Premarket London: Vodafone Raises Profit Guidance; ITV on Track

Investing.com — Here is a summary of the regulatory releases from the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday, 12th November. Please refresh for updates.

Vodafone (LON:) raised its profit guidance for the fiscal year ending in March after returning to profit in the three months to September.

The telecoms company reported organic service revenue growth of 0.3% in the first half and forecast adjusted core earnings for the year of 14.8-15.0 billion euros ($16.3-$16.5 billion), up from a previous forecast of 13.8 to 14.2 billion. Excluding one-offs, earnings would be at the top of the prior range.

However, the company also trimmed its free cash flow forecast to “around” 5.4 billion euros from “at least” 5.4 billion earlier, due to potential liabilities arising from legal issues in India.

CEO Nick Read said he expected the trend of revenue growth to continue in the second half, citing an “improved consistency” of its performance and the rapid integration of its Liberty Global (NASDAQ:) acquisition.

Broadcaster ITV (LON:) said it’s on track to meet its full-year targets after a strong third quarter. That means advertising revenue will be down around 2% from 2018, partly offset by growth of over 10% in online revenue and growing revenue from its Direct to Consumer business.

The Rugby World Cup helped create a strong start to the fourth quarter with a peak audience of 12.8 million watching England lose the final against South Africa. The company also said it has already reached its 2021 target of 30 million registered users on ITV (LON:) Hub ahead of plan.

CEO Carolyn McCall said “we are confident that we will deliver at least 5% growth in ITV (LON:) Studios’ total revenues at a margin of 14% to 16%.” The company also upheld its forecast of a dividend of at least 8p per share, a yield of just under 6% at current prices

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DCC (LON:) raised its dividend by nearly 10% after posting a 14% increase in adjusted operating profit in the first half of its fiscal year.

Adjusted earnings per share rose 3.0% to 110.2 pence, while the interim dividend rose to 49.5p from 45 pence.

The group upheld its full-year forecast, saying all its divisions are delivering good profit growth, despite what it called the “more difficult economic and market backdrop in the U.K.”

It also said it acquisition of U.S.-based Ion Laboratories is a “material step to build a business of scale in the world’s largest health supplements and nutritional products market.”

Credit scoring company Experian (LON:) narrowed its guidance to the top end of the forecast range for the fiscal year ending in March, after posting a 7% rise in organic revenue growth in the first half.

Profit before tax rose to $480 million from $470 million a year ago. While basic earnings per share rising to 39c from 35.3c and the dividend rising to 14.5c from 14c.

Software firm AVEVA Group PLC (LON:) reported revenue growth of 16.5% to £391.9m (H1 FY19: £336.5m) in the six months to September.

61.9% of total revenue came from recurring revenue. interim dividend was up 10.7% to 15.5 pence per share (H1 FY19: 14.0 pence).

The company reported progress on product integration with the launch of AVEVA Unified Engineering and AVEVA Unified Operations Control Centre. The company said outlook remained positive.

Engineering group Meggitt PLC (LON:) raised its revenue guidance after a strong third quarter but said its operating margin would remain at the lower end of its expected range of 17.7%-18.2%.

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