BHP Billiton, Wizz Air and Restore

“The FTSE 100 holds steady on a quiet day for large cap corporate news following mute trading on Asian and US markets. This might be the calm before the storm as reporting season gets in full swing next week with a multitude of FTSE 350 companies releasing numbers,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

There is a good chance the earnings downgrade cycle may be over for the resources sector with commodity prices regaining strength and demand fundamentals looking slightly better. As such, BHP Billiton shareholders may be a bit miffed it has disappointed with quarterly iron ore production below forecasts and reduced guidance for petroleum output.

Wizz Air has smashed its quarterly net profit record with a 54.2% year on year increase to €50.7 million. Hungary’s low-cost airline equivalent to Ryanair also wasted no time in responding to a potential downturn in the UK economy by switching capacity to non-UK routes.

A week after one of its removal vans was spotted outside No. 10 as the Cameron family packed their bags, Restore gets its teeth into the £83.1 million acquisition of shredding and document storage business PHS Data Solutions. Analysts believe it will give a major boost to Restore’s profits and investors certainly like the news with the shares up more than 5% in early trading.

These articles are for information purposes only and are not a personal recommendation or advice.