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(Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Tuesday.
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COMPANIES
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Endeavour Mining Corp has ended discussions over a potential combination with FTSE 250 gold miner Centamin, it said. Endeavour said Centamin has not sought an extension to the offer deadline of Tuesday. Given the lack of information received, Endeavour said, it has now decided against bidding for Centamin. Last month, Endeavour proposed a deal in which Centamin shareholders would get 0.0846 of an Endeavour share per Centamin share held, giving Centamin's shareholders a 47% stake in a combined company. The proposal valued Centamin at GBP1.47 billion. Since then, the two have criticised each other's behaviour during merger talks, with Endeavour accusing Centamin of being unwilling to properly look into a combination.
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UK housebuilder Taylor Wimpey said its annual results are set to be in line with its own expectations, despite an uncertain political and economic backdrop in the UK. In a trading statement for 2019, the housebuilder said the housing market remained stable throughout the past year, albeit with more challenging conditions in London and the South East and at higher price points. Total house completions in 2019 increased by 5% to 15,719, including joint ventures, compared to 14,933 in 2018. The company said it ended 2019 with a record total order book valued at GBP2.17 billion, compared to GBP1.78 billion a year ago. The Spanish market remained healthy throughout the year, the company noted. Taylor Wimpey said it remains cash generative and intends to return GBP610 million to shareholders through dividend payments in 2020.
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Boohoo Group said it has raised its annual guidance as a result of strong revenue growth and appointed former JD Sports Fashion chief financial officer as new deputy chair. In a trading statement for the four months ended December 31, the online fast fashion retailer said its revenue increased by 44% to GBP473.7 million from GBP328.2 million a year ago. As a result, boohoo said it now expects revenue growth for financial year to February 29 to be 40% to 42%, ahead of its previous guidance of 33% to 38%. The company also said it expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation margin to be 10% to 10.2%, ahead of its previous guidance of around 10%. Boohoo announced appointment of Brian Small as deputy chair with immediate effect. Small, who has served as CFO of JD Sports for 15 years, is an existing non-executive director and currently serves as chair of the group's audit committee.
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Elementis said it expects to report a drop in adjusted operating profit for 2019 following a subdued trading performance in the last quarter. For the year, the FTSE 250 specialty chemicals firm expects adjusted operating profit to be between USD122 million to USD124 million, a 6.8% to 8.2% decline from GBP133 million in 2018. The Personal Care segment had a mixed end to the year, as a solid performance in cosmetics offset competitive pressures in AP Actives. The Energy unit performed weaker due to a slowdown in North American drilling activity, Elementis said, as did the Chromium segment as a result of a weak demand environment and lower market prices.
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Japanese automaker Nissan Motor insisted Tuesday it is "in no way" planning to end its partnership with French peer Renault, after a report suggested a divorce was possible in the wake of the Carlos Ghosn scandal. Britain's Financial Times, citing "several people with knowledge of the matter", said Monday that said senior executives at the scandal-hit firm were speeding up work on secret plans for a potential parting of ways with France's Renault. But in a statement, Nissan firmly denied the claims.
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MARKETS
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London shares were higher with sentiment surrounding the US-China trading relationship remaining positive. In the FTSE 250, Elementis was the worst blue chip performer, down 15%. Wall Street was pointed to a lower open after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq set fresh closing highs on Monday. In the US earnings calendar Tuesday, banks JPMorgan Chase & Co, Wells Fargo and Citigroup will report fourth-quarter results before the market open in New York.
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FTSE 100: up 0.4% at 7,647.83
FTSE 250: up 0.8% at 21,621.52
AIM ALL-SHARE: flat at 966.53
GBP: down at USD1.2978 (USD1.2989)
EUR: down at USD1.1133 (USD1.1144)
GOLD: down at USD1,545.45 per ounce (USD1,551.79)
OIL (Brent): firm at USD64.58 a barrel (USD64.24)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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The US Treasury Department announced it has dropped its designation of China as currency manipulator just days before the two countries are to sign an initial trade agreement. "China has made enforceable commitments to refrain from competitive devaluation, while promoting transparency and accountability," US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. The Trump administration roiled markets when it labelled China as a currency manipulator in August as Washington sought to pressure Beijing to meet US trade demands. After nearly two years of tit-for-tat tariffs Washington and Beijing are set to sign a "phase one" trade deal on Wednesday.
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China's trade surplus with the US narrowed last year as the world's two biggest economies exchanged punitive tariffs in a bruising trade war, data showed. China's surplus with the US came in at around USD295.8 billion in 2019, down 8.5% from the previous year's record USD323.3 billion, according to customs data. In December, its surplus with the US was around USD23.2 billion, from USD24.6 billion the month before. At a news conference on Tuesday, spokesman for the customs administration Zou Zhiwu said that since November and December, Chinese imports from the US including of soybeans and pork have picked up. China's foreign trade volume in total fell slightly on-year in 2019, and its surplus with the world stood at USD421.5 billion. For the full year, exports rose 0.5% while imports fell 2.8%.
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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal has cleared its first major hurdle in the House of Lords. Late Monday, peers backed, without a vote, the second reading of the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill, enabling the UK to leave the EU on January 31. But the legislation is set to face stiffer scrutiny in its committee stage with peers likely to force votes on contentious issues at report next week. One area of conflict will centre on a likely attempt to reintroduce provisions allowing unaccompanied child refugees to continue to be reunited with their families in the UK after Brexit.
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The EU's executive is to unveil plans on Tuesday to leverage billions of euros over the coming years in support of ambitious climate goals that would reduce the bloc's net carbon emissions to zero by 2050. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has made climate action a key priority. Last month she unveiled her flagship "European Green Deal," aimed at adapting the EU economy to achieve climate neutrality. However, her plan - which will require huge investment - hinges on buy-in from member states, who are locked in a bitter fight over the bloc's next long-term budget. The proposal to be unveiled on Tuesday foresees EUR7.5 billion in new EU funding from 2021-27, according to a draft seen by dpa.
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