Wetherspoon, WH Smith and Fresnillo

“The FTSE 100 was down in early trading as a firmer pound hurt exporters,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“Pub group JD Wetherspoon topped the FTSE 250 board after better-than-expected like-for-like sales in the first 12 weeks of its second quarter. The group is now anticipating underlying pre-tax profits to be slightly better than earlier forecasts. Wetherspoon, though, faces significant costs in the second half in areas which include labour, business rates and the sugar tax. And there will also be some uncertainty as to the effects on its business of the FIFA World Cup. The group’s shares were up by more than 3.5% in early trading.

“WH Smith’s shares fell after a 1% fall in like-for-like sales. The group’s travel business now accounts for almost two-thirds of its annual profit and it continues to see strong growth but book sales were more challenging due to the decline in spoof humour titles and no new, big publishing trends. WH Smith’s shares were down by 4.6%.

“Fresnillo led the FTSE 100 after a double-digit increase in silver production and while gold output fell, it still exceeded guidance. The outlook on silver production is unchanged and expected to be in the range of 67 to 70 moz while gold production is expected to be in the range of 870-900 koz.”

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