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LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Tuesday.
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COMPANIES
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BP PLC announced a fall in its fourth-quarter pretax profit but an increase in pretax profit for the full year 2013 overall. The oil and gas giant said its fourth quarter pretax profit was down 58% to USD1.58 billion from USD3.77 billion in the corresponding period in the previous year, but its full calendar year pretax profit increased to USD31.77 billion from USD19.77 billion.
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BG Group PLC reported lower pretax profit in its full year 2013, as expected, and swung to a pretax loss in its fourth quarter. The FTSE 100 oil and gas giant said pretax profit fell 39% in the year ended December 31, 2013 to USD3.89 billion from USD6.35 billion in the previous year, and it posted a fourth quarter pretax loss of USD1.58 billion compared from a pretax profit of USD1.55 billion in the same period in 2012. The company said group revenue increased in the full year to USD19.19 billion from USD18.93 billion, and in the fourth quarter to USD5.45 billion from USD4.74 billion. The company announced a full-year dividend increase of 10% to 18.02 pence per share.
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UK-based exploration and production company Premier Oil PLC said Chief Executive Officer Simon Lockett has notified the board of his intention to step down. The company said that Lockett will remain in the role until a successor has been identified and appointed by the board, in order to ensure a seamless transition.
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ARM Holdings PLC said it expects dollar revenues for the full year 2014 to be in line with expectations, assuming the outlook for the semiconductor industry improves as generally anticipated, as it reported a decline in pretax profit for 2013 due to exceptional costs. ARM saw exceptional impairment charge of GBP59.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2013, as well as indemnification, settlement and licence costs of GBP41.8 million. Additionally, the company acquired Geomerics Ltd for GBP13.4 million and Sensinode Oy for USD11.7 million in the period. As a result of these costs, according to international financial reporting standards, ARM saw pretax profit for the year decline to GBP162.6 million from GBP221.0 million in the previous year.
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Online-only supermarket Ocado Group PLC reported another loss for the financial year ended December 1, 2013, as the group continued to invest heavily in the business, hindering its chance of breaking even. Ocado, the UK online grocery distribution business, is yet to make it first statutory profit, and has been subject to a lot of skepticism over the years about the future of the company and its growth trajectory. Ocado also announced the departure of Jason Gissing, the co-founder of Ocado, who will be retiring at the next annual general meeting in May. Analysts had been forecasting the group to break even in 2013 or come close to making its first statutory profit. Instead, Ocado's losses widened significantly, having reported a pretax loss of GBP12.5 million, compared with a pretax loss of only GBP0.6 million a year earlier.
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Balfour Beatty PLC and the Carillion PLC joint venture CarillionPowerlines have been appointed as framework suppliers by Network Rail for its GBP2 billion National Electrification Programme. The seven-year framework will see more than two thousand miles of railways lines across England, Wales and Scotland electrified in order to provide faster, quieter and more reliable journeys for passengers and freight users, while also reducing the associated running costs of the railway. The successful bidders for the six nationwide frameworks were Balfour Beatty, CarillionPowerlines, AmeyInabensa, and ABC Electrification.
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TalkTalk Telecom Group PLC said it was on track to meet its full-year guidance for 2014, as it saw revenues rise in the third quarter ended December 30, 2013. The telecommunications company saw revenue grow 5.1% to GBP436 million from GBP415 million in the previous year. The company said it had see 110,000 net adds, including 103,000 Post Office customers. It added 175,000 television customers in the quarter, bringing its total TV customer base to 732,000.
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SIG PLC said it has sold its German roofing business to a US-based private equity firm in a GBP9 million deal. The distributor of specialist building products said the deal with The Gores Group is subject to working capital adjustments and customary regulatory approval, anticipated within the next 30 days. The Los Angeles-based private equity firm specialises in acquiring and partnering with mature and growing businesses.
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Victrex PLC said its performance during the first quarter was in line with its expectations, with the second quarter off to a good start due to a "much stronger" January. In its first-quarter interim management statement, the polymer products company said group sales for the first quarter - the three month period October 1 to December 31 2013 - were up 6% on the comparable period, reporting 679 tonnes, up on the 640 tonnes reported for the first quarter of 2013. Victrex said that its performance was in line with its expectations, and was followed by a much stronger January.
