AGK.L Share News (AGK)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Share prices in London opened flat on Thursday, ahead of UK retail sales data and Congressional testimony by US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

Yellen's appearance will provide her first public remarks since the election of her harsh critic Donald Trump as US president. With bond markets falling and stock markets rising since Trump's victory, investors will look for hints as to whether a December US interest rate hike is still likely and also about Yellen's own future.

On a full day of UK corporate reporting Royal Mail joined equally regal Royal Bank of Scotland in leading blue-chips in the red. Royal Mail was down 2.4%, as it reported lower profit but higher revenue for the first half of its financial year. RBS was down 3.0% amid speculation of the size of the US fine it may face.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: flat at 6,748.37
FTSE 250: up 0.1% at 17,487.84
AIM ALL-SHARE: flat at 809.21
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Hang Seng: down 0.3% at 22,222.63
Nikkei 225: closed flat at 17,862.63
DJIA: closed down 0.3% at 18,868.14
S&P 500: closed down 0.2% at 2,176.94
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GBP: flat at USD1.2458 (USD1.2443)
EUR: firm at USD1.0714 (USD1.0680)

GOLD: flat at USD1,227.60 per ounce (USD1,225.75)
OIL (Brent): soft at USD46.51 a barrel (USD46.89)

(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Thursday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in GMT)

