Business live: Diploma finance chief quits over conduct issues
Profit before tax rose to $1.16 billion in the six months to the end of June, up from £712.6 million in the same half last year. Revenue increased 29 per cent to $3.8 billion.
Margins were 58.8 per cent, the highest since 2021, helped by an 11 per cent increase in copper output and costs reduction of up to 32 per cent.
The interim dividend more than doubled to 16.6 cents and production guidance was maintained.
Antofagasta has escaped President Trump's 50 per cent copper tariff as ore, concentrates and cathodes are excluded. Its shares rose 0.5 per cent to £21.22, the highest so far this year.
UK exports to the US dropped to a three-year low after Donald Trump introduced sweeping tariffs on the world economy.
Latest official trade figures show that the value of British goods imports to the world's largest economy declined by £700 million in June and by £4.7 billion in the second quarter to the lowest since February 2022 after the US announced a wave of protectionism on goods entering the country from April.
The figures do not reflect the impact of the UK-US trade agreement, which limits most tariffs on UK goods to 10 per cent and came into force on June 30.
Annual profits at Rank Group, the company behind Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca bingo halls, jumped last year as investment into its venues paid off.
Rank, which operates 112 venues, said like-for-like net gaming revenues had grown 11 per cent to £795.3 million in the year to the end of June as all divisions of the business recorded growth, helping pre-tax profit to jump 248 per cent to £53.9 million.
John O'Reilly, its chief executive, said the group was now at 'an exciting inflection point' as a result of land-based gambling reforms, which will allow it to significantly increase the number of machines in its casinos.
Trading at the start of the new financial year has been strong, it added, and net gaming revenue was up 9 per cent in the first six weeks of the year.
London's leading stock market index has come off the all-time high reached yesterday after the economy slowed in the second quarter and investors consider a spate of corporate results.
The FTSE 100 dipped 0.1 per cent, or 10 points, to 9,154.77, with miners lower before Chinese steel production data. Falls at Rio Tinto, however, were also caused by its trading ex-dividend.
Diploma fell after its finance director stepped down because of personal conduct concerns.
The biggest riser was the insurer Admiral after it reported a 69 per cent rise in pre-tax profit to a record £521 million and increased its dividend. Aviva was also up after upbeat first-half results and raising its dividend.
Centrica rose after it was part of a consortium that has acquired the Isle of Grain LNG terminal from National Grid for £1.66 billion.
The finance director of Diploma has resigned after his personal behaviour did not meet the standards required the supplier of industrial components.
Diploma said that Chris Davies, who has been in the role for nearly three years, decided to step down after a recent company event where, 'through a lapse in judgment, his personal behaviour did not meet the high standards required of the group's leadership team'.
The company said the resignation was not related to its financial performance but it did not provide further details. Diploma maintained its full-year outlook, reaffirming the upgrade it announced in May.
Wilson Ng has been appointed as acting group chief financial officer while the process to find a permanent successor is being initiated.
The London-based company serves customers in industries such as aerospace, medical, industrial automation and construction, and counts Formula 1 and Indy Car among its customers. The shares fell 3 per cent in early trading to £52.77.
National Grid has agreed to sell its Isle of Grain liquefied natural gas terminal for £1.66 billion to a consortium that includes the British Gas owner Centrica and the energy infrastructure investment firm Energy Capital Partners.
The terminal was put up for sale in May last year as National Grid looked to streamline its business and raise cash to fund investment in its core energy networks. National Grid kicked off the sale process in April, hoping to get about £2 billion.
The Hong Kong company CK Infrastructure was one of the lead bidders but it dropped out to focus on a possible bid for Thames Water.
Completion of the transaction will be subject to customary government and regulatory approvals. National Grid expects that the deal will complete later this year.
The student accommodation developer Unite Group has agreed to buy its small rival Empiric Student Property for £634 million.
Under the terms of the cash-and-shares deal, Empiric shareholders will receive 0.085 new Unite shares and 32p in cash. It values Empiric's shares at 94.2p each, excluding dividends, based on Unite's closing share price of 732p last night.
Empiric shareholders will own about 10 per cent of the combined group, leaving existing Unite shareholders with the remaining 90 per cent.
Unite shares edged up to 732½p this morning, and Empiric shares dropped 3 per cent to 90¾p.
The proposed deal is further evidence of consolidation in the property sector.
The FTSE 100 insurer has raised its interim dividend after reporting a 22 per cent jump in half-year operating profit to £1.1 billion, driven by growth in its wealth and private medical insurance businesses.
The interim dividend has been increased to 13.1p a share, up from 11.9p in the same half last year.
Dame Amanda Blanc, chief executive, said: 'We are the number one UK wealth player, with more than £200 billion of assets, and net flows are up 16 per cent. In general insurance we remained disciplined, growing sales by 7 per cent … Our health business grew in-force premiums by 14 per cent as more people and employers are attracted to the benefits of private medical insurance.'
It expects a softening in general insurance in the second half but its wealth and health divisions are expected to grow further and the company remains confident of hitting full-year group targets.
Aviva completed the acquisition of Direct Line at the beginning of July and integration is well under way. A detailed update will be provided in November.
Economic growth in the UK slowed to 0.3 per cent of GDP in the second quarter, down sharply from the first quarter but beating expectations after a rebound in June.
Output beat forecasts of 0.1 per cent growth by economists and follows a 0.7 per cent expansion at the start of the year. The Bank of England had expected a second-quarter growth rate in the range of 0.1 to 0.3 per cent.
Growth rose by 0.4 per cent in June, higher than estimates of about 0.1 per cent, and means that the economy rebounded after contracting by 0.1 per cent of GDP in April and May. Most big forecasters expect annual GDP growth to be in the region of 1.1 to 1.2 per cent this year.
Read the full story here.
Bitcoin hit a record high this morning, powered by the increasing certainty of Fed rate cuts, sustained institutional buying and moves by the Trump administration to ease investment in crypto assets.
The world's largest crypto-asset by market capitalisation climbed as much as 0.9 per cent to $124,002.49 in early Asia trading, surpassing its previous peak hit in July.
Bitcoin has risen nearly 32 per cent so far in 2025 on the back of long-sought regulatory wins for the sector following President Trump's return to the White House. Trump has called himself the 'crypto president' and his family has made forays into the sector over the past year.
An executive order last week paved the way to allow crypto assets in 401k retirement accounts, highlighting an increasingly favourable regulatory environment in the United States. Yesterday's successful stock market debut of the cryptocurrency operator Bullish is further evidence that investors are embracing digital assets.
The cryptocurrency exchange operator was valued at about $13.2 billion after its shares more than doubled on their first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Bullish, parent of the crypto news website CoinDesk and backed by the billionaire investor Peter Thiel, raised $1.11 billion in the initial public offering (IPO).
The shares floated at $37 a share and went as high as $118 before paring gains to trade at $92.60.
The float underscores investor confidence in the sector, hints at mainstream adoption and increases the prospects for future US listings by other digital asset firms. The exchange operator Gemini and asset manager Grayscale are among the crypto companies that have confidentially filed to go public.
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