The second quarter quarterly earnings reporting season and more dovish stances from central banks pushed markets forward last week. The blue-chip S&P 500 and technology focused Nasdaq indices gained 0.8% and 2.0% respectively.
Shares in Rolls-Royce jumped more than 20% on Wednesday after it raised its profit forecast in an unscheduled trading statement. The British engineering company said that it expects operating profits for the first half of this year will be between £660 million and £680 million, more than double consensus analysts’ forecasts, underpinned by the strong rebound in international travel.
Rolls-Royce generates most of its earnings from charging airlines for the number of hours its jet engines are in the air. Its shares were hit hard during the pandemic and new CEO Tufan Erginbilgic took charge at the start of the year with a mandate to improve profitability and cut costs. The early signs are encouraging.
TEAM plc (LON:TEAM) is building a new wealth, asset management and complementary financial services group. With a focus on the UK, Crown Dependencies and International Finance Centres, the strategy is to build local businesses of scale around TEAM’s core skill of providing investment management services.