Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open slightly higher on Wednesday, despite trepidation over the latest round of US-China trade talks, as the pound remained weak with a Brexit deal looking increasingly improbable before the end-of-month deadline.
In early UK company news, Kingfisher appointed the former chief financial officer of Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus as its new finance chief, while betting firm GVC upgraded its annual earnings guidance.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 16.85 points higher at 7,160.00 on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 index closed down 54.73 points, or 0.8%, at 7,143.15 on Tuesday.
"British blue chips are set for a positive start in London. The overall direction will reflect a balance between a gloomy market sentiment and a cheaper pound – which could make the British stocks look attractive even with a morose risk appetite," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior market analyst at London Capital Group.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.2203 early Wednesday, flat on USD1.2204 at the London equities close on Tuesday. Late Monday, sterling had been trading above the USD1.23 mark.
Negotiating a new Brexit agreement by the crucial EU summit on October 17 and 18 will be "very difficult", Leo Varadkar warned Boris Johnson ahead of their crunch talks to avert a no-deal exit.
The UK prime minister's chances of a breakthrough with Brussels were looking increasingly unlikely on Tuesday after accusations from Number 10 that the bloc was making it "essentially impossible" for Britain to leave with a deal.
Johnson will hope to gain concessions from his Irish counterpart Varadkar during in-person talks anticipated later this week. But with the October 31 deadline rapidly closing in, the taoiseach warned of the challenges of securing a new deal by next week – a key period in the Brexit saga with the summit in Brussels.
Johnson needs a deal sorted by the end of the October 17-18 summit if he is to avoid a dilemma over the Benn Act, which compels him to ask Brussels for an extension if he cannot get an agreement past MPs when he returns, a move he has ruled out taking.
Tensions are high between the UK and the bloc, with fury in Brussels on Tuesday following a series of No 10 briefings claiming German Chancellor Angela Merkel had made clear a deal was now "overwhelmingly unlikely". European Council President Donald Tusk accused Johnson of engaging in a "stupid blame game" ahead of next week's crucial EU summit.
"Not that investors have ever bet on a Brexit deal before the October 31st deadline, but the likelihood of a consensual divorce within the next two weeks is now down to nil, unless a miracle happens by then," said LCG's Ozkardeskaya.
In early UK company news, retailer Kingfisher said it has appointed Bernard Bot as chief financial officer, effective from October 21.
Bot joins most recently from Travelport Worldwide, a global technology platform for the travel industry that was NYSE-listed until this past June. Prior to that, Bernard was CFO of Aer Lingus.
John Wartig, who joined Kingfisher as interim CFO on in April, has been moved to the newly-created role of chief transformation & development officer. He will report directly to Thierry Garnier, who started as chief executive at Kingfisher in September.
GVC Holdings upgraded its annual earnings guidance following a better than expected third-quarter UK retail performance.
In the three months to September 30, total group net gaming revenue fell 1% at actual rates and 2% at constant currency.
Trends in GVC's UK Retail business remain ahead of initial guidance, the firm said, with like-for-like net gaming revenue down 18% in the quarter, driven by the cut in B2 maximum stakes to GBP2.
European Retail revenue was 4% behind last year, and GVC reported an "encouraging start" in the US following the launch of the BetMGM mobile app in New Jersey.
GVC upgraded its annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation guidance to a range of GBP670 million to GBP680 million, from the range of GBP650 million to GBP670 million seen previously.
"I am delighted that the group's financial performance has allowed us to upgrade our full year Ebitda expectations again. Online momentum remains strong across all major territories, with [net gaming revenue] up 12% in the quarter despite the prior period containing part of the World Cup," said Chief Executive Kenneth Alexander.
He added: "The integration of the Ladbrokes Coral businesses is progressing well with the migration of the Ladbrokes, Coral and Gala online brands due to commence in Q4 and complete by the end of H1 2020."
Bonding and adhesive-based products manufacturer Scapa Group said its performance for the first half was in line with expectations, with the firm confident in its outlook.
For the six months to September 30, revenue grew 14%, predominantly driven by Healthcare and the full period effect of the Systagenix technology transfer. Trading profit reflected the loss of a contract with ConvaTec, Scapa said, and is expected to be 17% below last year.
Vehicle retailer Vertu Motors reported a lower half-year profit, though lifted its dividend 9%.
Revenue grew 5.6% to GBP1.65 billion for the six months to August 31, with like-for-like revenue growth of 2.3%. Despite this, pretax profit fell to GBP16.1 million from GBP17.3 million.
Even though profit fell, the firm raised its dividend by 9.1% to 0.6 pence per share.
Turning to current trading, Vertu said September like-for-like new retail volumes were down 1.6%, though used car sales and high-margin service revenue continued to grow on like-for-like basis. September profitability was ahead of prior year levels, the firm said.
In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended sharply lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending down 1.2%, the S&P 500 down 1.6% and the Nasdaq Composite sliding 1.7%.
In Asia on Wednesday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.6%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is up 0.3%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 0.6%.
The US said Tuesday it would curb visas for Chinese officials until Beijing ends its "repression" of Uighurs and other Muslims in the western region of Xinjiang, a day after imposing commercial restrictions.
China voiced anger at the move, denying any human rights abuses in Xinjiang and accusing the US of using "made-up pretexts for its interference".
The actions on Xinjiang come as a trade war shows no signs of abating between the US and China, the world's two largest economies, which have imposed tariffs on billions of dollars worth of each other's goods.
"You can see why traders aren't overly optimistic for the [US-China] trade talks that will take place tomorrow. It's not a great sign that tensions are already creeping up in advance of the negotiations, but at least they are going ahead," said David Madden at CMC Markets.
In economic events, US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will be speaking at 1600 BST on Wednesday ahead of the release of Federal Open Market Committee minutes at 1900 BST.
By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2019 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