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MARKETS
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The UK's main stock indices are lower again, weighed down by continued concern that that the tightening of US monetary conditions will lead to a slowdown of global growth, as well as a number of disappointing UK corporate releases.
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FTSE 100: down 23.79 at 6,441.87
FTSE 250: down 59.78 at 15,498.45
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 3.18 at 853.39
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The pound has jumped higher after a surprisingly strong reading of the UK construction industry.
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.6336
EUR-USD: down at USD1.3518

GOLD: down at USD1,253.70 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD105.60 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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British construction sector activity expanded at the fastest pace in nearly six-and-a-half years in January, a survey by Markit Economics and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) revealed. The purchasing managers' index, a measure of the country's construction sector performance, rose to 64.6 in January from 62.1 in December. Economists had forecast the index to fall to 61.5. The January reading was the highest since August 2007. The index has now posted above the boom-or-bust threshold of 50 for nine successive months.
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UK small and medium sized manufactures' plan to increase investment improved in the three months to January, survey results from the Confederation of British Industry showed. According to the latest SME trends survey, business confidence fell to +21 in January from +35 in October. But optimism remained solid, it said.
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IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Monday that global central banks should display greater cooperation and must be aware of the potential impact of their policies on other economies. Lagarde's comments come a few days after Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said that international monetary cooperation had "broken down." His criticism was apparently aimed at central banks in advanced economies, particularly the Federal Reserve.
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The monetary base in Japan spiked 51.9% on year in January, the Bank of Japan said, coming in at JPY200.414 trillion. That follows the 46.6% surge in December, which stood at JPY193.459 trillion. Banknotes in circulation were up 3.9% on year, while coins in circulation collected 1.1%.
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The Syrian government will take part in the next round of peace talks with the opposition in Switzerland, a senior Russian official said. "We expect that a (Syrian) government delegation will take part in the second round of the international talks in Geneva," Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov was quoted as saying by Russian agencies. Leaders of moderate rebel groups also are expected to participate in the talks in Geneva peace talks scheduled to start February 10. A first round of talks ended Friday without progress.
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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will discuss bilateral relations with Germany in Berlin on Tuesday in talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel. Their talks are also expected to centre on the Syrian conflict and efforts to assist Syrian refugees in Turkey. Erdogan is in the German capital for a one-day visit which will also include a speech on Turkey's role in the world and an address to Turkish nationals living in Germany. That speech will be broadcast in Turkey.
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A key faction of Ukrainian anti-government protesters on Monday said they would vacate occupied territory in Kiev in exchange for the release of detained activists. The offer came two days after a law granting amnesty to rally participants after they vacate administrative buildings was passed by Ukraine's parliament in an attempt to defuse two months of political chaos and civil unrest. The amnesty, which has a 15-day deadline, has yet to be implemented. Protest leaders last week refused to meet the key condition of retreating from government buildings.
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The US is consulting with the EU about financial aid for Ukraine, but a US official made clear Monday that a new government would have to be formed before any money would flow. State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said that Victoria Nuland, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, would return this week to Kiev. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who has made repeated visits to Ukraine in recent weeks, has indicated that Washington and Brussels were working on a financial plan.
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Two people have died of the H7N9 bird flu virus in China, reports said, bringing the year's death toll to 25, and raising concerns as millions prepare to travel for the end of the new year holiday. A 59-year-old man died in the town of Louding on Monday, after coming into contact with live poultry, state-run news agency Xinhua reported. It was the first fatality from the disease in the south-eastern province of Hunan. On Sunday, a woman died in Foshan, in the central province of Guangdong. A total of 113 cases have been reported across the country this year.
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US President Barack Obama is to visit Saudi Arabia in March including a meeting with King Abdullah, the White House said Monday. The visit will come months after the kingdom expressed frustration with Washington's policies in Iran and Syria. White House spokesman Jay Carney denied that Obama's trip was intended for damage control.
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