0900 Italy trade balance
0930 UK retail sales
1000 EU consumer price index
1000 EU construction output
1230 EU ECB monetary policy meeting accounts
1330 US building permits and housing starts
1330 US initial and continuing jobless claims
1330 US consumer price index
1330 US Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey
1350 US Fed's William Dudley speech
1500 US Fed Chair Yellen testifies
1530 US EIA natural gas storage
2145 EU ECB's Praet speech
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New restrictions will be imposed on buy-to-let mortgages in an effort to help protect against the risk of instability, UK Chancellor Philip Hammond has announced. The Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee will be granted new powers from early 2017 to place limits on buy-to-let mortgage lending. The FPC will be able to direct regulators to require lenders to put limits on the loan-to-value ratios and interest coverage ratios of mortgages.
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Plans to crack down on the "epidemic" of whiplash claims pushing up honest motorists' insurance costs have been unveiled by the UK government. The Ministry of Justice has launched a consultation on proposals to cut the high number of whiplash claims, which will allow insurers to lower their premiums. It said insurers have pledged to pass on savings to drivers - worth a total of GBP1.00 billion. A motorist could see their car insurance cut by around GBP40 a year as a result of the clampdown, according to the MoJ. Whiplash claims are 50% higher than they were a decade ago, with the epidemic being fuelled by a predatory claims industry that encourages minor, exaggerated and fraudulent claims, it said.
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The referendum vote for Brexit has exposed "fundamental" problems in the way Britain's economy works which cannot be solved by "tinkering at the edges" of existing policies, according to a new report. The report by the IPPR think tank found that the economy was "not working" for most of the population, reflected in a poll suggesting that more than half of Britons, 51%, believe the UK economy is unfair for the majority. The economic strength hailed by ministers masks "an economy that is succeeding at the top, but facing deep troubles below the surface", said the report.
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The Bank of Japan offered to buy unlimited amount of Japanese government bonds at fixed rates for the first time, in a bid to rein in government debt yields. In its first special operation after adopting the "yield curve control" policy in September, the bank offered to buy JGBs with 3 to 5 years maturity at a fixed rate. Global bond yields have spiked after Donald Trump won the US presidential election on expectations that inflation would spike.
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China's foreign direct investment grew in the first ten months of the year, the state-owned Xinhua news agency reported, citing data from the Ministry of Commerce. FDI rose 4.2% annually in the January to October period to reach CNY666.3 billion or roughly USD97 billion. The pace of growth in FDI was the same as in the January to September period.
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US president-elect Donald Trump will ask all his appointees to sign a clause preventing them from working for lobbyists for five years after leaving his administration, his spokesman said. "The key thing for this administration is going to be that people going out of government won't be able to use that service to enrich themselves," Sean Spicer told journalists on a conference call. During his campaign, the right-wing populist Trump repeatedly promised to "drain the swamp," meaning he would rid Washington of lobbyists and corrupt politicians.
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While Trump's fiery campaign rhetoric helped propel him into the White House, the results of a new Washington Post-Schar School poll found that a majority of Americans want the real estate tycoon to compromise once he assumes the presidency. Fifty-nine percent of Americans said Trump should compromise on the items on his agenda that rival Democrats strongly oppose. Meanwhile, another 29% said Trump has a mandate to carry out the agenda he presented during the presidential campaign. The Washington Post noted the percentage that said Trump has a mandate is sharply lower than the 50% who said the same for President Barack Obama after his first election in 2008.
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Defeated US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said there were times when she "never wanted to leave the house again," after losing last week's election to Trump. In her first public appearance since her concession speech, Clinton told an audience at an event sponsored by the Children's Defence Fund in Washington, "I will admit coming here tonight wasn't the easiest thing for me. "There have been a few times the past week when all I wanted to do was to curl up with a good book or our dogs and never leave the house again."
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Obama is scheduled to hold his last bilateral meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday in the German capital, the final leg of his European farewell tour before leaving the White House in January. The relationship between Obama and Merkel - eight years after he came to power and 11 years after she did - has been characterized for the most part by mutual appreciation, though spying revelations caused some upheaval in 2013. Before leaving Washington for the tour, Obama referred to Merkel as probably his "closest international partner these past eight years." Obama arrived in Germany late Wednesday after meeting with Greek leaders, visiting the famed Acropolis and giving a speech in which he said that reducing inequality in the globalized world was key to maintaining democratic systems.
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Democrats in the US Senate chose a new leader, while Republicans decided to keep the one they have. The chamber's Democrats, who make up the minority, selected New York Senator Chuck Schumer to replace retiring Senator Harry Reid as leader. Republicans, who hold the majority, re-elected Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell for a second term as Senate majority leader.
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The White House is issuing a new strategy for steep reductions in US carbon emissions - barely two months before the inauguration of a new president who has publicly disregarded warnings about climate change. President-elect Trump, who will be sworn into office on January 20, has called global warming a hoax and vowed during the 2016 election campaign to "cancel" US involvement in last year's Paris Agreement. The administration of President Obama, who is leaving office, issued a "mid-century strategy for deep decarbonization." The plan detailed in the 111-page document envisions greenhouse gas emissions reductions by 2050 of 80% or more from 2005 levels.
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The Popular Mobilization Forces, a pro-Iraqi government Shiite militia, managed to wrest control of a critical airport from Islamic State forces, according to a statement by the militia. "With God's willing, our forces managed to fully liberate Tel Afar airport following fierce battles with the Islamic State," the statement said. It added that liberating the airport would be a starting point for the militia as it seeks to cut that last supply line for the Islamic State between Mosul and Tel Afar.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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TRADERS: BARCLAYS RAISES ENTERPRISE INNS TO 'EQUAL WEIGHT' ('UNDERWEIGHT')
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TRADERS: JEFFERIES RAISES AGGREKO TO 'HOLD' ('UNDERPERFORM')
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TRADERS: LIBERUM CUTS BOOHOO TO 'HOLD' ('BUY')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Royal Mail said its full-year performance will depend on a good performance over the Christmas holidays, as it reported lower profit but higher revenue for the first half of its financial year. The postal service operator said its made a pretax profit of GBP110.0 million in the half-year to the end of September, down from GBP116.0 million a year earlier, as the group continues its restructuring programme to cut costs and boost efficiencies. Operating profit, before those costs, was still lower, down to GBP206.0 million from GBP208.0 million. Royal Mail declared an interim dividend of 7.40 pence, up from 7.00p a year prior.
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Irish building materials company CRH said it continues to expect its 2016 earnings to be well ahead of the prior year, despite growth slowing in the Americas region. CRH said total sales grew 6.0% year-on-year in the nine months to the end of September, though growth slowed to 2.0% in the third quarter from 8.0% in the first half. Whilst CRH experienced sales growth of 1.0% in its Americas region in the third quarter, this had slowed from 13% in the first half, which CRH said had benefited from favourable weather.
