Johnson Matthey Share News (JMAT)

LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares opened firm Thursday after renewed excitement on Wall Street about the 'Trump trade' pushed the Dow 30 index above 20,000.

However, the early focus in London, ahead of UK GDP figures later in the morning, was on a flurry of company news, led by full-year results from Unilever. The consumer goods giant was the second biggest faller in the FTSE 100, behind coffee and hotels chain Whitbread, which also provided a trading update. Unilever was down 4.4% and Whitbread down 6.1%.

Drinks firm Diageo's interim results were better received. The stock was up 4.2%, the top blue-chip gainer.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.2% at 7,175.31
FTSE 250: up 0.3% at 18,180.65
AIM ALL-SHARE: flat at 875.36
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Hang Seng: closed up 1.4% at 23,374.17
Nikkei 225: closed up 1.8% at 19,402.39
DJIA: closed up 0.8% at 20,068.51
S&P 500: closed up 0.8% at 2,298.37
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GBP: firm at USD1.2638 (USD1.2601)
EUR: flat at USD1.0731 (USD1.0737)

GOLD: flat at USD1,196.37 per ounce (USD1,198.79)
OIL (Brent): flat at USD55.47 a barrel (USD55.39)

(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Thursday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in GMT)

0930 UK BBA mortgage approvals
0930 UK gross domestic product preliminary
0930 UK index of services
1000 Italy retail sales
1100 UK CBI distributive trades survey
1330 US initial and continuing jobless claims
1330 US wholesale inventories preliminary
1330 US goods trade balance
1445 US Chicago Fed national activity index
1445 US Markit services and composite PMI preliminary
1500 US Conference Board leading indicator
1500 US new home sales
1530 US EIA natural gas storage
1600 US Kansas Fed manufacturing activity
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UK Prime Minister Theresa May will call for a "renewed" special relationship between Britain and America as she becomes the first world leader to meet US President Donald Trump since his inauguration as president last week. Arriving in America on Thursday ahead of Friday's meeting in the White House, the prime minister will say that both the UK and US are undergoing a renewal which will allow them to "rediscover our confidence together" and "lead together again" in the world. Downing Street hopes that the Oval Office meeting will allow May to establish the basis for a "strong and productive working relationship" with Trump and agree a shared ambition to sign a UK-US free trade deal once Britain has left the European Union.
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Legislation paving the way for May to start the Brexit process will be published on Thursday. The first salvo in the parliamentary battle will be fired as ministers produce a Bill which will allow the UK to trigger Article 50, the formal procedure for leaving the EU. The government was forced to draw up the legislation after losing an appeal at the Supreme Court, where judges ruled that Parliament must give permission to start the Brexit process. The Bill will be rushed through both Houses of Parliament within weeks in order to meet the prime minister's deadline for triggering Article 50 by the end of March.
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Trump signed an order to push forward the construction of a wall along the Mexican border as he advances his campaign pledges to crack down on illegal immigration. "A nation without borders is not a nation," Trump told border patrol agents and other staff at the Department of Homeland Security after signing an order calling for the immediate construction of the wall. Trump vowed the construction would save thousands of lives, millions of jobs and billions of dollars. He said he would bolster spending for immigration agents and to crack down on criminals who entered the country illegally.
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Trump is expected to stop accepting refugees from Syria to the US and suspend the broader US refugee programme, according to a draft copy of an executive order obtained by US media. The order, which could be signed as early as Thursday, would cease refugee processing and admittance of Syrian nationals until Trump determines sufficient changes have been made to ensure they are being adequately vetted to prevent potential terrorists from entering the country. It would also suspend the broader US refugee programme for 120 days while officials review security screening and decrease the total number of refugees the US will admit.
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Trump are set to meet in Washington around February 10, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported, citing an unnamed diplomatic source. The agency reported on Tuesday that Abe plans to tell the new US president that Tokyo understands and respects his "America first" policy at their first official meeting. The premier is also expected to express his wish that the US will return to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, the report said, even though Trump cancelled US participation in the pact on Monday as he had promised.
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New US Defence Secretary James Mattis will visit Asian allies next week on a four-day trip, the Pentagon announced. "The trip will underscore the commitment of the US to our enduring alliances with Japan and the Republic of Korea, and further strengthen US-Japan-Republic of Korea security cooperation," the Defence Department said. Mattis, a retired general, was the first of Donald Trump's cabinet members to win Senate confirmation Friday, within hours of the new president being sworn into office.
