BP, Croda and Just Eat

“Blue-chips opened in positive territory but ongoing issues in Catalonia and the Bank of England’s warning over City job losses in the event of ‘no deal’ Brexit stifled any significant upward move,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“BP’s shares were up after underlying replacement cost profits for the first nine months of the year jumped to $4.1bn from $2.2bn a year ago with the third quarter contributing $1.9bn compared with $933m last time. BP was buoyed by the start of three major upstream projects during the quarter and its downstream underlying quarterly earnings which were the highest for five years. BP’s shares were up by more than 3.2% in early trading.

“Speciality chemicals group Croda International topped the blue-chip board in early trading following continued organic growth in the third quarter. The group has successfully achieved its priorities this year by driving profitability through premium, faster growth market niches and improving its performance in less differentiated market. The combination of good top line growth and a slight increase in margins puts the group on track to meet its full-year forecasts. Croda’s shares were up by over 4.3%.

“Just Eat topped the FTSE250 board after it increased its full year revenue guidance following a strong performance in the third quarter. International orders were up 43%, driven by triple digit pro-forma order growth from SkipTheDishes in Canada. The group also saw a 22% rise in UK orders, albeit against a comparative period that was impacted by unseasonal weather conditions. The group has increased its revenue guidance from £500m-£515m to between £515m-£530m but retained its underlying earnings forecast of between £157m-£163m. Just Eat’s shares were up by more than 2.6%.”

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