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(Alliance News) - Phoenix Group Holdings on Friday said Chief Executive Clive Bannister will retire on March 10 next year after nine years of service.
The FTSE 100-listed insurance firm said Bannister will be succeeded by Andy Briggs, who will join the business as CEO-designate at the start of 2020 in order to "effect a smooth handover".
Briggs was chief executive officer of UK Insurance at London-headquartered Aviva PLC until earlier this year. Prior to that he served as CEO of insurer Friends Life, which is also a part of Aviva. He also was managing director of life insurance & pensions firm Scottish Widows, a subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group PLC, and CEO of the Retirement Income division at Prudential PLC.
"Phoenix, its customers, colleagues and investors will benefit from the smoothest of successions between two great industry leaders and, with Andy as our future CEO, we will be in the best position to leverage the broad strategic platform that Clive has delivered," said Chair Nick Lyons.
Phoenix Group shares were down 1.3% early Friday.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.3% at 7,384.51
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Hang Seng: down 0.8% at 27,622.36
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.3% at 23,391.87
DJIA: closed up 182.24 points, 0.7%, at 27,674.80
S&P 500: closed up 0.3% at 3,085.18
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GBP: flat at USD1.2813 (USD1.2823)
EUR: flat at USD1.1049 (USD1.1045)
Gold: up at USD1,469.52 per ounce (USD1,467.40)
Oil (Brent): down at USD61.92 a barrel (USD62.51)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Friday's Key Economic Events still to come
ECOFIN meeting of EU finance ministers
1000 EST US monthly wholesale trade
1000 EST US University of Michigan survey of consumers - preliminary
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China's foreign trade continued to fall in October compared to the same period last year, according to official data, as the trade war with the US weighs on the giant Asian economy. Exports dropped 0.9% from last October to USD212.9 billion, while imports plunged 6.4% to USD170.1 billion, according to customs data released on Friday. The declines were, however, smaller than analysts had expected. China's foreign trade with the US dropped 16% year-on-year in October.
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Japan's household spending surged 9.5% year-on-year in September, official data showed, as consumers rushed to complete purchases ahead of a sales tax hike in October. Household spending is closely watched to gauge if Japan is on target to emerge from decades-old deflation. The jump – after just a 1.0% rise in the previous month – came as the world's third-largest economy raised consumption tax to 10% from eight percent on October 1 to address snowballing government debt.
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Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is preparing to enter the crowded race to become the Democratic nominee for the 2020 presidential election, US media reported. The 77-year-old Bloomberg is expected to file paperwork in at least one state this week declaring himself a candidate, according to multiple outlets including The New York Times. The billionaire Bloomberg had said back in March he wouldn't run, but has been toying for weeks with the idea of seeking the White House after all, according to an advisor, who was quoted as saying he had yet to make a final decision.
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EU financial policymakers greeted a proposal from German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz on deepening the banking union, but signalled his vision for a European Deposit Insurance Scheme is unlikely to be waved through. Finance ministers from Italy, Austria and the Netherlands, as well as the EU economic and financial affairs commissioner, praised the suggestion for breaking the deadlock, but some expressed reservations before a Brussels meeting on Thursday. Italy's Roberto Gualtieri said Rome's position was far apart from Scholz's plan in several aspects, most notably on sovereign bonds.
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A New York judge ordered US President Donald Trump to pay USD2 million to nonprofit organizations to resolve a lawsuit alleging he misused charitable assets to further his political and business interests. Trump "breached his fiduciary duty" by letting campaign staff, rather than the Trump Foundation, run a fundraiser that raised USD2.8 million during the 2016 presidential primaries, Justice Saliann Scarpulla said. The judge said the event and the distribution of funds were used "to further Trump's political campaign".
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UK high street sales collapsed in the last week of October amid political upheaval as retailers face a "perfect storm" in the crucial Christmas trading period, figures suggest. Retailers failed to stem the sales plunge despite deep autumn discounting and early seasonal promotions, according to the BDO High Street Sales Tracker. Total like-for-like sales managed a marginal 0.7% increase and failed to offset a negative base of minus 2% last October as consumers became "increasingly sensitive to the political chaos" of Brexit delays the announcement of a general election, BDO said.
