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(Alliance News) - The court battle between the UK's Cineworld and Canada's Cineplex continued to build drama.
Cineplex has submitted a cross-appeal to Cineworld's own appeal of the decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to award huge damages to Cineplex from Cineworld over the cancelled acquisition of Cineplex by Cineworld.
The court had ordered Cineworld to pay CAD1.23 billion, about GBP720 million, in damages Cineplex's cross-appeal said that it should be awarded alternative forms of damages if the Ontario Court of Appeal determines that the damages award of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice is incorrect.
In response, Cineworld on Friday repeated that it disagrees with the decision of the Canadian court, and it also disagrees with the submissions of Cineplex in its cross-appeal.
Cineworld said it will respond to the cross-appeal as part of the appeal process and does not expect damages to be payable while the appeal is ongoing.
Before the pandemic, Cineworld had agreed to buy Cineworld for CAD2.8 billion, but pulled out of the deal in 2020 as cinemas around world were shuttered by Covid-19.
Cineworld shares were down 3.9% early Friday. In Toronto on Thursday, Cineplex had closed down 0.7%.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.6% at 7,510.00
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Hang Seng: down 1.1% at 23,550.08
Nikkei 225: closed up 2.1% at 26,717.34
S&P/ASX 200: closed up 2.2% at 6,988.10
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DJIA: closed marginally lower, down 7.31 points at 34,160.78
S&P 500: closed down 0.5% at 4,326.51
Nasdaq Composite: closed down 1.4% at 13,352.78
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EUR: down at USD1.1131 (USD1.1152)
GBP: flat at USD1.3390 (USD1.3393)
USD: up at JPY115.66 (JPY115.42)
Gold: up at USD1,796.50 per ounce (USD1,794.49)
Oil (Brent): soft at USD89.78 a barrel (USD89.88)
(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
1000 CET EU monetary developments in euro area
1100 CET EU consumer confidence
1100 GMT Ireland retail sales
0830 EST US personal income & outlays
1000 EST US University of Michigan survey of consumers
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German exports to the UK dropped another 2.5% last year, the first full year of Brexit, following a huge decline in 2020 in the first stage of the coronavirus pandemic, official figures show. Exports from Germany – Europe's biggest economy – totalled EUR65.4 billion in 2021, according to preliminary figures from the German Federal Statistical Office. It said that the drop, which followed a 15% decrease in 2020, was a result of Brexit.
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China's economy is going through a slowdown that will persist through 2022, the International Monetary Fund said in a report. "China's recovery is well advanced, but it lacks balance and momentum has slowed," the IMF said, attributing the slowdown to the rapid withdrawal of policy support, the lagging recovery of consumption amid recurrent Covid-19 outbreaks and slowing real estate investment. The report referred to "significant slack" in the world's second-largest economy that was expected to persist through the year and added that a "significant tightening of macroeconomic policy support" had contributed to the slowdown. On Tuesday, the IMF had cut its growth forecast for China in 2022 by 0.8 of a percentage point to 4.8%. This is well down from the 8.1% growth posted last year, although that figure came off the low base of pandemic-hit 2020.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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Goldman Sachs cuts AB Foods to 'sell' (neutral) - price target 2,060 (2,160) pence
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Barclays raises ITV to 'overweight' (equal weight) - price target 160 (140) pence
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Barclays raises S4 Capital to 'overweight' (equal weight) - price target 730 (800) pence
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HSBC raises Premier Foods to 'hold' (reduce) - price target 120 (95) pence
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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abrdn said it has sold 40 million shares in Phoenix Group to institutional investors, at a price of 660 pence per share raising gross proceeds of GBP264 million. Phoenix will not receive any proceeds from the placing, as it was of existing shares. Following the disposal, abrdn will have around a 10% stake remaining in Phoenix Group, and abrdn will continue to appoint a director to Phoenix's board. abrdn intends to return the net proceeds of the Phoenix share sale to abrdn shareholders, with the timing of the return to be announced after the company's results on March 1.
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Oil major Shell said it has started operations of its first hydrogen electrolyser in China. The 20 megawatts power-to-hydrogen electrolyser has started production of green hydrogen in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. The device will be powered by onshore wind power. It will initially supply green hydrogen fuel to a fleet of over 600 fuel cell vehicle in the Zhangjiakou competition zone of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, which starts in February. The electrolyser took 13 months to complete, and is part of the first phase of a joint venture with Zhangjiakou City Transport Construction Investment Holding Group Co Ltd, along with opening hydrogen refuelling stations. Shell holds a 49% stake in the project. The second phase of the JV will be to scale up production to 60 megawatts in the next two years. Zhangkiajou City is 180 kilometres from Beijing, and was tasked with providing low-carbon energy and transport for the Winter Olympics in line with China's commitment to a carbon-neutral Olympics.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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ConvaTec said it has entered into an agreement to acquire Memphis, Tennessee-based Triad Life Sciences for an initial USD125 million, with a potential USD50 million more based on short-term milestones. Triad Life Sciences is a US-focused medical device company that develops biologically-derived products to address unmet clinical needs in surgical wounds, chronic wounds and burns. The deal is expected to close during the first quarter. ConvaTec said the deal provides entry into the large and rapidly growing wound biologics market, estimated to be worth USD1.8 billion per annum globally with a projected growth of high-single-digit percentage per annum.
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Capita said it has agreed to sell IT services and solutions provider Trustmarque to One Equity Partners for GBP111 million. The outsourcer said that the sale of Trustmarque was another "step towards materially reducing our debt" and that it met the goal of GBP700 million in total disposal proceeds ahead of its June 2022 target. Chief Executive Officer Jon Lewis said: "We are pleased to have agreed the sale of Trustmarque to One Equity Partners following a competitive sale process. I am delighted that, once this sale is completed, we will have exceeded our disposals target and achieved this much earlier than originally planned. We are now focused on selling the remaining businesses in our Portfolio division, with the goal of disposing of the majority by the end of 2022."
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COMPANIES - GLOBAL
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Toyota retained its crown as the world's top-selling automaker, having overcome a chip shortage and supply chain woes to beat Volkswagen for a second straight year. The Japanese auto giant said it sold nearly 10.5 million vehicles in 2021, a jump of about 10% from 2020, including units made by its Daihatsu and Hino subsidiaries. German rival Volkswagen, which Toyota overtook last year to reclaim the top spot for global sales, said earlier this month it had shifted 8.9 million vehicles in 2021, down 4.5% on-year as the chip shortage squeezed sales. In 2021, "the effects of the spread of Covid-19 were less severe than in 2020," Toyota said in a statement. "As a result, both global sales and production were up year-on-year." Despite its sales triumph, Toyota has been hit by the global semiconductor shortage that is plaguing major carmakers worldwide as well as virus-related supply chain disruption.
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Friday's shareholder meetings
Avon Protection PLC - AGM
Hollywood Bowl Group PLC - AGM
JPMorgan China & Growth Income PLC - AGM
Mosman Oil and Gas Ltd - AGM
Tertiary Minerals PLC - AGM
Treatt PLC - AGM
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
