Oil, coffee and cigarettes

The FTSE 100 opened on the front foot on a busy corporate news day with canny investors likely to be on the bargain trail following recent declines. Wall St. lost ground overnight.

“Oil giant BP cheered investors by maintaining its dividend despite taking a further battering from low oil prices,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“BP’s first quarter loss was an improvement on the previous three months and lower costs more than offset the impact of significantly weaker oil and gas prices and refining margins. BP can fund the dividend out of its balance sheet in the near term and there is growing optimism that the combination of robust demand and weak supply growth will move oil markets closer into balance by the end of the year.

“Whitbread was another strong blue-chip riser following like-for-like growth from both its Premier Inn and Costa brands and new chief executive Alison Brittain’s expansion plans which aim to grow earnings and dividends.

“British American Tobacco’s first quarter revenues rose but it warned that the trading environment would remain challenging for the foreseeable future and foreign exchange headwinds were likely to have an impact on its full-year profits.”

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