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(Alliance News) - Anglo-Australian miner BHP Group on Tuesday said it will acquire an additional 28% interest in Shenzi, a six-lease development in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico from US petroleum refineries firm Hess Corp for USD505 million.
Shenzi is currently structured as a joint ownership, with BHP holding a 44% stake as operator, while Hess and Repsol hold a 28% interest each.
The acquisition will increase BHP's working interest to 72% and add 11,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in production. Of this output, 90% of it is oil.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: called up 0.1%, at 5,948.40
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Hang Seng: up 0.9% at 23,971.02
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.5% at 23,433.73
DJIA: closed up 465.83 points, 1.7%, at 28,148.64
S&P 500: closed up 1.8% at 3,408.63
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GBP: up at USD1.2988 (USD1.2968)
EUR: firm at USD1.1782 (USD1.1787)
Gold: down at USD1,910.98 per ounce (USD1,914.70)
Oil (Brent): firm at USD41.48 a barrel (USD41.66)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Tuesday's Key Economic Events still to come
China National Day Golden Week continues. Financial markets closed.
0930 BST UK CIPS/Markit construction PMI
0800 CEST Germany Manufacturing orders
0800 CEST Germany Manufacturing turnover
1800 SAT South Africa SARB's monetary policy review
0830 EDT US International trade
1630 EDT US API Weekly Statistical Bulletin
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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing a sizeable Commons Tory rebellion over his government's coronavirus restrictions. Conservative critics are calling for significant government movement on the 10pm pub curfew and the inclusion of children in "rule of six" regulations for gatherings. Leading rebel Steve Baker, who has organised a meeting with like-minded Tory MPs on Tuesday lunchtime to discuss tactics, said he does not expect to defeat the government, but instead get ministers to shift ground. MPs will vote on Tuesday, the day the prime minister addresses the virtual Tory conference, on the regulations which enforce the rule of six in England in order to allow them to continue. Baker told the PA news agency: "Consensus among Conservative MPs seems to be around two points – that children should be excluded from the rule of six and that the 10 pm curfew is not justified by evidence. "I wouldn't expect to win a vote on either issue. The reality is we need to persuade the government on all these matters.
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US President Donald Trump on Monday returned to the White House after a three-day stay at a hospital where he was treated for the coronavirus, saying on Twitter he was "feeling really good." Trump, wearing a mask, was taken by helicopter from the Walter Reed medical centre outside Washington. Video footage showed him climbing the steps to the South Portico balcony, where he took off his mask and stood saluting for several moments before entering the building. "Feeling really good! Don't be afraid of Covid. Don't let it dominate your life...I feel better than I did 20 years ago!" the president tweeted as he announced he was being discharged. In a later video message on Twitter, Trump said that as a leader he had to return to work and be "out front," and appeared to make efforts to justify holding large gatherings just hours before his infection was announced. He also suggested he may now be immune, despite there being no clear-cut evidence that having Covid-19 once leaves patients with long-term immunity. Nor have Trump's doctors said he is fully recovered from the virus. He will continue to receive treatment at the White House.
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Tropical storm Delta strengthened into a hurricane Monday in the Caribbean, and is expected to intensify as it passes over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and into the southern US. Hurricane Delta was packing maximum sustained winds of 80 miles per hour as it moved southwest of Jamaica, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm was heading towards the US Gulf Coast at seven miles per hour, the Miami-based centre reported. "Delta continues to strengthen," the NHC said. "Hurricane conditions expected Tuesday night in the northeast Yucatan Peninsula." A hurricane watch is in effect for the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. Delta is expected to enter the Gulf of Mexico early Wednesday.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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BERENBERG RAISES FRESNILLO TO 'HOLD' ('SELL') - TARGET 1200 (1000) PENCE
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GOLDMAN CUTS RENTOKIL INITIAL TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 600 (570) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Watches of Switzerland upgraded its guidance after a stronger-than-expected second quarter thus far. Revenue for the first 10 weeks of the second quarter amounted to GBP202.7 million, up 20% at constant currency and 18% on a reported basis. The second quarter ends on October 25. The UK performance continues to be driven by "strong domestic sales" offsetting lower tourist and airport business, while momentum in the US has accelerated further with an "exceptionally strong" performance in the quarter to date. For the full-year, the retailer bumped up its revenue guidance to a range of GBP880.0 million to GBP910.0 million, from a range of GBP840.0 to GBP860.0 million previously. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation margin is seen up around 1.0% to 1.5% versus last year, after being guided flat.
