APGN.L Share News (APGN)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening lower on Thursday ahead of the Bank of England's interest rate decision, as Barclays reported that litigation costs and settlements dented its half-year profit.A new escalation in the trade spat between the US and China has sent Asian markets tumbling, after a lower close on Wall Street. IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index will open 24.51 points lower at 7,628.40. The blue chip index closed down 1.4% at 7,652.91 on Wednesday.In early UK corporate news, Barclays said it saw a strong financial performance in the first half of 2018.For the half-year ended June 30, revenue rose to GBP10.93 billion from GBP10.88 billion the year before. Pretax profit fell to GBP1.66 billion from GBP2.34 billion, mainly due to a GBP1.40 billion settlement with the US Department of Justice over residential mortgage-backed securities and charges of GBP400 million due to mis-selling of payment protection insurance. Excluding legal charges, pretax profit rose 20% to GBP3.70 billion. The lender's return on tangible equity was 11.6% and CET1 capital ratio - a key measure of a bank's financial strength - was 13.0%, driven by strong organic earnings growth and the regulatory deconsolidation of Barclays Africa.Barclays raised its interim dividend to 2.5p from 1.0p a year before."This first half performance shows a bank beginning to demonstrate its true potential and value. The numbers we have posted strengthen our confidence that Barclays can deliver attractive and sustainable profits, and in our ability to return a greater proportion of those profits to shareholders over time," said Chief Executive James Staley. Jet engine maker Rolls-Royce Holdings reported a good half-year of progress with growing confidence heading into the second half of the year.For the six months ended June 30, revenue rose 12% to GBP7.49 billion from GBP6.66 billion the year before. However, Rolls-Royce swung to a pretax loss of GBP1.26 billion from a GBP1.44 billion profit last year, as the company was hit by an exceptional charge of GBP554 million relating to its well-publicised problems with the Trent 1000 engine. Rolls-Royce said it expects cash costs for Trent 1000 and Trent 900 of GBP450 million. The company held its interim dividend at 4.6 pence. Petrol station operator Applegreen bought a 55% majority stake in motorway services operator Welcome Break for EUR361.8 million. The deal will be financed by a new EUR300 million debt facility and EUR100 million equity raise and will constitute a reverse takeover of Applegreen under AIM rules. "Welcome Break is a fantastic business, it has led the way in providing the very best food and beverage facilities on the UK motorways. We were attracted to Welcome Break because of the strength of its franchise, the excellent management team and the committed staff at each of its 35 locations. We look forward to continuing to grow the Welcome Break business and to offering the 85 million customers who visit Welcome Break each year the very best experience on UK motorways," said CEO Bob Etchingham.The US trade representative said Wednesday that US President Donald Trump has ordered him to consider increasing from 10% to 25% the proposed level of additional duty on USD200 billion worth of Chinese goods. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement the higher duty would be applied to a proposed list of products announced on July 10.Anticipating the announcement, Beijing promised earlier Wednesday to retaliate.The pound was lower against the dollar quoted at USD1.3098 early Thursday, compared to USD1.3117 at the London equities close Wednesday.Economists are expecting an interest rate rise from the BoE, after UK economic data have held up in recent months, although a hike has been largely priced in by investors.The BoE will announce its latest monetary policy decision, alongside the release of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting minutes and Quarterly Inflation Report, at midday on Thursday in London, on what has come to be known as 'Super Thursday'.This will be followed by a press conference with BoE Governor Mark Carney at 1230 BST.The BoE raised interest rates for the first time in a decade in November 2017, lifting the Bank Rate off its historic low of 0.25% to 0.50%. Thursday's decision is expected to result in interest rates going to 0.75%.The international economic events calendar on Thursday has UK construction PMI data at 0930 BST, eurozone producer prices at 1000 BST and US factory orders at 1500 BST.In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended broadly lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.3%, S&P 500 down 0.1% and Nasdaq Composite up 0.5%.The US economy is strong enough to bear tighter monetary policy on the horizon, the Federal Reserve said late Wednesday, even as the central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged in a target range of 1.75% to 2.00%.The Fed's monetary policy committee said it expects that "further gradual increases" in the target range will be "consistent with sustained expansion of economic activity, strong labour market conditions and inflation near the committee's symmetric 2% objective over the medium term."In a statement, the Fed said that risks to the outlook for the US economy seem "roughly balanced".The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 1.2%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is down 2.9%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 2.4%.