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(Alliance News) - Rolls-Royce on Monday said it has reached an agreement with Qatar Investment Authority to invest GBP85 million in new venture Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactor.
Rolls-Royce SMR will construct mini nuclear reactors - a tenth the size of current ones - that each can power a million homes. QIA will take 10% of the equity in the venture, joining BNF Resources UK and Exelon Generation as shareholders alongside Rolls-Royce.
Rolls-Royce said the SMR business is now fully funded, having secured GBP490 million through commercial equity and UK government grants.
"QIA is investing in the energy transition and funding the technologies that enable low carbon electricity generation," said Chief Executive Officer Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud.
UK Business & Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng commented: "This investment is a clear vote of confidence in the UK's global leadership in nuclear innovation and follows the GBP210 million of government investment in the development in Small Modular Reactors. It represents a huge step forward in our plan to deploy more home-grown, affordable clean energy."
Rolls-Royce shares were down 3.9% early Monday.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 1.9% at 7,134.52
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Hang Seng: down 1.9% at 22,753.63
Nikkei 225: closed down 2.1% at 27,937.81
S&P/ASX 200: closed down 0.2% at 7,292.20
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DJIA: closed down 532.20 points, or 1.5%, at 35,365.44
S&P 500: closed down 48.03 points, or 1.0%, at 4,620.64
Nasdaq Composite: closed down 0.1% at 15,169.68
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EUR: down at USD1.1254 (USD1.1275)
GBP: down at USD1.3207 (USD1.3270)
USD: down at JPY113.40 (JPY113.58)
GOLD: down at USD1,798.55 per ounce (USD1,803.50)
OIL (Brent): down at USD71.10 a barrel (USD73.70)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Monday's key economic events still to come
1000 CET EU euro area balance of payments
1100 GMT UK CBI industrial trends survey
1000 EST US leading indicators
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Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is to take over responsibility for the UK's future relationship with the EU, Downing Street has said, following the resignation of David Frost. The Brexit minister resigned with "immediate effect" on Saturday night, having previously agreed with Prime Minister Boris Johnson he would leave his job in January. Citing "the current direction of travel" of the government, as well as fears over "coercive" Covid measures and the wish for the UK to become a "lightly regulated, low-tax" economy, Frost's departure was described as a "watershed moment" in what had been an extremely damaging week for the PM. Downing Street said Truss would take over ministerial responsibility for the UK-EU relationship, and would lead negotiations to resolve issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol. Truss underwent a transformation from being pro-Remain to an avid Brexiteer following the referendum in 2016.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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CREDIT SUISSE RAISES CENTRICA PRICE TARGET TO 90 (75) PENCE - 'OUTPERFORM'
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GOLDMAN SACHS RAISES FEVERTREE DRINKS PRICE TARGET TO 2150 (1650) PENCE - 'SELL'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Rio Tinto named Canadian diplomat Dominic Barton as the miner's new chair, taking on the post from May next year. Simon Thompson will step down from the board on May 5, having served as chair for four years and as a non-executive director since 2014. Barton joins Rio Tinto's board on April 4, before taking over as chair when Thompson departs. The miner said Barton has spent over 30 years at management consulting McKinsey & Co. He spent nine years as global managing partner at the firm, and six years as Asia chair. More recently, he has been Canada's ambassador to China since 2019.
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GlaxoSmithKline said it has appointed Dave Lewis as non-executive chair designate of the new Consumer Healthcare company, which will result from the proposed demerger from GSK in 2022. His appointment will take effect from January 1. Lewis was chief executive of supermarket chain Tesco from 2014 to 2020 and was widely credited with turning around the retailer's fortunes. GSK's consumer healthcare business, formed in 2019 as a joint venture with Pfizer, is expected to take a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange.
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Pharmaceutical peer AstraZeneca said its lupus treatment Saphnelo has been recommended for marketing authorisation in the European Union. Saphnelo is an add-on therapy for the treatment of adult patients with moderate to severe, active autoantibody-positive systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE. AstraZeneca said the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency based its positive opinion on results from the Saphnelo clinical development programme, including the Tulip phase III trials and the Muse phase II trial. Executive Vice President of BioPharmaceuticals R&D Mene Pangalos said: "Saphnelo is a ground-breaking first-in-class medicine and offers physicians and patients a new way of treating systemic lupus erythematosus by targeting the type I interferon receptor, which is known to play a central role in lupus disease pathophysiology. This positive recommendation from the CHMP brings us one step closer to providing a much-needed new treatment option to improve outcomes for patients in Europe."
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Bodycote said it has appointed Daniel Dayan as non-executive chair with effect from 1 January. Dayan will succeed Anne Quinn who announced her intention to retire in May. Dayan is currently chair of Swedish supply chain services and industrial materials distribution company CellMark. He has previously held positions as chair of Low & Bonar and non-executive director of Chemring.
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COMPANIES - GLOBAL
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French lender BNP Paribas said it has sold its US retail and commercial banking arm Bank of the West for USD16.3 billion in cash. BNP Paribas said in a statement that the sale to Canada's Bank of Montreal "is expected to formally close during the course of 2022" – subject to clearing regulatory approval and other hurdles. "This is a value-accretive transaction for all sides, which emphasises the quality of Bank of the West franchise," BNP chief executive Jean-Laurent Bonnafe said. Media reports in recent weeks had suggested BNP was looking for a buyer for Bank of the West, which it has owned since 1979 and operates 555 branches in 20 US states, with over 9,000 staff.
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Chinese artificial intelligence start-up SenseTime said it will press ahead with its Hong Kong listing, a week after it was blacklisted by the US over accusations of genocide in Xinjiang. An initial listing earlier this month was pulled when the US Treasury announced new sanctions, saying SenseTime's facial recognition programmes were designed in part to be used against Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. On Monday, the company filed a revised listing with the Hong Kong stock exchange with trading expected to start December 30. "Due to the dynamic and evolving nature of the relevant US regulations, we have required to exclude US investors," the company wrote.
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Monday's shareholder meetings
Cambium Global Timberland Ltd - AGM
Napster Group PLC - GM re delisting from AIM, reforming as US company NM Inc
Plexus Holdings PLC - AGM
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