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Johnson Matthey said it met its expectations for the first half of its financial year and remains on track for the full year as underlying profit grew. The platinum and chemicals company, which makes emission control systems, catalysts and fine chemicals, said it made pretax profit of GBP210.0 million in the six months to September 30, down from GBP330.2 million a year before due to a one-off profit booked a year before on an asset disposal that did not repeat. Underlying pretax profit was up 5.0% year-on-year to GBP219.6 million. Johnson Matthey declared an interim dividend of 20.50 pence per share, up 5.0% year-on-year.
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Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto said it has terminated the contracts of Energy & Minerals division chief executive Alan Davies and Legal & Regulatory Affairs Group executive Debra Valentine. The Rio Tinto board reviewed the findings to date of an internal investigation into 2011 contractual arrangements with a consultant who provided advisory services on the Simandou project in Guinea. The board's decision does not pre-judge the course of any external inquiries into this matter, it said. However, the board concluded that the executives failed to maintain the standards expected of them under the company's global code of conduct. In the circumstances, the board terminated the contracts of both executives.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Bank of America Merrill Lynch said WL Ross has sold its remaining shareholding in Virgin Money Holdings, some 53.6 million shares. The sale was increased from a planned disposal of 27 million shares due to "strong demand", said Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and represents approximately 12% of Virgin Money's issued share capital. The final offer price was set a 320 pence per share, resulting in gross proceeds of GBP171.5 million. Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs International acted as joint bookrunners in connection with the placing.
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Defence technology company QinetiQ Group reported a decline in revenue but growth in pretax profit in the first half of its financial year, driven by improved margins. The mid-cap outsourcer, which supplies cyber security, robotics and defence training services, said it made a pretax profit of GBP51.2 million in the six months to the end of September, compared to a GBP48.3 million profit a year prior. Revenue fell to GBP361.8 million from GBP370.9 million the year before, but underlying operating margin improved to 14.3% from 13.4%. QineitQ declared an interim dividend of 2.00 pence per share, up from 1.90p a year prior.
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Specialist bank and asset manager Investec said a rise in its income for the first half of its financial year showed the diversified strength of its business, despite a much smaller profit rise. Investec reported a statutory operating profit of GBP281.4 million for the six months to September 30, up by 0.7% from GBP279.4 million for the same period the prior financial year. Investec's Asset Management division increased operating profit by 17% year-on-year, and the Wealth & Investment arm's operating profit rose by 14%, but the Specialist Banking division operating profit decreased by 7.1%. Investec declared an interim dividend of 10.0 pence per ordinary share, up from 9.5p in 2015.
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Financial services firm Close Brothers Group said it has started its new financial year with growth driven by its banking division, as well as increased activity in its asset management and market-making arms. Close Brothers reported that in the first quarter of its financial year to October 31 its loan book grew by 2.7% to GBP6.6 billion, from GBP6.4 billion at July 31. The bank noted that its net interest margin during the period in its banking division has remained stable from the prior financial year and its bad debt ratio has reduced "markedly", driven by provision releases and continued good underlying credit performance.
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Ted Baker reported growth in revenue in the 13 weeks to November 12, with growth achieved in both the retail and wholesale divisions, and said it is confident of making further progress in the full year. The British fashion retailer said group revenue in the 13 weeks grew by 15% year-on-year, as retail sales rose by 15% and wholesale sales increased by 13%.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Premier Oil said it remains on track to meet its production guidance for 2016 and said it is in the final stages of talks on its refinancing. The oil and gas explorer said production in the ten months to the end of October averaged 69,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, while its current run rate is in excess of 80,000 barrels a day. This leaves it on track to meet its production guidance for 2016 of 68,000 to 73,000 boepd.
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Dart Group reported growth in profit in the first half of its financial year and said it is optimistic full-year market expectations will be "slightly exceeded". The leisure travel, distribution and logistics group said pretax profit in the first half ended September 30 rose to GBP163.7 million from GBP146.8 million the year before, as revenue increased to GBP1.24 billion from GBP1.02 billion. Dart Group will pay an interim dividend of 1.375 pence, up from 0.900p the year before.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Silicon Valley giant Cisco Systems said its first-quarter profit dropped as revenues declined 3%. Cisco's adjusted profit topped Wall Street expectations as did revenues. However, Cisco's shares fell 4% in after-hours trading, after the company projected revenue and profit for the second quarter below analyst's current estimates. The San Jose, California-based networking-equipment maker's first-quarter profit dropped to USD2.32 billion from USD2.43 billion last year. Revenue for the quarter decreased to USD12.35 from USD12.68 billion last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of USD12.33 billion for the quarter.
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Apple plans to cut the amount it charges to sell video services over the widely used App Store, a move to appease partners whose movies and TV shows are vital to the technology giant's video strategy, bloombeg reported citing people familiar with the matter. The report indicated that the company intends to reduce the slice of revenue it is paid by subscription video streaming apps from the current 30% to 15%, according to people familiar with the plans. Other non-video apps see their bill from Apple halved from 30% only after a customer has completed a year's subscription.
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Intel CEO Brian Krzanich has announced that the tech giant plans to invest more than USD250 million to in autonomous driving technology. During his a keynote address at the LA Auto Show's Automobility conference, Krzanich said Intel plans to "make fully autonomous driving a reality".
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JPMorgan Chase is nearing over USD250 million settlement with US regulators against allegations that the banking giant had hired children of Chinese leaders to win business, reports said, citing people familiar with the matter. The bank is likely to pay about USD130 million to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and about USD70 million to the Justice Department. It would also pay more than USD50 million to the Federal Reserve.
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French outsourcer Sodexo has reported that its profit attributable to equity holders of the parent for financial year 2016 declined 9.0% to EUR637 million from EUR700 million in the previous year. Net profit before non-recurring items net of taxes totalled EUR721 million, up 5.2% excluding the currency effect. Annual revenue amounted to EUR20.2 billion , up 2.2% on financial 2015, with organic growth of 2.5%. Organic growth for the On-site Services activity was up 2.4%.
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German consumer goods maker Henkel announced that over the next four years, until 2020, the company aims to achieve an average organic sales growth between 2 and 4% with an over-proportionate contribution from emerging markets. The company also aims for continued improvements of its adjusted EBIT margin and free cash flow expansion.
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Thursday's Shareholder Meetings

Close Brothers Group
Genus
Bluefield Solar Income Fund
Sirius Petroleum
FW Thorpe
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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