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From Aston Martin to Smurfit Kappa: All the results you need to know today

Italy's Lorenzo Insigne celebrates with the trophy after the final of the Euro 2020 soccer final match between England and Italy at Wembley stadium in London, Sunday, July 11, 2021. (Andy Rain/Pool Photo via AP)
ITV's advertising revenue was bumped by Euros 2020 coverage. Photo: Andy Rain/Pool Photo via AP (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Mid-year results season kicked off on Wednesday morning in London, with a number of big banks reporting in Europe today, alongside key players in the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250.

Here's what you need to know as it plays out on Wednesday:

  • Barclays (BARC.L) unveiled bumper half-year profits, buoyed by surging activity at its investment bank and equities business.

  • It saw pre-tax profits of £5bn ($7bn) on net income of £12bn in the first six months of 2021. Profits were nearly quadruple the £1.1bn made in the first half of 2021.

  • Paula Smith, head of banking at KPMG UK, said: "Whilst banks have broadly fared well over the course of the pandemic, there is still a long way to go with governmental support mechanisms just beginning to wind down and question marks remaining over the economy."

  • Full report: Barclays profits quadruple as bank reinstates dividend

  • Metro Bank (MTRO.L) said that in a "challenging environment" its total loans had swooped 17% compared with a year earlier and pretax losses narrowed from £240.6m to £138.9m. Shares moved 2.7% higher in early trade following the report.

  • Analysts at Jeffries said the financials are distorted by the Dec '20 mortgage book sale to NatWest and lockdown impact in H1 on non-interest income (i.e., ATM & interchange fell 15% HoH, if up 102% YoY).

  • Santander (SAN.MC) said its underlying net profit up was 35% in Q2 year-on-year, beating forecasts of €1.76bn to hit €2.07bn. This was off the back of a strong US consumer business and a rise in mortgage lending in the UK market.

  • Stock took a knock of 0.9% following the news.

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Read more: European markets mixed on busy day of financial results

  • Deutsche Bank (DBK.DE) beat expectations for Q2, despite an 11% slide in revenues at its investment bank compared with the year before. It reported net income of €692m ($818m) for the second quarter of this year. Share reaction was muted on the report.

  • Analysts at Barclays said: "In particular FIC revenue trends are better than what we have seen from the industry this quarter, and whilst on costs the group is stepping away from the absolute targets, they have beaten expectations in the quarter."

  • ITV (ITV.L)'s ad revenue was the star of the show in its half-year report receiving a 29% boost as viewers watched the UEFA Euro 2020 football tournament. Total revenue was up 27% to £1.5bn ($2.1bn), driven by 26% growth in the money brought in by ITV Studios, which was £798m, an increase of 26%, thanks to a majority of programmes being back in production.

  • “Given the crisis faced by the broadcaster during the depths of the pandemic, a bounce back was expected but the trajectory is sharper than some expectations and that helped boost the share price in early trading,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

  • Full report: Euro 2020 boosts ITV as CEO says worst of pandemic impact is over

WOODSTOCK, UNITED KINDOM - SEPTEMBER 25: The Aston Martin DBX seen at Salon Prive, held at Blenheim Palace. Each year some of the rarest cars are displayed on the lawns of the palace, in the UK's most exclusive Concours d'Elegance. (Photo by Martyn Lucy/Getty Images)
The Aston Martin DBX seen at Salon Prive, held at Blenheim Palace. Each year some of the rarest cars are displayed on the lawns of the palace, in the UK's most exclusive Concours d'Elegance. Photo: Martyn Lucy/Getty Images (Martyn Lucy via Getty Images)
  • Aston Martin's (AML.L) first SUV catapulted its half-year results upwards, beating expectations and narrowing its pre-tax losses to £48m in the three months to June, from £117m a year earlier. Shares were up around 2.5% by mid-morning in London.

  • More than half of Aston Martin's 2,901 sales came from customers wanting the DBX — the carmaker's first SUV.

  • "All told, it was a solid six months for the luxury car-maker, but the group’s far from being able to set the cruise control," said Laura Hoy, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. "Aston Martin’s undoubtedly behind the curve with its electric vehicle strategy, a market that will likely become a much bigger piece of the puzzle as time goes on."

  • Full report: James Bond car maker Aston Martin buoyed by soaring SUV sales

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  • Rio Tinto (RIO.L) reported its highest-ever interim profit and will pay $9.1bn in dividends as the company and its global rivals cash in on this year’s copper and iron-ore rally. First-half underlying earnings more than doubled to $12.2bn from the same period last year. Bloomberg said the half-year payout is more than the mining giant returned to shareholders for the whole of 2020 and higher than analysts forecast.

  • Shares were flat by late-morning in London following the report.

  • Man Group (EMG.L) earnings per share were 30% ahead of company-compiled consensus expectations, driven by strong performance fees.

  • The fund manager said that its assets under management rose to a record $135bn in June and reported pre-tax profit of $280m in the six-month period, surpassing the total for all of 2020 of $179m.

Photo taken in Milan, Italy
Tobacco alternatives seem to be the name of the game for the future of the business. Photo: Getty (Diego Cervo / EyeEm via Getty Images)
  • British American Tobacco's (BATS.L) half-year results were propped up by soaring demand for tobacco alternatives. It said its first half revenue was £12.2bn, up 8.1% ignoring the impact of exchange rates. This reflects a 50% increase in New Categories revenue to £883m. Underlying operating profit rose 5.4% on a constant currency basis to £5.2bn.

  • Shares were almost flat following the report.

  • "The recovery after Covid-19 disrupted trading last year has been driven by price and product mix improvements, although volumes did rise 1.5%," said William Ryder, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. "Traditional tobacco products still pay the dividend, and will do for some time, so further evidence that BATS can squeeze price increases out of its customers is positive – at least financially.”

  • Smurfit Kappa (SKG.L) said price inflation was here to stay, as it raised its prices by about 5% quarter-on-quarter from April to June. The company expects that kind of rate to continue through the second half and into the first quarter of 2022, said chief executive Tony Smurfit.

  • Stock was up more than 1% following the report, compounding a rally of more than 25% in the year to date.

  • First half EBITDA of €781m was 8% lower than the record €847m reported in the first six months of 2019.

Watch: What is inflation and why is it important?