GOG.L Share News (GOG)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Thursday.
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COMPANIES
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British gas owner Centrica said it expects 2016 results to exceed the original guidance issued at the end of last year, after a strong energy marketing and trading performance combined with further cost efficiencies. Centrica said it expects to deliver adjusted earnings per share in 2016 of around 16.5 pence per share, meaning the company is still expecting a decline from the 17.2 pence EPS reported in 2015. Centrica said adjusted operating cashflow in 2016 should be in the range of GBP2.40 billion to GBP2.60 billion, considerably higher than the GBP2.25 billion reported in 2015. Total capital investment in the year will be about GBP900.0 million, below the GBP1.00 billion guidance.
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Royal Dutch Shell said its long serving chief financial officer, Simon Henry, will resign from next year and be replaced by Jessica Uhl, who will be promoted. Shell said the change will occur on March 9, 2017, with Henry leaving the company after over three decades with the oil and gas giant and seven years as CFO. Uhl joined the company in 2004 and has held leadership roles within the finance department during her time. She will be an executive director, pushing up female representation on Shell's board, and be based in the Netherlands. Currently, Uhl is Shell''s executive vice president of finance for the integrated gas business.
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Distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl said trading has remained in line with its expectations for 2016, with growth driven by acquisitions. The group said group revenue for the year will rise by around 14% to 15% on a reported basis and by 4% to 5% in constant currencies, with operating margin broadly flat year-on-year.
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Oil and gas facility builder Petrofac said it expects full-year profit to meet its guidance but dip slightly from last year as it warned the integrated energy services division will drag down overall results. Petrofac said net profit is expected to be in line with guidance for 2016 at USD410.0 million, but that will still have fallen from USD440.0 million in 2015. Both figures exclude exceptional items, including a USD101.0 million final charge in 2016 from the Laggan-Tormore loss, a troubled contract that also hit results last year.
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Public transport operator Go-Ahead Group said its rail business is set to miss expectations for the full year as it remains embroiled in the strikes crippling the Southern railway line. The mid-cap bus and rail services provider operates the GTR franchise, which houses Southern, under a joint venture with French transport firm Keolis. Go-Ahead said the GTR franchise has been "heavily impacted by industrial action" and it continues to work towards a resolution to the issues between the sides.But this, plus the costs related to increased bidding activity by Go-Ahead in the German rail market, will mean its Rail division will miss its profit expectations for the year to the end of June 2017. Go-Ahead said its bus business is trading in line, with passenger revenue growth of 1.0% year-on-year expected for the first half in its regional bus operations and 2.5% growth in its London bus business.
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Online takeaway delivery company Just Eat said it is buying UK peer hungryhouse Holdings and Canadian online food delivery firm SkipTheDishes. Just Eat is buying hungryhouse from Delivery Hero Holding for an initial GBP200 million in cash, with a further GBP40 million payable subject to hungryhouse's performance between signing and completion of the transaction. Just Eat said it is also buying Canadian firm SkipTheDishes for an initial CAD110 million. CAD100 million is immediately payable in cash and CAD10 million is payable in the form of 1 million Just Eat shares within 12 months of completion. A further CAD90 million may also be payable, subject to financial targets being met.
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Plastic packaging maker RPC Group continued on its acquisition spree as it announced the purchase of Dutch temporary waste storage products maker ESE World or EUR262.5 million in cash. RPC said ESE is the largest pure-play temporary waste storage products firm in Europe and has customers ranging from local municipalities to private waste management companies. ESE has one facility in Germany and one in France.
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MARKETS
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London shares were marginally lower mid-morning as markets digested the interest rate hike and hawkish minutes from the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday. The dollar rose sharply and gold prices tumbled to their lowest level since February, making gold miners the main stock-market fallers in London. Wall Street was indicated to a higher open Thursday, with major stock indices there pointed up 0.1% to 0.2% after a negative close on Wednesday. Investors were awaiting an interest rate decision and meeting minutes from the Bank of England at 1200 GMT.
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FTSE 100: down 0.1% at 6,943.26
FTSE 250: down 0.1% at 17,664.18
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.1% at 824.41

GBP: down at USD1.2522 (USD1.2706)
EUR: down at USD1.0474 (USD1.0655)

GOLD: down at USD1,131.03 per ounce (USD1,163.41)
OIL (Brent): down at USD54.40 a barrel (USD55.05)

