Flybe Group Share News (FLYB)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Share prices in London gave back all their morning-session gains to be marginally lower by midday Friday, as the pound held steady despite continued political tensions over Brexit. The FTSE 100 was down 8.88 points at 6,951.44 by midday. The FTSE 250 was 3.26 points lower at 18,526.74. The AIM All-Share was down 0.4% at 921.02.The Cboe UK 100 was marginally down at 11,819.09, the Cboe UK 250 down 0.2% at 16,663.35, and the Cboe UK Small Companies down 0.1% at 11,391.60."Brexit uncertainty is likely to ensure a general lack of conviction amongst traders, with everything seemingly up in the air and highly changeable," commented IG's Joshua Mahony.The pound was flat, quoted at midday at USD1.2826, against USD1.2855 at the London equities close Thursday. It remains slightly up for the week. Putting new pressure on the pound, former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab hit out at UK Prime Minister Theresa May's withdrawal deal, branding it worse than remaining in the EU. The prominent Leave backer said the agreement would see the UK bound by rules over which it had no control.Asked if the PM's deal was worse than remaining in the bloc, Raab told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I'm not going to advocate staying in the EU. But, if you just presented me terms, this deal or EU membership, because we would effectively be bound by the same rules but without the control or voice over them, yes, I think this would be even worse than that."Raab said the current agreement was unlikely to be passed by the Commons, and that ministers should contemplate leaving without one.On the London Stock Exchange, Flybe was the big winner at midday, soaring 38%, on a report - subsequently confirmed by both companies - that Virgin Atlantic Airways is in talks about a takeover bid. Shares of the regional carrier remain down 66% in the past three months amid falling profit and revenue, last week it put itself up for sale.FTSE 100 budget airline easyJet gained 1.2% on the report by Sky News, which said easyJet is now out of the running for Flybe. The Financial Times had reported last week that both easyJet and infrastructure firm Stobart Group were interested. Stobart, up 3.0%, had bid unsuccessfully for Flybe in March. Miners were weighing on the FTSE 100 index amid weaker metal prices, with Fresnillo down 2.5%, Rio Tinto down 1.9%, Anglo American down 2.0%, Glencore down 1.0%, and Antofagasta down 1.0%.Gold was lower at midday quoted at USD1,222.40 from USD1,227.52 late Thursday. Evraz was the worst blue-chip performer, down 2.8%, despite having its debt rating raised. Moody's Investors Service late Thursday upgraded the debt rating of the Russia-focused miner and steel maker on the back of its reduced leverage and total debt. Moody's upgraded Evraz's corporate family rating to Ba1 from Ba2 and its probability of default rating to Ba1-PD from Ba2-PD.Royal Dutch Shell B shares were down 1.7% and its A shares were down 1.5% as the price of oil continued to slip.Brent was down at midday, quoted at USD60.95 a barrel at the London equities close, down from USD62.70 at the close on Wednesday. Brent is down 8.5% this week and 24% this month. City Index's Fiona Cincotta said: "Most analysts claim that this has to do with supply overhang and increased production from Russia and Saudi Arabia, but the bottom line is that the US president keeps pushing for lower prices and while this is the case it will be difficult to see a return to oil at a higher level unless oil cartel OPEC decides on a major output cut at its next meeting on December 6."Fellow oil major BP, down 0.5%, delivered first oil production from the Clair Ridge project in the West of Shetland region, offshore the UK.The Clair Ridge is operated by BP, which holds a 28.6% interest in the project. Shell holds a 28% stake in the project, with ConocoPhillips and Chevron North Sea, part of Chevron Corp, holding 24% and 19.4%, respectively.The project has been designed to recover an estimated 640 million barrels of oil with production expected to ramp-up to a peak at plateau level of 120,000 barrels of oil per day. In the FTSE 250, Ibstock was the biggest gainer at midday, up 9.6%. The brick manufacturer said it remains on track to deliver annual earnings target as it sold its US brick manufacturing business, Glen-Gery. The unit was sold to Brickworks at an enterprise value of USD110 million, on a debt and cash free basis. As part of the transaction, Brickworks will assume some liabilities, including an associated pension liability. In addition, Ibstock confirmed that its maintenance program in its UK brick business is progressing well. The company said it remains on track to deliver adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization between GBP121 million and GBP125 million for the year to the end of December. This includes a full year contribution from Glen-Gery of GBP11 million. Insurer Hastings was up 2.4% after Barclays raised the insurer to Overweight from Equal Weight. At the other end of the midcap index, CYBG lost 2.8% as Goldman Sachs resumed the bank with a Neutral rating but Credit Suisse raised it to Neutral from Underperform.Outsourcing group Capita was down 2.0%. The company said it will contribute GBP176 million towards reducing the company's pension deficit. The company has agreed a deficit recovery plan with the Trustees of the Capita Pension and Life Assurance Scheme. Capita's actuarial deficit at March 31, 2017 - the date of the last triennial valuation - stood at GBP185 million, before any effect from the recent High Court ruling on Guaranteed Minimum Pension equalisation. The company does not expect the ruling to have a material impact. In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were up 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively.The euro was lower against the dollar at USD1.1349 against USD1.1400 late Thursday In European economic news on Friday, IHS Markit flash estimates showed the eurozone private sector grew at the slowest pace in nearly four years in November, with slower expansions in both manufacturing and services. The composite purchasing managers' index, which combines manufacturing and services, fell to 52.4 from 53.1 in October. Economists had expected a score of 53.The latest reading was the lowest since December 2014. A PMI reading above 50 suggests growth in the sector.The manufacturing PMI dropped to a 30-month low of 51.5 from 52 in October. Economists had expected the reading remain unchanged. The services PMI eased to a 25-month low of 53.1 from 53.7 in October. Economists were looking for a reading of 53.6. Meanwhile, Italy's borrowing costs fell, a day after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte hinted at possible compromises in an ongoing budget row with the EU. The spread that measures how much extra interest Italy has to pay over Germany on its 10-year debt was hovering around 300 basis points in morning trading.This was down from a five-year-high of about 335 basis points reached on Tuesday, on the eve of a European Commission rejection of Italy's deficit-heavy budget plans.The commission, the EU's executive arm, has proposed legal action against Italy, potentially leading to hefty fines, for "particularly serious non-compliance" with eurozone fiscal rules.In the US, markets will be closing early on Friday as the country's Thanksgiving festivities continue and the "Black Friday" retail sales event gets officially underway. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is called down 0.5%, while the S&P 500 is pointed down 0.4% and the Nasdaq down 0.6%.