Hikma Pharmaceuticals Share News (HIK)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended marginally higher on Wednesday, with Standard Life Aberdeen and BP helping keep the FTSE 100 above the 7,150 mark.Attention will now shift to the no-deal vote in the House of Commons later in the evening. The FTSE 100 index closed up 8.04 points, or 0.1%, at 7,159.19. The FTSE 250 ended up 36.13 points, or 0.2%, at 19,180.09, and the AIM All-Share closed up 1.77 points, or 0.2% at 909.25. The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.2% at 12,138.58, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.2% at 17,151.20, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.1% at 11,119.81.In Paris the CAC 40 ended up 0.7%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended up 0.4%. "Dealers are cautious on account of Brexit. Westminster will be in focus again this evening as MPs are set to vote on whether the no deal option should be pursued, or dropped. Eurozone stocks are muted as Continental Europe could lose a lot too if the UK leaves the EU without a deal," said CMC Markets analyst David Madden. On the London Stock Exchange, Standard Life Aberdeen ended as the best blue chip performer, up 2.4% after the fund manager raised its dividend despite a challenging industry backdrop and weak investor sentiment.Standard Life Aberdeen on Wednesday proposed a final dividend of 14.3p per share, bringing its total for the year to 21.6p, up from 21.3p in 2017. The company intends to maintain its 2018 dividend during the next stages of its "transition and transformation" programmes - which it said is 75% complete."Shares in Standard Life Aberdeen are up today, largely thanks to the absence of a dividend cut - the firm has actually increased the distribution for 2018 and then targeted an unchanged pay-out of 21.6p per share going forward as it continues to implement its plan of becoming a pure-play asset manager," said AJ Bell's Russ Mould. Standard Life Aberdeen also said Keith Skeoch has been appointed sole chief executive, with former joint boss Martin Gilbert stepping down to become vice chairman.The move marks an end to the firm's dual-CEO structure following the merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management in March 2017. Since then, the stock is down 40%. BP closed up 2.1%, tracking spot oil prices higher. Brent was quoted at USD67.22 a barrel at the London equities close, up from USD66.64 at the close Tuesday.Oil was up after an US Energy Information Administration report showed oil stockpiles fell by 3.86 million barrels. Analysts were expecting an increase of 2.65 million barrels.Prudential closed up 1.1% after the life insurer said its planned demerger of M&G Prudential is progressing as planned as the insurance giant's profit was ahead of consensus in 2018, driven - as always - by growth from its Asia operations.Prudential posted a pretax profit of GBP3.64 billion compared to GBP3.30 billion in 2017, a 10% increase year-on-year.Prudential's operating profit for 2018 totalled GBP4.83 billion, up 2.8% from the GBP4.70 billion recorded in 2017. Analyst consensus forecast Prudential achieving GBP4.60 billion in operating profit.Prudential's Asia unit reported a 9.1% rise in operating profit to GBP2.16 billion in 2018 - ahead of consensus - with its insurance operations generating GBP1.98 billion in profit.International Consolidated Airlines Group closed up 1.1% after RBC raised the British Airways parent to Outperform from Sector Perform. Wm Morrison Supermarkets closed up 0.6% after the grocer reiterated confidence in its outlook for the current year despite the risk of a no-deal Brexit, changing UK consumer behaviour, and an ever more competitive food retail market.The supermarket chain rewarded its shareholders, hiking its total annual payout by 25% to 12.60 pence per share from 10.09p a year ago. This was made up of a total ordinary dividend of 6.60p, after a final payout of 4.75p, in addition to a special dividend of 4.0p, which brought its special payout for the year to 6.0p.At the other end of the large cap index, Hikma Pharmaceuticals closed down 4.3% after the generic drugmaker's annual earnings missed consensus estimates. For 2018, revenue was USD2.07 billion, a 6.7% increase from USD1.94 billion in 2017, which Hikma said reflected strong demand for its in-market products and new launches. Company-compiled consensus was for revenue of USD2.10 billion, putting Hikma's reported result just behind. Core operating profit was USD460 million 19% above its core operating profit of USD386 million in 2017, but 2.3% less than the USD471 million consensus. Hikma posted a pretax profit of USD293 million for the year, swinging from a pretax loss of USD738 million in 2017. In the FTSE 250, Petrofac closed up 4.5% after the oilfield services firm said it has been awarded a contract, worth USD1 billion, with Groupment Isarene for the Ain Tsila development project in