(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday hiked its benchmark interest for only the second time since setting an unprecedented, near-zero target during the depths of the 2008 financial crisis. The central bank said that "realized and expected labour market conditions and inflation" were at levels to justify a hike in the key short-term rate by 0.25 percentage points to a range of 0.5 to 0.75%. The Fed is eyeing multiple interest rate hikes in 2017. Fifteen of the monetary-policy committee's 17 participants expect at least two increases in increments of 0.25 percentage points, according to a summary of the Fed's economic projections. Eleven of the 17 anticipate three hikes next year.
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UK retail sales increased at a slower pace in November, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed. Retail sales including auto fuel, grew 0.2% in November from October, when sales advanced 1.8%. Nonetheless, sales were expected to remain flat. Likewise, excluding auto fuel, retail sales growth eased to 0.5% from 1.9%. Food store sales slid 0.5%, while non-food store sales grew 0.7% in November. Auto fuel sales logged a 2.2% monthly fall. On a yearly basis, growth in overall retail sales volume slowed to 5.9% in November, in line with expectations, from 7.2% in October.
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Germany's private sector growth slowed to a three-month low in December despite strong expansion in manufacturing, flash survey results from IHS Markit revealed. The composite output index dropped to 54.8 from 55.0 in November. Nonetheless, a score above 50 indicates expansion. However, readings taken together for October, November and December pointed to the strongest quarter since the second quarter of 2014. The flash services Purchasing Managers' Index slid to 53.8 from 55.1 in November. The score was forecast to fall moderately to 54.9 in December. On the other hand, the manufacturing PMI climbed to a 35-month high of 55.5 from 54.3 in November. The reading was expected to rise slightly to 54.5.
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The euro area economy maintained a robust pace of expansion at the end of 2016, flash survey data from IHS Markit showed. The composite output index held steady at 53.9 in December. The reading suggested that the activity grew at a rate identical to November's 11-month high. The score was forecast to fall slightly to 53.8. The flash services Purchasing Managers' Index fell more-than-expected to 53.1 from 53.8 in the prior month. The expected reading was 53.7. Meanwhile, the manufacturing PMI rose to a 68-month high 54.9 in December. Economists had forecast the score to remain stable at 53.7.
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Financial services firms could desert the City unless a transitional Brexit deal is secured for the UK, a Lords committee has warned as it criticised the government's "sporadic" engagement with the finance industry. In a new report, a cross-party group of peers said Britain's financial sector must be offered a Brexit "bridge" to prevent companies pre-empting uncertainty and upping sticks to rival financial centres in New York, Dublin, Frankfurt or Paris. The group urged the government to draw up a fixed-term transition period as part of the Brexit deal to prevent companies tumbling off the "cliff edge".
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Talks aimed at resolving the bitter Southern Railway dispute will resume on Thursday as passengers face more disruption. The company warned that its services will be severely disrupted, even though a 48-hour strike by drivers in the Aslef union ended at midnight. The drivers will continue with an overtime ban today, and will strike again on Friday unless there is a breakthrough in a row over driver-only trains.
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EU heads of state and government gathered in Brussels on Thursday for a one-day summit to discuss some of the major crises faced by the EU this year. The leaders have their plates full as discussions start at 1230 CET. Leaders will review the implementation of the EU-Turkey migration deal, cooperation agreements with African countries and reform of the bloc's asylum system. The most pressing topic on the table is an agreement for political and commercial ties between the bloc and Ukraine. EU leaders, minus UK Prime Minister Theresa May, will hold an informal working dinner to discuss the technical details of how Brexit negotiations will play out.
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The EU is determined to maintain its refugee pact with Turkey despite tensions with the country's leadership, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said. Speaking before Thursday's EU summit, Juncker said that the pact was working and should be maintained. Since the pact came into force in March, an average of only 90 refugees per day were landing on the Greek islands - in comparison to 10,000 on a single day in October 2015.
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Operations to evacuate wounded people from the rebel pocket in Aleppo are "under way," the International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed. "We expect to evacuate between 200 and 250 people," a Red Cross official told dpa. The wounded will be brought out of a rebel-held enclave in Aleppo first, followed by media workers. "First the wounded, the sick and then activists and journalists working for different networks from inside eastern Aleppo, then the terrorists," Feras Shehabi, a Syrian lawmaker close to the government also said.
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Venezuela's central bank will begin circulating new banknote denominations on Thursday amid spiralling inflation. The 500-bolivar note will be the first of several new denominations to be introduced. New notes for 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000 and 20,000 bolivars are to follow. New 10-, 50- and 100-bolivar coins are also being introduced. Venezula's ongoing economic crisis has led to the world's highest inflation, which according to independent estimates will close out 2016 at 600% to 700%. The country's currency has become close to worthless, with a black market exchange rate of 4,500 bolivars to the dollar - making the 100 bolivar bill worth about two US cents.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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