Marks & Spencer Share News (MKS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London on Wednesday are seen building on the previous session's gains amid an easing in US-China trade tensions. Meanwhile, the pound edged lower as UK Prime Minister Theresa May faced further pressure to resign after unveiling her new Brexit plan.In early UK company news, Marks & Spencer set out details of its rights issue as it reported a dip in annual revenue, Royal Mail said it is planning to rebase its dividend going forward, and Acacia Mining received an all-share takeover offer from majority shareholder Barrick Gold.IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 18.88 points higher at 7,347.80 on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 index closed up 18.04 points, or 0.3%, at 7,328.92 on Tuesday."Sentiment remains fragile as investors digest the changing face of the trade dispute from broad sweeping tariffs to direct action against single Chinese companies," said Jasper Lawler at London Capital Group. "Some investors are clinging to hope that a US - China trade deal can still be achieved, most likely at the G20 at the end of June," he noted. In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended firmly in the green, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending up 0.8%, the S&P 500 up 0.9% and Nasdaq Composite closing up 1.1%.However, equities in Asia were more subdued on Wednesday. The Japanese Nikkei 225 index ended up 0.1%, while in China, the Shanghai Composite is down 0.8% with the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong flat.Lawler commented: "Wall Street rallied, with tech shares paring losses from earlier in the week as investors reacted to the Trump administration relaxing the rules against Huawei, at least for a few months. The positive sentiment failed to transfer across to Asian markets overnight, which were little changed. Traders are waiting for the next chapter in the unfolding trade drama."In UK company news, Marks & Spencer reported a fall in annual revenue and laid out details of its rights issue of new shares.Revenue for the year to March 30 fell 3.0% to GBP10.38 billion, though pretax profit rose 27% to GBP84.6 million. On an adjusted basis, pretax profit was down 9.9% to GBP523.2 million.Consensus had seen adjusted pretax profit at GBP519 million.UK Food revenue declined 0.6%, with like-for-like revenue down 2.3%, which the company said reflected the adverse impact of Easter timing in both the first and last quarters of the year. Easter fell on April 1 in 2018 and on April 21 this year. UK Clothing & Home revenue fell 3.6%, with like-for-like revenue down 1.6%.In line with a previous announcement that the retailer would be chopping its dividend, M&S declared a final dividend of 7.1p, bringing its payout for the year to 13.9p. This is down 26% on 18.7p paid out a year ago. Trading in the first seven weeks of the financial year has been in line with expectations, though "the pattern of trade remains volatile in the context of weather and events", the company cautioned. For the recently commenced financial year, M&S expects store closures to reduce food sales by 1%, and for Clothing & Home this should hit sales by 3%. Separately, the FTSE 100 constituent laid out details of its fundraise to pay for its recently announced Ocado grocery delivery joint venture. M&S will be raising GBP601.3 million via a rights issue, which will result in 325.0 million shares being issued. This represents 20% of M&S's existing share capital. Shares in the one-for-five rights issue will be priced at 185p each, which represents a 32% discount to the firm's closing price on Tuesday.Postal operator Royal Mail has decided to rebase its dividend going forward as it reported a fall in operating profit before transformation costs.Revenue for the 53 weeks to March was up to GBP10.58 billion, from GBP10.17 billion in the 52-week period the year before. Pretax profit rose to GBP241 million from GBP212 million, while adjusted operating profit before transformation costs fell 34% to GBP376 million. Addressed letter volumes fell 8%, in line with revised expectations, with total letter revenue down 6%. UKPIL revenue was flat at GBP7.60 billion, while GLS revenue was up 8% on volume growth of 5%. Royal Mail said it achieved a 0.9% productivity improvement in the year. The FTSE 250 constituent said it will pay out a full-year dividend of 25.0p, up 4% from 24.0p the year before. However, the firm then plans to rebase its payout policy. For the 2020 financial year, Royal Mail said the plan is for a full-year dividend "underpin" of 15.0p, which may then be supplemented by additional payouts in years with "substantial excess cashflow"."The investment in the UK, and expected lower cash flow in the early years, means we are rebasing the dividend and changing our dividend policy," explained Chief Executive Rico Black."This is not a decision we have taken lightly as we know how important the dividend is to our shareholders. We have sought to find an appropriate balance between sustainable shareholder returns, and investing in the future," he added.Looking ahead, Royal Mail expects addressed letter volume declines of around 5% to 7% in the new financial year, and group adjusted operating profit after transformation costs of GBP300 million to GBP340 million.Barrick Gold Corp - which last year snapped up former FTSE 100 constituent Randgold Resources - has made an all-share takeover offer for Acacia Mining. Barrick is proposing to buy the remaining shares in FTSE 250-listed gold miner it does not already own through an exchange of 0.153 Barrick of a share for each Acacia one. This offer values Acacia at USD787 million, equivalent to around GBP620 million. Barrick currently holds a 64% stake in Acacia.At Tuesday's closing price of 159.50 pence, Acacia currently has a market capitalisation of GBP654.1 million.Barrick added that it has been negotiating with the government of Tanzania for the past two years and, while the basis for a settlement has been developed but not finalised, in meetings this past weekend, the government has stated that it is not prepared to enter into a settlement directly with Acacia.Acacia, in its own press release, said it will seek clarification on the Tanzania government's stance and advised shareholders to take no action at this time on the Barrick offer.Defence firm Babcock International reported a sharp fall in annual profit on exceptional charges.Revenue for the year to March 31 fell 4.0% to GBP4.47 billion, as pretax profit dropped 40% to GBP235.2 million following GBP160.8 million booked in exceptional costs.Nonetheless, the company raised its dividend 1.7% to 30.0p from 29.5p the year before. Struggling clothing retailer Superdry said it has appointed Nick Gresham as interim chief financial officer. Gresham is currently CFO at online sport and cycling retailer Wiggle, and has previously held the same role at Oak Furnitureland and Connect Group. He will take up the role at Superdry on June 3."This is an important step for Superdry as we continue to focus on rebuilding the board and putting the right leadership and corporate governance structure in place," said Superdry Chair Peter Williams.Trainline confirmed it is mulling a float on the London Stock Exchange, Trainline - a rail and coach ticket selling platform - said it achieved net ticket sales of GBP3.2 billion in its 2019 financial year and revenue of GBP210 million. In Wednesday's economic calendar, UK consumer and producer prices are at 0930 BST. In the afternoon, minutes from the last US Federal Reserve meeting are released at 1900 BST.Societe Generale sees UK consumer price inflation at 2.2% in April from 1.9% in March due to energy prices. Ahead of the data, the pound was quoted at USD1.2692, down from USD1.2760 late Tuesday.Elsewhere in the UK, Prime Minister Theresa May has urged Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to compromise and back her Brexit deal after the proposals received a hostile response from critics on her own side.The prime minister's deal, which opens up the possibility of a second referendum, was described as "dead on arrival", with the prospect of a larger Tory revolt than her previous failed attempt to get a Brexit agreement through Parliament.May's last-ditch attempt to get a deal through included offering a vote on whether to hold a second referendum, as well as a choice over the UK's future customs arrangements.Rejection of the bill would heap further pressure on May to quit immediately, with some Tories calling on her to go now without even risking the humiliation of a fourth Commons defeat on Brexit.And the beleaguered Prime Minister faces a fresh bid to eject her from Downing Street from the 1922 backbenchers' committee, which meets later on Wednesday.May, who will face the Commons on Wednesday, hopes her 10-point compromise plan will woo enough Labour and DUP MPs to make up for Tory Eurosceptics who are implacably opposed to her deal.