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Oxford Biomedica has received approval from the UK Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for the fourth manufacturing suite at its Oxbox facility. Oxbox is Oxford Biomedica's new commercial manufacturing centre, located in Oxford. "Both this suite and the suite approved in September will be operating at 1000L scale and at present will be dedicated to the manufacture of a Covid-19 viral vector vaccine candidate," said Oxford Biomedica.
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Ferrexpo reported a sequential decline in third quarter pellet production. Output was down 12% to 2.5 million tonnes in the third quarter, versus 2.9 million tonnes in the second quarter. The reduced volume was due to planned pelletiser maintenance in early September. "The company's additional concentrator section was completed in 3Q 2020, with commissioning and ramp up of this additional processing capacity to progress in 4Q 2020," added Ferrexpo. Separately, Ferrexpo said that a restriction covering just over 50% of shares in Ferrexpo Poltava Mining remains after a Ukrainian court dismissed the firm's appeal. "The restriction does not affect ownership of the shares in FPM, but prohibits their transfer. Furthermore, Ferrexpo AG has no intention, and never has had any intention, to transfer its shareholding in FPM. Ferrexpo's operations remain unaffected and continue as normal," Ferrexpo stressed. The FTSE 250 constituent is considering further legal action against the restriction.
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COMPANIES - MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Premier Oil has agreed an all-share merger with Harbour Energy's UK operating company, Chrysaor. Premier will merge with Chrysaor through a reverse takeover, retaining a London listing. Premier stakeholders are expected to own up to 23% of the combined group - comprising Premier shareholders owning up to 5.45% and existing creditors holding the balance - and Chrysaor shareholders owning at least 77%. "There is significant industrial, commercial and financial logic to creating an independent oil and gas company of this size with a leading position in the UK North Sea. The transaction will also provide the combined group with a solid foundation from which to pursue a fully funded international growth strategy," said Premier Chief Executive Tony Durrant.
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Restaurant Group's revenue for the half-year to June 28 was GBP227.2 million, down sharply on GBP515.9 million a year ago. Its pretax loss widened to GBP234.7 million from GBP87.7 million. The casual dining chain owner said its results reflect the impact of the UK's lockdown and significant exceptional restructuring costs. Restaurant Group noted, though, that its performance since reopening has been "very encouraging". For the 11 weeks to September 20, Wagamama like-for-like sales have grown 11% and Leisure sales were up 4%.
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COMPANIES - GLOBAL
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Exxon Mobil hit back at Bloomberg News, saying an article published on its website Monday is "false and misleading". "The Bloomberg story on emissions projections is false and misleading and ignored facts the company provided in an on-the-record statement and through numerous discussions with the story's authors," the oil major said. The emissions projection described in the story had planned annual emissions growth, which was a preliminary, internal assessment of estimated cumulative emission growth through 2025, Exxon noted, and "did not include the mitigation and abatement measures that would have been evaluated in the planning process". Exxon added: "Furthermore, the projections identified in the leaked documents have significantly changed, a fact that was not fully explained or prominently featured in the article." The oil major stressed it is committed to mitigating emissions in its operations.
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A US judge on Monday ordered IT network specialist Cisco Systems to pay a total of USD1.9 billion in compensation after ruling it infringed four patents belonging to cybersecurity company Centripetal Network. Because Cisco's actions were "wilful and egregious," the actual damages of more than USD755 million would be increased by a factor of 2.5, District Judge Henry Morgan of Norfolk, Virginia ruled. Cisco was also ordered to pay interest and costs, plus royalties of 10% on sales relating to the relevant products for three years and of 5% for another three years after that. Cisco immediately said it would appeal against the ruling.
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A decade-old legal battle between Silicon Valley giants Oracle and Alphabet's Google over software rights moves to the US Supreme Court Wednesday, in a case with enormous implications for copyright in the digital era. The top court scheduled oral arguments in the case which dates back to a lawsuit filed in 2010 by Oracle seeking billions from Google over its use of Java programming language in its Android mobile operating system. Two separate jury trials ended with a determination that Google's "software interface" did not unfairly use Java code, saving the internet giant from a possible multibillion-dollar verdict. But an appeals court in 2018 disagreed, saying the software interface is entitled to copyright protection, prompting Google to take the case to the highest US court. Oracle, which in 2010 obtained the rights to Java when it acquired Sun Microsystems – which had supported Google's use of Java for Android – sought USD9 billion in damages in its original complaint. Google and many Silicon Valley allies have argued that extending copyright protection to bits of code, called application programming interfaces, or APIs, would threaten innovation in the fast-evolving digital world.
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Tuesday's Shareholder Meetings
Cake Box Holdings AGM
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By Tapan Panchal; tapanpanchal@alliancenews.com
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