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UK employers are continuing to stall on hiring staff amid continued uncertainty over Brexit and the forthcoming general election, a new study suggests. Workers are also becoming increasingly "nervous" about making a career change, according to the Recruitment & Employment Confederation. Its survey among 400 recruitment agencies found there was a fall in permanent staff appointments last month, while pay continued to increase as fewer candidates were available. The rate of growth in job vacancies was the slowest since the start of 2012, with demand for workers in the public sector said to be falling.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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HSBC CUTS INTERTEK TO 'REDUCE' ('HOLD') - TARGET 4500 (4650) PENCE
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UBS RAISES DUNELM GROUP TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 930 PENCE
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MORGAN STANLEY CUTS IMI TO 'EQUAL-WEIGHT' ('OVERWEIGHT') - TARGET 1200 PENCE
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JPMORGAN CUTS TI FLUID SYSTEMS TO 'NEUTRAL' ('OVERWEIGHT') - TARGET 205 (215) PENCE
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RBC CUTS G4S TO 'SECTOR PERFORM' ('OUTPERFORM') - TARGET 200 PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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International Consolidated Airlines Group said traffic in October, measured in revenue passenger kilometres, increased by 4.8% versus the same period last year. IAG - which operates British Airways, Air Lingus, Iberia, Vueling and Level - said capacity, measured in available seat kilometres, increased by 2.7% year-on-year. Looking ahead, IAG said medium-term planning goals for the three years 2020-2022 include operating profit margin of between 12% and 15%, earnings per share growth of more than 10% per annum, and return on invested capital of 15%. The company, however, lowered its guidance in terms of seat capacity, saying that it now expects growth of 3.4% per annum, compared to 6% per annum for 2019-2023 it estimated previously. Available seat kilometres growth in 2020 is currently planned to be 3.2%, though not adjusted for the British Airways strikes in 2019 and "leap year" in 2020.
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Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust said it underperformed its benchmark in the first half of its current financial year, with net asset value total return of 3.2% compared with 9.9% for the FTSE All-World Index. The company's NAV per share, meanwhile, rose to 520.4 pence as at the end of September from 504.0p reported on March 31. "We are emphatically optimistic about the aggregate and underlying progress of our companies and therefore our portfolio. We see no evidence that the dim global economic conditions or the unappealing international political environment are undermining the tectonic shifts and structural advances driven by broadening and accelerating technological progress," said Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Chair Fiona McBain.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Beazley said gross premiums written increased by 12% to USD2.19 billion in the nine months to the end of September, with premium rates on renewal business rising by 6%. The insurer said the improved performance was driven by organic growth and rate rises across many lines of business. Beazley said it continues to diversify its product offerings and in the third quarter it has launched cyber and financial lines products within Italy and a virtual care product in the UK.
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Games Workshop said trading to November 3 "has continued well", with sales and profit ahead of prior year. Royalties receivable were also "significantly" ahead year-on-year, driven by the timing of guarantee income on signing new licences. For the year to December 1, the manufacturer of miniature wargames figurines said it expects sales of not less than GBP140 million and pretax profit of not less than GBP55 million.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Walt Disney reported better-than-expected quarterly results, fuelled by the release of blockbuster films "Aladdin" and "The Lion King" as it prepared for its new streaming television service. Disney profit in the recently ended quarter was USD1.05 billion, down from USD2.3 billion a year ago, on revenue that grew 34% to USD19.1 billion. The slump in profit came as Disney absorbed key film and television operations of 21st Century Fox and geared up for its launch of the streaming service Disney+ that aims to compete globally against Netflix and others. The entertainment giant expects revenue in the current quarter to be boosted by the forthcoming release of a sequel to "Frozen" and the final installment of the "Star Wars" film saga.
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German insurer Allianz said it expects annual operating profit towards the upper half of its guided range, as it reported third-quarter growth. Total revenue for the three months to September 30 was EUR33.4 billion, up 8.1% year-on-year. Within this, the Property-Casualty unit saw growth of 6.3%, Life-Health growth of 9.9% and Asset Management 5.8%. Allianz reported net income of EUR2.03 billion, up 5.8% on a year ago.
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Auto and truck parts manufacturer Bridgestone lowered its annual guidance amid weaker than expected demand. For 2019, Bridgestone now sees net sales of JPY3.490 trillion, which would be down 4% on 2018. Previously, the company had guided to 2019 sales of JPY3.620 trillion. Operating income is now seen at JPY330.0 billion, which would be down 18% on last year. Previously, this had been guided to JPY375.0 billion.
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Luxury goods firm Compagnie Financiere Richemont reported a sales rise in its first half, on growth in all regions, but profit fell sharply on the non-repeat of a EUR1.38 billion one-off non-cash gain a year before. The company said sales grew by 8.7% year-on-year to EUR7.40 billion from EUR6.81 billion. Richemont's pretax profit more than halved however to EUR1.07 billion from EUR2.50 billion. Richemont explained that profit levels were broadly stable when not including last year's non-cash gain of EUR1.38 billion related to the revaluation of the shares it held in Yoox Net-A-Porter Group, the Italian retailer it acquired through a tender offer last year. Richemont brands include Alfred Dunhill, Cartier, Montblanc and Piaget.
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Friday's Shareholder Meetings
Ground Rents Income Fund
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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