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The White House denied it was considering ordering a review of US interrogation policies of terrorist suspects and the use of CIA "black site" prisons. "I have no idea where it came from or where it originated, but it is not a White House document," spokesman Sean Spicer said.
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China's industrial profits increased at a slower pace in December, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. Industrial profits climbed 2.3% year-over-year to CNY844.4 billion in December, well below the 15% surge in November. In the whole year 2016, total industrial profits grew 8.5% over the previous year to CNY6.88 trillion. Earnings at state-owned firms increased 6.7% and private firm's profits went up by 4.8% during the year.
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Producer prices in Japan were up 0.4% on month in December, the Bank of Japan said - topping forecasts for 0.3%, which would have been unchanged from the November reading. On a monthly basis, producer prices added 0.1% for the second straight month.
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German consumer confidence is set to strengthen in February, survey results from the market research group GfK showed. The forward-looking consumer sentiment rose more-than-expected to 10.2 in February from 9.9 in January. The score was forecast to rise to 10.0.
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According to the 2017 edition of the BP Energy Outlook, produced by oil major BP, global demand for energy is expected to increase by around 30% between 2015 and 2035, an average growth of 1.3% per year. However, this growth in energy demand is significantly lower than the 3.4% per year rise expected in global GDP, reflecting improved energy efficiency driven by technology improvements and environmental concerns.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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TRADERS: BARCLAYS INITIATES JOHNSON MATTHEY WITH 'EQUAL WEIGHT'; TARGET 3380 P.
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MORGAN STANLEY RAISES LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE TO 'OVERWEIGHT' ('EQUAL-WEIGHT'), PRICE TARGET TO 3280 (3040) PENCE
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MORGAN STANLEY RAISES HARGREAVES LANSDOWN TO 'EQUAL-WEIGHT' (UNDERWEIGHT);TARGET 1295 (1050) PENCE
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MORGAN STANLEY CUTS SCHRODERS TO 'EQUAL-WEIGHT' ('OVERWEIGHT') - TARGET 3120 (3245) PENCE
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TRADERS: CREDIT SUISSE RAISES IMI TO 'OUTPERFORM' ('NEUTRAL')
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TRADERS: CITIGROUP RAISES SEGRO TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL')
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JEFFERIES CUTS ESSENTRA TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - TARGET 450 (445) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Royal Bank of Scotland Group confirmed it intends to take a further GBP3.10 billion provision for litigation and investigation over its alleged mis-selling of US residential mortgage-backed securities. The amount was less than the around USD4.00 billion provision that the Financial Times newspaper earlier had reported RBS was set to take. The size of the provision may be a sign as to the expected settlement with the US Department of Justice over the mis-selling scandal, but RBS warned that "further substantial additional provisions and costs may be recognised". The new set-aside brings RBS's total provisions over the mis-selling claims to GBP6.70 billion.
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Wealth manager St James's Place said it saw strong net inflow of funds in the final quarter of 2016. St James's said net inflows of GBP2.10 billion in the final quarter represented a 26% increase year-on-year. For 2016 as a whole, the wealth manager saw net inflows of GBP6.80 billion, up 17% year-on-year. Those net inflows helped boost St James's funds under management to GBP75.30 billion at the end of the year, up 28% from GBP58.61 billion year-on-year.
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Unilever reported growth in profit in 2016, but revenue slipped as the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant continued to battle adverse movements in foreign exchange rates and tough conditions in Latin America and India. Unilever said pretax profit in 2016 grew to EUR7.47 billion from EUR7.22 billion in 2015, although revenue decreased to EUR52.71 billion from EUR53.27 billion. Revenue was hit by negative movements in foreign exchange rates, Unilever said, but underlying sales at constant currencies rose by 3.7%, thanks to a 2.8% rise in prices and 0.9% growth in volume.
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Drinks giant Diageo reported growth in profit in the first half of its financial year, boosted by the weak pound, which it said will benefit the full year on the whole. Diageo said pretax profit in the six months ended December 31 grew to GBP2.07 billion from GBP1.78 billion in the first half of the prior year, as revenue rose to GBP9.62 billion from GBP8.27 billion. Diageo said it grew sales in each of the geographic markets in which it operates, driven by positive movements in foreign exchange rates. The company said year-on-year organic growth in the recent half was 1.8% in volume terms and 4.4% in terms of net sales. Diageo will pay an interim dividend of 23.7 pence per share, which is a 5% increase on the prior year.
