(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are seen opening higher on Monday following a positive close on Wall Street on Friday, as investors continue to eye developments in Ukraine.
In early company news, insurer Aviva appointed a new finance head. Irish carrier Ryanair Holdings narrowed the range for its forecast annual loss. Restaurant operator Fulham Shore expressed confidence in its prospects.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 32.80 points higher at 7,570.70. The index closed up 22.22 points, or 0.3%, at 7,537.90 on Friday.
Aviva said it has appointed Charlotte Jones as its new chief financial officer with effect from September 5.
Jones previously held the position of CFO at former FTSE 100-listed RSA Insurance Group and interim chief executive officer of the RSA UK & International business.
Amanda Blanc, group CEO, said: "This is a really excellent appointment for Aviva. Charlotte is a highly experienced CFO with an impressive track record across the insurance and asset management industries. She is an exceptional addition to Aviva and will play a central role as we accelerate our performance and grow."
Central and eastern Europe-focused airline Wizz Air Holdings said it continued to grow its network and improve its customer offering in March.
Wizz Air carried 2.5 million passengers in March, up significantly from just 480,203 the same time last year. The March load factor was 86.2% year-on-year, up from 62.5%.
Budget airline peer Ryanair Holdings said it operated over 67,800 flights in March with an 87% load factor. March traffic rose to 11.2 million guests, up sharply from 500,000 a year ago.
Separately, Ryanair said for the year ended March 31, it expects to report a pre-exceptional net loss of between EUR350 million and EUR400 million, compared to the previously guided range of EUR250 million to EUR450 million. Ryanair also said full-year traffic recovered strongly to over 97 million from 27.5 million in financial 2021, but below pre-Covid traffic of 149 million.
Fulham Shore said following the removal of all Covid restrictions in February 2022, customers have continued to return to its Franco Manca and Real Greek restaurants in increasing numbers.
Further, it said during the second half of the financial year both the Franco Manca and Real Greek businesses delivered strong underlying performances. This was achieved despite periods of disruption, including the UK government's guidance to work from home due to the Omicron variant, it noted.
Fulham Shore said strong trading momentum and expansion drove a significant increase in revenue, comparable with the levels seen pre Covid-19. As a result, it expects revenue, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and adjusted headline Ebitda for the financial year ended March 27 will be ahead of last year's figures and comfortably ahead of market expectations.
Fulham Shore believes that market expectations for the year are currently revenue of GBP73.4 million, Ebitda of GBP16.5 million and adjusted headline Ebitda of GBP9.5 million.
"The board is very encouraged by the strong performance achieved by the group during FY22 and underpinned by its two relevant businesses, their value-for-money propositions and the clear growth opportunities, remains confident of its exciting potential," it said.
In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.4%, the S&P 500 up 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.3%.
"The strong finish seen on Friday looks set to translate into a similarly positive open for markets in Europe this morning, with Asia markets undergoing a relatively subdued session," said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
In Asia on Monday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.1%. Financial markets in Shanghai were closed for the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday, but were open in Hong Kong. The Hang Seng index was up 1.6%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney ended up 0.3%.
Hong Kong led gains thanks to a rally in tech firms after Beijing removed a rule preventing US authorities from inspecting the audits of Chinese companies listed in New York.
The announcement came after a drawn-out row between the two countries with Washington saying Chinese firms could be delisted by 2024 if they do not comply with audit requirements.
The demand put at risk more than 200 companies including e-commerce companies Alibaba and JD.com and Tencent.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky called Russian troops "murderers, torturers, rapists, looters" on Monday after dozens of bodies were found near Kyiv, triggering global outrage and vows of tough new sanctions on Moscow.
Local authorities said they had been forced to dig communal graves to bury the dead accumulating in the streets, including some found with their hands bound behind their backs, in scenes that sent shockwaves through international capitals more than a month into Russia's invasion.
Despite Russian denials of responsibility, condemnation was swift, with Western leaders, NATO and the UN all voicing horror at reports of civilian murders in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, and elsewhere.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the killings "a punch to the gut", while NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said the violence – unseen in Europe for decades – was "horrific" and "absolutely unacceptable".
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said new sanctions would be decided "in the coming days."
The pound was quoted at USD1.3121 early Monday, up from USD1.3108 at the London equities close Friday.
The euro was priced at USD1.1044, up from USD1.1035. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY122.69, down from JPY122.82.
Brent oil was quoted at USD105.60 a barrel on Monday morning, up from USD105.32 late Friday. Gold stood at USD1,1923.22 an ounce, lower against USD1,928.25.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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