LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Wednesday.
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COMPANIES
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Anglo-South African financial services group Old Mutual said it has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in UAP Holdings and has begun integrating the business into its existing operations. Old Mutual had said in January it would take a majority stake in the East and Central Africa-focused financial services company, after acquiring new shares in the company for around USD155.5 million. It now holds a 60.7% stake in the company.
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Barclays is understood to have sealed a management buyout of its energy and commodity-focused private equity arm, having struggled to secure an external buyer for the business, the Financial Times reported. The deal, set to be announced in coming weeks, would still leave Barclays trying to sell around USD1 billion of investments in its private equity portfolio, the FT said. Barclays Natural Resources Investment is to be acquired by its managers, led by Chief Executive Mark Brown, as it is spun out from the bank in coming months and seeks to raise new funding from third-party investors.
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WPP said it has sealed a partnership with newspaper the Daily Mail and social messaging service Snapchat to create a new content-marketing joint venture to be called Truffle Pig. The FTSE 100-listed advertising and marketing group said the new company will provide content planning, development and creation services. It will use DailyMail.com, Elite Daily and Snapchat as the test-beds for story-driven marketing concepts, the company said. Daily Mail is owned by UK-listed Daily Mail and General Trust.
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Transport operator Stagecoach Group said its pretax profit ticked higher in its 2015 financial year on the back of better revenue and said it would hike its dividend on the back of the results. Stagecoach said its pretax profit rose to GBP165.2 million for the year to April 30, up from GBP158 million a year earlier. Revenue for the group increased to GBP3.20 billion from GBP2.93 billion, with a strong performance in its UK rail business and from its Virgin Rail Group joint venture, even as the performance of its bus operations fell slightly below its expectations. On the back of the results, Stagecoach raised its final dividend to 7.3 pence per share from 6.6 pence last year, taking its total dividend for the year to 10.5 pence from 9.5 pence.
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Defence company Ultra Electronics Holdings affirmed its expectations for the full year, even as it faces issues in the US market and from its terminated Oman Airport contract. Ultra said it expectations for 2015 remain unchanged and said it continues to anticipate that its performance will be weighted toward the second half of the year.
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Ladbrokes said it is to restructure its international operations, a day after the company revealed it had entered into merger talks with unlisted rival Gala Coral Group Ladbrokes said that following the restructuring of the international business, Damien Cope, the managing director of its international arm, will leave the business. A further nine roles in the international team also will be put at risk of redundancy. Existing locally-based management teams will continue as normal, the company said.
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Specialty chemicals company Elementis said its earnings per share will miss market expectations for the full year as the group said it was taking a hit from conditions in the oil and gas market, from additives sales in China, and from local currency weakness in Latin America for its personal care arm.
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Quindell said that UK regulators have begun an investigation into the company under the Financial Services and Markets Act. In a statement, the insurance outsourcing company said the Financial Conduct Authority informed it of the investigation on Tuesday. Quindell said it will co-operate "fully" with the investigation, which has been initiated in relation to "public statements made regarding the financial accounts of the company" in 2013 and 2014. The FCA said it would "liaise with other agencies...as appropriate" as it investigates.
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MARKETS
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London shares are mixed at mid-morning as investors await news from the Greek debt negotiations, which have resumed Wednesday ahead of the Eurogroup meeting taking place in Brussels this evening.
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FTSE 100: up 0.1% at 6,838.32
FTSE 250: down 0.2% at 17,970.04
AIM ALL-SHARE: flat at 770.20
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The pound is up against the dollar after UK Mortgage Approvals rose to its highest level since March 2014.
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GBP: up at USD1.5776
EUR: up at USD1.1212
GOLD: down at USD1177.38 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD64.95 a barrel
(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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UK mortgage approvals increased to a 14-month high in May, the British Bankers' Association said. The number of mortgage approvals rose to 42,530 in May from 42,020 in April. This was the highest level since March 2014, when it totalled 45,318. It was forecast to rise to 43,350. "The increase in mortgage approvals this month is consistent with the trend we've seen since the start of the year," Richard Woolhouse, chief economist at the BBA, said.
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Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is set to conduct yet another round of crisis talks Wednesday with representatives of the country's creditors, ahead of a crucial meeting of eurozone finance ministers where all sides hope a solution can be found to save the country from bankruptcy. A statement issued by Tsipras' office late Tuesday said the prime minister would meet with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi in Brussels.
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EU leaders face a full plate at their summer summit this week, replete with challenges straining their bloc - starting with the debilitating economic situation in Greece and the deadly migration crisis in the Mediterranean Sea. The diplomatic tensions with Russia will be on the menu too, along with the European identity crisis in Britain. Hopes for a blockbuster free trade deal with the US and dreams of a stronger eurozone union will round off their two days of talks. "This moment in the EU's development is not a dress rehearsal," its president and summit chair, Donald Tusk, warned in a recent speech. "We must do what needs to be done, now, with a strong sense of purpose, or Europe goes backwards." Tusk has in the past strived to keep Greek negotiations off summit agendas, given their technical complexity and political sensitivity. But the issue looks set to overshadow the EU summit on Thursday and Friday, amid last-ditch negotiations on a breakthrough agreement.
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The foreign ministers of Russia, Germany, Ukraine and France met Tuesday in Paris in an effort to revive a peace deal in Ukraine as military and economic retaliation in the conflict has become more entrenched. "We call for a quick de-escalation and for an immediate ceasefire," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said after the meeting ended. His German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed hope that a ceasefire would be accepted in the town of Shyrokyne about 23 kilometres east of Mariupol in the country's troubled Donetsk region.
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US President Barack Obama's push for greater authority to negotiate trade deals moved a step closer to reality after the measure cleared a key procedural hurdle in the Senate. The Senate voted 60-37 to limit debate on the Trade Promotion Authority measure and was expected to approve the bill in a separate vote as soon as Wednesday. TPA is considered a key element for completion of trade deals under negotiation with Pacific Rim countries and the EU.
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Top US officials underscored the need to cooperate with China on a host of issues from trade to climate change despite a massive hacking of US government personnel records that has been attributed to China and has overshadowed the three days of talks in Washington. "We do not fear China's rise," Vice President Joe Biden told US and Chinese officials gathered for the US-Chinese Strategic and Economic Dialogue. "A rising China can be a significant asset for the region and the world, and selfishly, for the US." Chinese officials acknowledged Washington and Beijing did not always see eye to eye, but were committed to cooperation and non-confrontation with the US.
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French President Francois Hollande says his country "will not tolerate" threats to its interest, in response to revelations that the US National Security Agency spied on top French authorities. In a statement issued by the Elysee Palace after an emergency cabinet meeting with defence ministers, Hollande says that reports, revealed by Wikileaks, reflect "unacceptable facts that have already arisen between the US and France."
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
31 Oct 2016 09:39
