GOG.L Share News (GOG)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening marginally higher on Tuesday amid continued fears over trans-Atlantic trade relations.In UK company news, HSBC and BHP kept their respective payouts to investors unchanged as Intercontinental Hotels raised its own dividend by 10%. IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open up 4.43 points at 7,223.90. The blue chip index closed closed down 17.21 points, or 0.2%, at 7,219.47 on Monday.European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker does not expect US President Donald Trump to impose special tariffs on EU cars, as the German government on Monday said it hoped for a negotiated solution.The US Department of Commerce submitted to Trump its assessment over whether importing cars and parts is affecting national security, the department said in a statement late Sunday.Trump could now decide to impose tariffs based on the report but Juncker remains confident.A Brussels spokesman said earlier any retaliation from the European Commission would be "swift and appropriate". Talks are continuing between Europe and the US on trade issues and Germany, with its large car industry, hopes there can be a deal which avoids the tariffs.The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 0.3%.InterContinental Hotels said it made excellent progress in 2018 and delivered a "strong financial performance".For 2018, group revenue rose 6% to USD4.33 billion but pretax profit fell 26% to USD485 million due to restructuring costs related to implementing its comprehensive efficiency programme. Operating profit fell 7% to USD670 million from USD724 million. Annual revenue per available room growth at group level came in at 2.5%, while RevPar in the Americas region was 1.9% up from 1.3% in 2017. The company proposed a 10% increase in the final dividend to 78.1 US cents, taking the total dividend for the year to 114.4 cents from 104 cents. IHG added it was on track to deliver USD125 million in annual savings by 2020.Drugmaker Indivior said the phase 3 trial for its Sublocade drug for opioid use met primary and key secondary end points. Indivior said Sublocade showed statistically significant differences in opioid abstinence.Transport company FirstGroup's trading has been in line with expectations since September 2018 and it has also kept its full year outlook unchanged. FirstGroup said Rail like-for-like passenger revenue growth slowed to 4.2% though bus like-for-like passenger revenue growth was 1.3%. In addition, the company said its troubled US bus business Greyhound continues to face a difficult trading environment.In addition, rival Go-Ahead has agreed to buy the Manchester bus depot from FirstGroup for GBP11.2 million in cash. "Our overall trading performance in the period was in line with our expectations; in particular last summer's strong bid season in First Student, our largest division, together with further momentum in First Bus, support our unchanged outlook for the full year," said Chief Executive Matthew Gregory. "Recognising overall conditions in our markets remain uncertain, and poor weather retains the potential to affect our performance, we are getting on with delivering plans that will improve services for customers and unlock the inherent value within the group."The pound was marginally lower, quoted at USD1.2901 against USD1.2933 at the London equities close Monday, ahead of UK jobs figures at 0930 GMT.The UK unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged to a four-decade low of 4.0% in January.Also in the economic events calendar Tuesday, there is eurozone current account data at 0900 GMT.Earlier on Tuesday, HSBC held its annual dividend after profit and revenue expanded amid strong growth in Asia, despite a tough fourth quarter performance crimping results.In 2018, pretax profit widened 16% to USD19.89 billion as revenue rose 4.5% to USD53.78 billion.The reported pretax profit fell short of market expectations, with analyst consensus seeing HSBC achieving pretax profit of USD20.93 billion. HSBC shares were down 1.4% in Hong Kong trading.For the fourth quarter, HSBC held its dividend unchanged at 21 US cents per share. For the full year, the dividend was also unchanged at 51 cents with the firm "confident" of maintaining the dividend at this level in the future.Anglo-Australian miner BHP Group said interim profit and revenue both rose and debt declined, while full-year copper guidance has been given a boost.For the six months ended December, pretax profit grew 4.5% on the year to USD6.80 billion as revenue rose 1.0% to USD20.74 billion.BHP maintained its interim dividend per share at 55.0 US cents. Net debt fell 36% to USD9.89 billion from USD15.41 billion the year prior.Financial markets in the US reopen Tuesday after being closed on Monday for the Presidents' Day holiday.In the US earnings calendar, retailer Walmart is set to report fourth-quarter results on Tuesday before the market open in New York.