Algeria. The pound was higher against the dollar, quoted at USD1.3215 at the London equities close, compared to USD1.3083 at the close Tuesday, shrugging off downbeat forecasts from the Office of Budget Responsibility. Ahead, UK Members of Parliament will vote on Wednesday at about 1900 GMT on whether the UK should crash out of the European Union without a deal."Brexit optimism is pushing the pound over USD1.32 - not bad given the future of the UK looks so uncertain. Whilst traders are focused on the upcoming vote, it is also worth pointing out that tonight's vote is not legally binding. At these levels the pound continues to look on the optimistic side, disbelieving that the UK could crash out of the EU in just two weeks," City Index analyst Fiona Cincotta said. The OBR predicted economic growth of 1.2% this year - a downgrade from the 1.6% forecast at the Budget in October 2018. However, the OBR, expects this shortfall to be made up in future years; its forecast for cumulative growth over the next five years was unchanged.The growth downgrade came as Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond urged lawmakers to lift the "cloud of uncertainty" over the UK's economy by ruling out a no-deal Brexit in a vote late Wednesday.Delivering his statement after MPs emphatically rejected Theresa May's Brexit deal for a second time on Tuesday night, the chancellor said the issue was "damaging our standing and reputation in the world".He warned: "Leaving with no deal would mean significant disruption in the short and medium-term and a smaller, less prosperous economy in the long-term, than if we leave with a deal."Hammond warned that leaving the bloc with no deal would mean significant short-and medium term economic disruption, including higher unemployment and rising prices.Elsewhere, Hammond said there was "good news" on the public finances, with borrowing forecast to reach GBP13.5 billion in 2023/24, its lowest level in 22 years.The OBR figures handed Hammond a GBP11 billion windfall, in what Treasury sources described as an "extraordinary" indication of how well the economy is performing.Better-than-expected income tax and national insurance revenues, resulting from wages outstripping inflation, mean the chancellor is on track to meet his targets with a "headroom" of GBP26.6 billion to spare, rather than the GBP15.4 billion forecast at the time of the autumn Budget."For what it's worth, if there's a no deal we think fiscal policy will be loosened by more than the chancellor has implied. And if there's a deal, a stronger economy than projected will give the chancellor even more money to spend," noted analysts at Capital Economics. The euro stood at USD1.3112 at the European equities close, against USD1.1290 late Tuesday after positive industrial production data.The eurozone's industrial production grew more-than-expected in January after declining in the previous two months, but the outlook remains uncertain amid worries of slowing global demand.Industrial production rose 1.4% from December, when it fell 0.9%, figures from the statistical office showed. Economists had forecast a 1% increase.Growth was driven by a 2.4% surge in energy production, followed by a 2% climb in the output of non-durable consumer goods.Capital goods output rose 0.9%, durable goods production grew 1.1% and manufacture of intermediate goods was 0.2% higher.On a year-on-year basis, industrial production decreased 1.1% after a 4.2% slump in December. Economists had anticipated a 2.1% fall.Stocks in New York were higher at the London equities close after a report from the US Commerce Department showed an unexpected increase in durable goods orders in the month of January.The DJIA was up 0.7%, the S&P 500 index up 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.0%.The report said durable goods orders climbed by 0.4% in January after spiking by an upwardly revised 1.3% in December. Economists had expected durable goods orders to drop by 0.5%.The Commerce Department also said orders for non-defence capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched indicator of business spending, climbed by 0.8% in January after slumping by 0.9% in December."The rebound in underlying capital goods orders in January stands out as a positive amid the recent flood of downbeat activity data, but it is still consistent with a gradual slowdown in business equipment investment growth in the first quarter," said Michael Pearce, senior US economist at Capital Economics.Gold was quoted at USD1,308.09 an ounce at the London equities close, higher than USD1,297.69 late Tuesday.The economic events calendar on Thursday has China retail sales numbers at 0200 GMT, Germany inflation data at 0700 GMT, Ireland GDP readings at 1100 GMT and US import-export numbers at 1230 GMT. The UK corporate calendar on Thursday has full year results from multiplex chain operator Cineworld Group, lender OneSavings Bank, life insurer Just Group and outsourcer Capita.