Auto Trader Share News (AUTO)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are set to open lower Thursday, with positive sentiment dissipating as investors await the European Central Bank's interest rate decision and commentary at midday.In London, Aviva said it is splitting its UK insurance business and will be reducing expenses by cutting jobs. Auto Trader reported double-digit annual profit growth. Legal & General acquired Rolls Royce's pension liabilities for GBP4.6 billion.The City also continues to follow the troubles facing stock picker Neil Woodford. St James's Place on Wednesday afternoon said it has removed Woodford Investment Management as manager of some of its funds to ensure "clients' investments continue to be managed effectively".The wealth manager has terminated its mandate with Woodford Investment Management and has appointed Columbia Threadneedle Asset Management and RWC Partners as managers of its UK High Income Unit Trust, UK Equity (Life & Pension), Income Distribution (Life) and SJPI UK High Income funds.The UK financial regulator late Wednesday said it may open an investigation into the LF Woodford Equity Income Fund if there are circumstances suggesting serious misconduct or non-compliance with the rules. On Monday, Woodford suspended withdrawals from the equity income fund as its underperformance resulted in a significant outflow of investors.IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 is set to open 0.42 point lower at 7,219.8 on Thursday. The blue-chip index closed up 5.93 points, or 0.1%, at 7,220.22 on Wednesday.Auto Trader said it is confident of meeting its growth expectations in its recently started financial year after reporting double-digit growth in annual profit. The automotive marketplace revealed a 15% increase in pretax profit for the year to the end of March to GBP242.2 million from GBP210.7 million the year before, including GBP8.7 million profit recognised on disposal of its Smart Buying platform.Revenue climbed 7.6% to GBP355.1 million from GBP330.1 million, with average revenue per retailer improving to GBP1,844 per month in financial 2019 from GBP1,695 the year before."We have achieved another strong year of revenue and profit growth driven by a line-up of products that are proven to improve the business performance of our retailer and manufacturer customers," explained Chief Executive Trevor Mather. Rolls Royce said it will transfer some pension risk liabilities to fellow FTSE 100 constituent Legal & General. The deal, expected to be worth "in excess" of GBP4.6 billion, covers about 33,000 in-payment pensioners.L&G said the deal is the largest bulk annuity written in the UK. In 2019 so far, L&G has acquired "over" GBP6.2 billion pension risk liabilities. "The Rolls-Royce transaction again demonstrates our extensive strengths and synergies. We have a unique combination of pension, actuarial and structuring expertise coupled with the capacity to create and source long-term direct investments at scale," L&G Chief Executive Nigel Wilson said.Aviva said that from now on its UK life and general insurance businesses will be managed separately. Angela Darlington has been named interim CEO of UK Life and Colm Holms will run General Insurance. Aviva also said it intends to reduce expenses by GBP300 million per annum by 2022, and this will involve 1,800 job cuts.Aviva Chief Executive Maurice Tulloch said: "Today is the first step in our plan to make Aviva simpler, more competitive and more commercial. We have strong foundations: excellent distribution, world class insurance expertise, and our balance sheet is robust." The FTSE 100-listed insurer said its trading in the year to date has been "broadly consistent" with 2018.Transport operator Go-Ahead said it saw revenue growth across all three of its operation divisions in 2019 to date.Go-Ahead's full-year expectations for its London & International bus division have been increased due to a "strong operating performance". Go-Ahead said it seen "high levels of punctuality" across all of its divisions in the year to date.CMC Markets reported a sharp decrease in profit and net operating operating income in financial 2019 following a "difficult period of trading".In the twelve months to March 31, CMC's pretax profit decreased 89% to GBP6.3 million from GBP60.1 million the year before. The company's net operating income decreased 30% to GBP130.8 million from GBP187.1 million. As a result, the company is cutting its dividend by 77% to 2.0 pence from 8.9p.The number of trades on CMC's platform in the period slipped 6% to 64.5 million with active clients decreasing 10% to 53,308.The company announced, separately, Euan Marshall will be replacing departing chief operating & financial officer Grant Foley as CFO on an interim basis. Foley had announced his departure at the beginning of April.CMC Chief Executive Peter Cruddas said: "This has been a difficult period of trading for CMC and our sector, but having now weathered the ESMA transition, we exit this year with renewed confidence in the future. We have learned as our clients adjusted to the imposition of much lower leverage levels at the same time as experiencing range bound markets. As a result, we have adjusted our business to ensure we capture revenue appropriately and manage the net risk we are exposed to from higher client margins against smaller positions being held for longer periods."Wall Street ended higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.8%, the S&P 500 up 0.8% and Nasdaq Composite up 0.6%.The US failed on Wednesday to reach an immediate agreement with Mexico over the preventing Washington imposing a 5% tariff on all Mexican imports, but will resume talks on Thursday, both sides said.US President Donald Trump tweeted that there was progress during the talks at the White House, "but not nearly enough."Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said the US had shown a will to bring the two sides' positions closer and that he remained "optimistic" despite the talks being "difficult."Ebrard met US Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after Trump announced a tariff on all imports from Mexico, if the country did not prevent Central American migrants from crossing its border into the US.Ebrard said that Wednesday's meeting focused on migration, with the US demanding "short term or immediate term" measures, while Mexico did not believe in "immediate" or "punitive" moves against migration.Mexico has proposed investing more in Central America's economy, infrastructure and education systems to dissuade its residents from wanting to leave.In Asia on Wednesday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed marginally lower. In China, the Shanghai Composite is down 1.3%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 0.1%.Sterling was quoted at USD1.2676 early Thursday, lower than USD1.2725 at the London equities close on Wednesday.In the UK, the battle to be next UK prime minister turned increasingly ugly on Wednesday as contenders for the Tory crown rounded on each other.Cabinet Minister Rory Stewart seized on comments by ex-Brexit secretary Dominic Raab that he could close down down Parliament as PM to force through a no-deal Brexit, branding the move potentially "illegal".While Environment Secretary Michael Gove launched a pointed attack on former foreign secretary Boris Johnson and insisted he would be prepared to delay Brexit beyond October if a deal was within reach.The economic events calendar on Thursday, EU first quarter GDP is due at 1000 BST, with the US issuing its April trade balance and jobless claims for May at 1330 BST.The European Central Bank is also scheduled to make an interest rate decision at 1245 BST followed by a press conference on the decision by ECB President Mario Draghi at 1330 BST.Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced early Thursday that it had withdrawn its plan to merge with Renault after the French carmaker delayed a decision on the proposal due to a request from the government.A French government source said Paris had asked for time to get Renault's alliance partner, Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor, behind the proposal, and hit back at Italian-American firm FCA for withdrawing its offer in a "precipitated way".