked a surge of hiring among UK firms, but staff shortages caused by the pandemic and Brexit could still undermine the recovery, the professional services group BDO reported on Monday. BDO’s latest business trends report found that the jobs market strengthened last month, as hospitality venues such as restaurants and bars were allowed to operate without Covid-related capacity limits. - Guardian

Sub-prime lender Amigo has hired crisis experts to assist with winding down its business. The London-listed firm is working with PJT Partners on contingency plans if it is unable to restart lending to customers, according to City sources. Amigo, which serves the estimated 15m Britons who cannot borrow from high street banks and building societies, has suspended most new lending since March 2020. - Telegraph

The takeover battle for Vectura, the respiratory drugs company, has intensified after Philip Morris International, one of the world’s biggest tobacco companies, increased its offer yesterday. The owner of Marlboro cigarettes raised its cash bid to 165p per share, valuing Vectura at just over £1 billion. - The Times

Saudi Arabia’s giant state oil company almost quadrupled its profits in the second quarter as the kingdom withheld production to boost prices. Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil company, said that its net income had risen to $25.5 billion from $6.6 billion a year earlier, exceeding even the pre-pandemic levels of $24.7 billion in the same period of 2019. - The Times

US close

Stocks on Wall Street closed in a mixed state on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.41% at 35,208.51.

The S&P 500 was also in the green, advancing 0.17% to 4,436.52, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.4% to 14,835.76.