Legal & General Share News (LGEN)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Tuesday.
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COMPANIES
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Associated British Foods reported a higher pretax profit for its last financial year, despite a drop in revenue, but warned on its outlook for the year ahead, citing further heavy falls in its sugar business, limited growth in earnings per share and a marginal decline in its operating profit. The food ingredients and retail group reported a 1% decline in its operating profit for the 52 weeks ended September 13 to GBP1.08 billion, down from GBP1.09 billion the prior year. However, pretax profit rose as finance expenses fell, and last year's results were hit by losses from the closure of its yeast extract business in China. The owner of fashion retailer Primark posted a pretax profit of GBP1.02 billion, up from GBP868 million a year earlier, even though revenue fell to GBP12.94 billion, from GBP13.32 billion, hit by the current strength of sterling.
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Glencore said oil, coal and copper production increased during the third quarter as new wells came into production and output from some mines rose, although zinc and nickel production dropped. The company's entitlement oil production rose to 5.1 million barrels during the third quarter ended October 31, a 50% increase from the same period in 2013, thanks to the start of production at two wells during 2013. During the quarter, own sourced copper production totalled 1.1 million tonnes, up 8% from a year earlier, mainly driven by a 48% increase in production at the Mutanda mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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Legal & General Group reported a jump in net cash generation in the first nine months of the year, boosted by cash generation at the operating level. The savings and investments business reported GBP827 million of net cash generation in the first nine months of the year, compared with GBP740 million in the corresponding period last year. Operational cash generation rose by 8% to GBP844 million. It said a drop in individual annuity sales was being more than offset by increased bulk deals, and overall annuity sales increased by 5% to GBP3.9 billion in the nine-month period.
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Imperial Tobacco Group reported a fall in both volume and revenue in its last financial year, but its pretax profit rose as it continued to strip out costs across the business. Its pretax profit for the year rose to GBP1.52 billion, up from GBP1.22 billion the prior year, as its stripped out costs as part of its cost optimisation programme. Last year's results were also knocked back by a GBP580 million impairment charge. The tobacco firm said its focus on cost optimisation will help it free up funds to invest in growth, although it warned that trading in some of its markets remains tough.
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AstraZeneca said its biologics research and development arm MedImmune has agreed to buy imaging and data analysis technology company Definiens for an initial payment of USD150 million plus additional milestone payments. The drugs giant said Definiens is a privately-held company that has pioneered Tissue Phenomics, an imaging and data analysis platform which "dramatically" improves the identification of biomarkers in tumour tissue.
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UK housebuilder Persimmon said it has around GBP696 million in sales reserved for 2015, an increase on last year's performance, and has sold its stock for the current year, buoyed by continued low interest rates which is fueling demand for new houses. Persimmon said forward sales are up 12% on the same period in 2013 and selling prices remain strong as buyers return after the traditionally slower summer months.
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Weir Group reported a rise in order growth in the third quarter, as aftermarket orders in Oil & Gas offset sluggish performance in other divisions. Third-quarter orders rose 14% on a constant currency basis. Revenue and operating profit are higher than last year with double digit revenue growth offset somewhat by a strong pound, estimated to lower earnings by around GBP38 million in the full year, Weir said.
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Greene King said it has reached an agreement with the board of Spirit Pub Co to acquire the company, potentially bringing an end to the takeover battle for the pub company. FTSE 250-listed pub group Greene King said that under the terms of the deal, Spirit shareholders will get 0.1322 new Greene King shares per Spirit share, plus 8 pence per share in cash payable by Spirit in dividends. Spirit will pay 1.5 pence per share in its proposed final dividend for 2014 and will pay a special interim dividend to shareholders of 6.5 pence per share to cover the remainder of the consideration. The deal values Spirit shares at 115 pence per share and values the entire company at around GBP773.6 million.
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SOCO International said an exploration well on a block offshore Republic of Congo that it has been testing "significantly" exceeded pre-test expectatons, reaching a post stimulation frac peak rate of 5,174 barrels of oil per day and 3.65 million standard cubic feet of gas per day. The oil and gas explorer and producer said the Lidongo X Marine 101 ST1 well on the Marine XI block encountered oil in a clastics sequence in the Djeno sand formation with drilling shows and early log interpretation indicating approximately a 50 metre gross interval.
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Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group said it was trading broadly in line with expectations, but that it remained cautious on its full year outlook given the difficult trading conditions. The FTSE 250-listed insurance broker said trading in the third quarter has been broadly in line with its forecasts, with organic revenue growth in the period in line with the first half. It said its performance came amid a backdrop of a marked decline in the insurance and reinsurance rating environment in the second quarter. It added that while the impact of the strength of sterling on its results was less pronounced in the third quarter, currency movements will nevertheless hit its full year results.
