The FTSE 100 closed 0.4% higher at 7,666.31 points, a three-week high, after drinks-maker Diageo shrugged off an initial share drop following a disappointing set of results. "With the shares slipping close to this month's three-year lows it could be argued that today's initial sell-off may have brought out some bargain hunters," CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said in a market comment. Diageo's shares ended up 0.7% after briefly touching their highest levels in two months. Elsewhere, advertising agency WPP was among the top risers, gaining 1.9%, after lifting its medium-term guidance.


COMPANIES NEWS:

Delivery Hero Exits Deliveroo With $98 Mln Stake Sale

Delivery Hero said it sold a minority stake in peer Deliveroo for about 76.8 million pounds ($97.7 million) after which it won't hold shares in the British online-food-delivery company.

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WPP Raises Medium-Term Guidance, Backs Full-Year Expectations

WPP PLC hiked its medium-term operating profit margin guidance and said it expects full-year results to meet its expectations.

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Diageo Profit Falls, Dragged by Sales Decline in Latin America, Caribbean

Diageo said profit for the first half of its fiscal 2024 fell, dragged by a sharp decline in sales at its Latin American and Caribbean divisions, which account for 11% of the company's revenue.

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Comptoir Group Sees Revenue Slightly Rising in Line with Management Views

Comptoir Group said it expects results to meet management expectations, with revenue slightly rising.

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HVIVO Revenue Rose on Strong Trials Delivery, Consulting Services; To Start Paying Dividend

hVIVO said revenue rose for the year and was ahead of market expectations due to strong trials delivery and consulting services, and that the board intends to start paying an annual dividend.

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Pets At Home Slightly Lowers Profit Guidance After Retail Unit Misses Expectations

Pets At Home Group slightly cut its pretax profit guidance as third-quarter growth in its retail business unit rose less than expected.

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Saga PLC on Course to Report Double-Digit Revenue Growth

Saga PLC said it is on track to post significant revenue growth for fiscal 2024, with its cruise and travel businesses returning to profitability while its insurance division continues to suffer from inflationary pressures and declining policy volumes.

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SSP Group Sales Rose; Backs Guidance

SSP Group said group sales rose for the first quarter of its fiscal year on continued global demand for travel, and backed its guidance for the year.

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GB Group's Dev Dhiman Starts as CEO, Board Confident of Meeting FY 2024 Views

GB Group PLC said that its board is confident in meeting expectations for fiscal 2024 after an in-line third quarter and that Dev Dhiman has taken up the chief executive position.

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Speedy Hire Sees Profits Missing Prior Views on Weak End Markets, Contract Delays

Speedy Hire said it expects full-year profits to miss its prior expectations on weakness in some end markets and seasonal product lines, and some delays in the mobilization of significant contract wins.

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SThree Pretax Profit Rose on Higher Revenue Despite Challenging Environment

SThree has reported a higher pretax profit for the year ahead of market expectations on higher revenue despite a challenging environment.

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WPP Shares Rise After Raising Medium-Term Guidance, Backing Full-Year Views

WPP PLC shares rise 5.97%, and are leading the FTSE 100, after the company hiked its medium-term operating profit margin guidance and said it expects full-year results to meet its expectations.

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Deliveroo, Delivery Hero Shares Fall on Stake Sale

Shares in Deliveroo and peer Delivery Hero fell in early trade after the latter sold its entire shareholding in the former for about 76.8 million pounds ($97.6 million).

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Diageo Bottoms FTSE 100 After Sales Slump in Latin America

Diageo shares fell after the group reported a sharp fall in sales at its Latin American and Caribbean divisions.

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Carnival Warns of Profit Hit After Rerouting Cruises to Avoid Red Sea

Carnival warned its profit will take a hit after the cruise operator decided to reroute its planned voyages to avoid the Red Sea and the surrounding region.


MARKET TALK:

Ashtead's Strong Fundamentals Are Under-Appreciated

1412 GMT - Ashtead Group's shares don't reflect underlying positives, JPMorgan says, increasing its price target on the plant-hire company to 6800 pence from 5600p. A combination of structural changes and management actions has driven an evolution in Ashtead's business model and created a more sustainable equity investment, JPM says. Sector-topping growth rates, robust cash generation and strong balance-sheet options mean the business is no longer simply just a play on the cycle, something the market doesn't appreciate currently, JPM analyst Lushanthan Mahendrarajah writes, reiterating the bank's overweight rating. Shares rise 2% to 5310p. (philip.waller@wsj.com)

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Too Early For BOE to Signal Interest-Rate Cuts This Week

1340 GMT - It's unlikely that the Bank of England will signal the start of interest-rate cuts during its policy meeting on Thursday, Berenberg senior economist Kallum Pickering says in a note. "Whereas monetary policy makers at the U.S. Federal Reserve seem happy to validate financial market expectations that rate cuts are around the corner, we do not expect the BOE policymakers to give a similar nod to markets this Thursday," he says. U.K. core inflation at 5.1% remains high, above the BOE's inflation target of 2%, and until it falls closer to that level the BOE should remain cautious about rate cuts, Pickering says. (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)

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Lufthansa, Air France-KLM Set to Outshine IAG in Cargo

1326 GMT - Deutsche Lufthansa and Air France-KLM earnings look likely to benefit more than IAG from favorable cargo-market conditions, Morgan Stanley says. Cargo yields rose 25% month-on-month in December as container-shipping tightness spilled into air freight, MS says. "Our concerns remain that high long-haul capacity growth threatens flag carrier passenger unit revenues, particularly in North Atlantic," MS analysts write. Still, supportive cargo-market conditions could materially boost flag-carrier EBIT in 2024, particularly Lufthansa and AF-KLM due to higher cargo exposure than IAG, they say. MS upgrades Lufthansa to equal-weight from under-weight, but cuts IAG to under-weight from equal-weight. The bank increases its Lufthansa price target to EUR9.80 from EUR6.70 and on AF-KLM to EUR15.00 from EUR14.00, but cuts its IAG target to EUR2.05 from EUR2.20. (philip.waller@wsj.com)


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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-30-24 1202ET