Earnings help lift FTSE 100

LONDON (Reuters) - Blue chip stocks edged higher on Wednesday as upbeat results from firms including Standard Chartered and Antofagasta occupied investors minds ahead of announcements from policymakers in the U.S. and Europe.

By 0801 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 25.90 points, or 0.5 percent, at 5,661.18, having closed 0.8 percent lower on Tuesday as the UK's benchmark index ended the month on a downbeat note after Germany reiterated its opposition to a banking licence to the new bailout fund for Europe.

Next was the top FTSE 100 gainer, up 5.1 percent after Britain's second-biggest clothing retailer defied the high street gloom and beat its target for first-half sales growth.

The earnings quality score on Thomson Reuters Starmine for Next is 96 out of 100 - the highest among its peers and compares with the region median of 51, meaning future earnings look very sustainable based on past performance.

Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Retailers have had a tough time of it ... but the cream continues to rise to the top and you can throw that analogy over to Standard Chartered whose first-half results are likely to be the standout performers among the UK banks."

Impressing with its results despite the depressed macro economic outlook was Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered , which rose 2.7 percent after it reported a half-year profit that beat market expectations.

Miner Antofagasta added 2.2 percent after posting an increase in second quarter copper output, setting it on track to hit its full-year target.

Earnings on the whole from UK blue chips remain disappointing, reflecting the poor macro economic conditions.

The market implied earnings per share compound annual growth rate for Next is 3.3 percent, well above UK peers but well below Europe competitors, which suggests the British retailer might be underpriced for growth.

"Next (trades on) a warranted premium to the sector, to reflect the strong earnings growth and solid management team. The stock will remain a safe haven in the sector," said Amisha Chohan, analyst at Merchant Securites, which raises its rating on the stock to "buy" from "hold".

MISSES

As of Tuesday almost two-thirds of FTSE 100 companies had reported, with 58 percent of those corporates missing expectations and second-quarter year-on-year earnings growth contracting by around 26 percent, according to Starmine data.

The biggest misses have come from the banks and the oil and gas sector.

Oil major BP fell again, down 0.6 percent as the downgrades started to come through after it reported unexpectedly weak quarterly results on Tuesday.

Nomura cut its target price for BP, while Jefferies downgraded its recommendation to "hold" from "buy" saying: "BP's underlying upstream earnings are being steadily eroded via higher costs versus peers."

Another reporting company Rexam fell 3.2 percent as concerns over its outlook and potential for forecast downgrades offset a slight profit rise in first-half profit.

Whitbread was the second-top faller, shedding 2.1 percent as UBS cut its recommendation on pubs group to "neutral" from "buy" on valuation grounds saying the stocks outperformance this year -- up 37 percent -- is on the assumption that consensus estimates are too low.

BG Group and Johnson Matthey went ex-dividend on Wednesday, after which investors will no longer qualify for the latest dividend payout. According to Reuters calculations at current market prices, the effect of the resulting adjustment to prices by market-makers would take 1.36 points off the index.

(Written by David Brett; editing by Patrick Graham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/earnings-help-lift-ftse-100-083412457--finance.html

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