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DCC has lowered its full-year earnings expectations, as very mild weather in autumn hampered performance in its main energy unit. "The group now expects that the year to 31 March 2015 will show growth in operating profit and adjusted earnings per share in the range of 5%-10% over the prior year," down from a range of 10%-12%, Chief Executive Tommy Breen said.
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Balfour Beatty said Duncan Magrath is to leave his role as chief financial officer of the company in 2015. Magrath has held the role of chief financial officer at the company for six years and will remain in the position while a successor is identified. Balfour said the search to find a new chief financial officer has started.
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Shares in Unite Group were among the best performers in the FTSE 250 on Tuesday morning after it said it is performing well across all parts of its business, with strong lettings for the new academic year, and expects to meet its earnings per share target on its net asset value a year early. On the back of the strong occupation numbers, the group said it is on track to hit its like-for-like rental growth target of at least 3% for the full year. It also expects to meet its target of 4.5% earnings per share yield on its net asset value in 2014, a year ahead of its initial forecasts.
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MARKETS
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UK shares trade lower, with oil stocks weighing on indices as the oil price fell in reaction to Saudi Arabia lowering prices. AB Foods, Legal & General and tobacco stocks are among the best performers.
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FTSE 100: down 0.2% at 6,476.82
FTSE 250: down 0.1% at 15,469.36
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.2% at 718.24
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The price of Brent oil slid to a fresh four-year low of USD82.05 per barrel. Numis analyst Sanjeev Bahl says the drop is due to the cut in prices by Saudi Arabia to the US and the strength of the US dollar.
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.5995
EUR-USD: up at USD1.2516

GOLD: up at USD1172.28 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD82.57 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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UK construction sector growth slowed more than expected in October, results of a survey by Markit Economics and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Logistics, or CIPS, showed. The seasonally adjusted Markit/CIPS construction purchasing managers' index, or PMI, fell to 61.4 in October from 64.2 in September. This was less than the 63.5 expected by economists. The latest reading indicated the slowest expansion in five months, though the expansion was more than the long-run survey average. This also marked the eighteenth consecutive month of expansion.
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European Commission slashed the growth and inflation forecasts for the euro area, citing the weak economy and slow improvement in the employment situation. In its Autumn Economic forecast, the European Commission lowered the growth forecast for 2015 to 1.1% from 1.7% predicted in May. The outlook for this year was cut to 0.8% from 1.2%. The commission predicted 1.7% growth for 2016.
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US voters are heading to the polls in by-elections that will determine control of the Senate and set the tone for President Barack Obama's final two years in office. Though Obama himself is not running, the president has made clear that he sees the by-elections as a referendum on his policies. Candidates for the centre-right Republican Party hope dissatisfaction with Obama will carry them to control of the Senate, while Democrats hope a get-out-the-vote campaign will tip turnout in their favour. Forecasts by analysts show with varying degrees of certainty Republicans taking control of the chamber.
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Japan's manufacturing sector growth was revised to show slower increase in October, the latest survey from Markit Economics showed Tuesday. The Markit/JMMA manufacturing purchasing managers' index, or PMI, was revised to 52.4 from 52.8 in October. This is more than the 51.7 score in September. The latest reading was highest since March and also marked the fifth consecutive month of expansion. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in manufacturing activity.
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Japan's automobile sales continue to fall in October, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Tuesday. Auto sales totaled 240,511 units in October, down 9.1% from the same period of last year. Sales were down 2.8% in September. At the same time, car sales declined 12.1% annually in October.
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The leaders of the pro-Russian separatist movements in eastern Ukraine were Monday declared the elected "heads" of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic after winning disputed elections. Alexander Zakharchenko won 78.93% of 1.01 million votes cast in Donetsk, while Igor Plotnitsky received 63% of the almost 699,000 votes cast in neighbouring Luhansk, the separatists said on their official websites. The Ukrainian government in Kiev, the EU and the US have all called the vote illegal, pointing out that it contradicts the ceasefire protocol signed on September 5 in Minsk, which stipulates that local elections must be held under Ukrainian law.
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The multifront fight against the Syrian regime and the Islamic State is taking a toll on the moderate Syrian rebels, the White House says. Spokesman Josh Earnest says he cannot confirm reports of a rout of the Free Syrian Army in northern Syria, but stressed the need for the US to quickly ramp up its assistance to moderates in the fight against Islamic State.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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