(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were seen opening slightly lower on Thursday, with positive UK economic figures set against doused hopes of progress on a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
"We cannot state that there was anything too promising or any breakthroughs," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had told reporters on Wednesday.
Oil prices, meanwhile, were hurt by a US plan to tap into reserves.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 4.4 points, 0.1%, lower at 7,574.35. The blue-chip index closed up 41.50 points, 0.6%, at 7,578.75 on Wednesday.
In early UK corporate news, Brewin Dolphin agreed a GBP1.6 billion buyout from Royal Bank of Canada.
In other M&A activity, beauty brands firm Brand Architekts agreed to buy personal care products developer InnovaDerma.
Provident Financial reported improved annual earnings and declared a dividend, while Euromoney Institutional Investor expects annual results in line with expectations.
Royal Bank of Canada has agreed a deal to buy FTSE 250-listed investment advice company Brewin Dolphin for GBP1.6 billion. RBC said this represents 2.8% of Brewin Dolphin's GBP55.0 billion in assets under management as of February 28.
RBC will pay 515 pence in cash for each Brewin Dolphin share, a 62% premium to the company's closing price of 318.0p on Wednesday.
"The Brewin Dolphin directors, who have been so advised by Barclays and Lazard as to the financial terms of the acquisition, consider the terms of the Acquisition to be fair and reasonable," Brewin Dolphin said.
Subprime lender Provident Financial said its performance improved "significantly" in 2021. It swung to a pretax profit of GBP4.1 million from a GBP113.5 million loss.
The figure includes the discontinued Consumer Credit Division, however. From continuing operations alone, Provident Financial recorded a pretax profit of GBP142.2 million, swinging from a GBP37.0 million loss in 2020.
Revenue from continuing operations fell 13% to GBP534.6 million from GBP615.4 million. However, Provident's bottom line was boosted by an 84% reduction in impairments to GBP50.4 million.
As a result of the improved profit figure, Provident declared a 12 pence dividend for 2021, having not declared one for 2020. The payout comes in the form of an interim dividend.
"Going forwards, the board anticipates moving towards a pay-out ratio of circa 40% of adjusted earnings from FY22 onwards," the company said.
Business-to-business financial information provider and events organiser Euromoney said it saw "strong revenue growth" in the second quarter which concluded on Thursday.
"Fastmarkets and Financial & Professional Services underlying subscriptions revenue growth remains strong while the turnaround of Asset Management continues to progress ahead of plan," the company said.
"In Events, we have seen a consistent improvement in booking trends since the beginning of 2022 resulting in a number of successful large events during the second quarter which achieved higher revenue than their pre-pandemic equivalent."
Euromoney expects a full-year outturn in line with board expectations, without taking into identified cost savings from the real estate the company occupies.
The pandemic brought a greater focus on hybrid office models and working from home. Euromoney said it has "identified significant opportunities to reduce our office costs to reflect the footprint that suits our needs".
The company said it has "limited exposure to customers in Russia and Ukraine".
"Combined revenue in FY 2021 was GBP1 million or 0.3% of group revenue. The group can confirm that it has suspended business with individuals who are incorporated or resident in Russia or Belarus," Euromoney explained.
Elsewhere in the London market, M&A moves continued.
Corporation Financiere Europeenne is on the verge of owning or receiving offer acceptances for just under 54% of AIM-listed CIP Merchant Capital.
CFE's takeover offer for CIP Merchant Capital is expected to become unconditional on Thursday, as it had a 50% acceptance condition.
Guernsey-based investment company CIP Merchant earlier in March labelled the bid as "hostile". It said the 60p per share offer, worth GBP33 million in total, was "similarly unattractive" to a previous 55p tilt.
Beauty brands business Brand Architekts and InnovaDerma, a developer and marketer of beauty and personal care products, have agreed to a merger.
The deal will see InnovaDerma shareholders receive 7p in cash plus 0.3818 of a new Brand Architekts share for each share they own.
Based on Brand's 106.5p closing price on Wednesday, the deal values InnovaDerma shares at 47.7p and its ordinary share capital at GBP13.6 million.
"Brand Architekts has long admired InnovaDerma's reputation and experience as a direct to consumer beauty and skincare retailer. Brand Architekts and InnovaDerma have common cultures and shared values, with both companies focused on building sustainable brands with a digital first mindset," a joint statement read.
The pound fell to USD1.3131 early Thursday in London from USD1.3163 late Wednesday. The euro was quoted at USD1.1159, down slightly from USD1.1163. Against the yen, the dollar fell to JPY121.80 from JPY121.94.
The UK economy expanded at a faster pace than expected in the fourth quarter of 2021, data from the Office of National Statistics showed Thursday, despite the emergence of the Omicron variant.
Gross domestic product expanded 1.3% quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of last year. The figure topped the previous estimate, which showed 1.0% growth.
The revision means that the UK economy actually ended last year larger than it was two years earlier, before the emergence of Covid-19.
"The level of GDP is now 0.1% below where it was pre-coronavirus at quarter 4 2019, revised from the previous estimate of 0.4% below," the ONS said.
In the third quarter, GDP had risen 1.3% on a quarterly basis.
In New York on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.2%, the S&P 500 lost 0.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.2%.
Asian equities struggled on Thursday. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney lost 0.2%. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo closed down 0.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was 0.5% lower and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was down 1.2%.
Russia has said it has offered a ceasefire in the embattled Ukrainian city of Mariupol this Thursday for the evacuation of civilians.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's president warned Russian troops are regrouping in preparation for a renewed assault in the east Thursday, as he dismissed Kremlin promises to scale back attacks on the capital Kyiv.
With shelling of Kyiv and Chernigiv continuing despite a Russian vow to "reduce" military activity by "a large margin", Volodymyr Zelensky told his war-torn nation to brace for a new Russian onslaught in the eastern Donbas region.
A barrel of Brent oil fetched USD108.82 early Thursday UK time, down from USD113.56 at the London equities close on Wednesday. Gold fell to USD1,926.16 an ounce from USD1,934.80.
Oil prices tumbled Thursday on reports that the US is considering tapping its reserves to combat a supply crisis sparked by the Ukraine war.
Concerns about oil demand in China owing to a lockdown in Shanghai was adding to downward pressure.
The White House this month put an embargo on oil from Russia as part of a series of wide-ranging sanctions against the country for its invasion.
However, that sent prices soaring further and put added upward pressure on world inflation, which was already at multi-decade highs.
Officials said the US president would make a statement Thursday on plans to cut energy costs "and lower gas prices at the pump for American families".
On Thursday's economic calendar, there are EU unemployment figures at 1000 BST. In the US, focus will be on the latest jobless claims reading and the core personal consumption expenditure figures at 1330 BST. The latter is an inflationary gauge closely watched by the Federal Reserve.
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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