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Sky said its business is on track as it enters its financial second half. The pay-television provider reported a rise in revenue for its first half, although profit declined as a result of absorbing higher football costs and other investments. Sky will not pay an interim dividend due to its proposed takeover by 21st Century Fox Inc. Fox made a recommended offer for Sky in December valuing it at GBP18.50 billion. For the half year to the end of December, Sky reported pretax profit of GBP377 million, down from GBP414 million in the previous year, despite revenue rising to GBP6.41 billion from GBP5.72 billion, as a result of higher operating expenses, primarily due to higher costs related to Premier League broadcasting rights.
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Whitbread reported growth in sales in the third quarter of its financial year and said full-year results will be in line with expectations. Whitbread, which owns the Costa coffee shop brand and Premier Inn hotel chain, said total sales in the 13 weeks to December 1 grew by 8.6% year-on-year, with 9.2% growth at Premier Inn and a 13% rise at Costa. On a like-for-like basis, total sales were up 1.7%, with 1.8% growth at Premier Inn and a 4.3% rise at Costa.
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Anglo American said only one of its three key commodities experienced a rise in production in 2016. Anglo American is streamlining the business to focus on diamonds, copper and platinum, but it still has vast operations involving nickel, iron ore and coal. Full year production of platinum in concentrate rose by 2% in 2016 to 2.4 million ounces from 2.3 million ounces. Diamond production, however, fell 5% year-on-year. The other core commodity, copper, was the worst performing unit in the year. Production fell by 10%.
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Payroll and payments software company Sage Group reiterated its outlook for its full year, as it said organic revenue increased in its first quarter. Sage said organic revenue rose 5.1% in the three months to the end of December. It noted that growth for the quarter excluding its US Payments business was 5.9%, and it said it is evaluating strategic options for this business, including a potential sale. Organic recurring revenue rose 9.6%, Sage said, driven by software subscription growth of 31%.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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SSP Group reported revenue growth and a bump from a weak pound in the first quarter of its financial year while maintaining its outlook for the full year. SSP, which runs food and drink concessions in airports and rail stations, said revenue in the quarter to the end of December rose 4.3% year-on-year in constant currencies, but increased 19% on a reported basis.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Drug major Johnson & Johnson has agreed to acquire Swiss biotechnology firm Actelion for USD30 billion, with spin-out of a new R&D company, the two companies said. Johnson & Johnson will launch an all-cash tender offer in Switzerland to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Actelion for USD280 per share. As part of the transaction, immediately prior to the completion of the acquisition, Actelion will spin out its drug discovery operations and early-stage clinical development assets into a newly created Swiss biopharmaceutical company, or R&D NewCo.
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Chipmaker Qualcomm reported its first-quarter adjusted net income increased 21% year-over-year to USD1.8 billion. Net income attributable to Qualcomm was USD682 million, compared to USD1.5 billion in the prior year. The company noted that its first quarter of fiscal 2017 GAAP results included a USD868 million charge, related to the Korea Free Trade Commission investigation. First-quarter revenue was up 4% to USD6.00 billion from USD5.77 billion a year before.
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Online auction giant eBay announced for the first quarter of 2017 it company expects net revenue between USD2.17 billion and USD2.21 billion, representing currency-neutral growth of 4% to 6%. For full year 2017, the company expects net revenue between USD9.3 billion and USD9.5 billion, representing currency-neutral growth of 6% - 8%. eBay said its gross merchandise volume for the quarter ended December 31 was USD22.3 billion, increasing 5% in constant currencies and 2% on an as-reported basis. Revenue for the quarter was USD2.40 billion, up 6% on an forex-neutral basis and 3% on an as-reported basis.
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AT&T reported a fourth-quarter profit that dropped from a year ago, reflecting lower-than-expected revenue for the group. Dallas, Texas-based telecom giant's fourth-quarter profit dropped to USD2.44 billion from USD4.01 billion in the same period last year. AT&T's revenue for the quarter dropped to USD41.84 billion from USD42.12 billion last year.
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Apple is set to join the Partnership on AI, an artificial intelligence research group that includes Amazon.com, Alphabet's Google, Facebook and Microsoft, the Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter. Apple's admission into the group could be announced as soon as this week. The group reportedly said it aims to "conduct research, recommend best practices, and publish research under an open license."
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Thursday's Shareholder Meetings

Euromoney Institutional Investor
Topps Tiles
ITE Group
Grand Group Investment
Connect Group
Countryside Properties
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust
Equatorial Palm Oil
Lonmin
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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