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LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares in London have opened lower Thursday ahead of key central bank announcements later in the session and amid a heavy volume of corporate reporting.
The FTSE 100 is underperforming small-cap indices somewhat, led lower by GlaxoSmithKline, which is down 1.7%. Fellow pharma AstraZeneca also is down, by 0.5%. It raised its guidance for the full year 2014, as it saw revenue rise in the nine months to end-September at constant currency.
Cable & Wireless shares are down 7.4% after it announced a big share placing to finance a USD1.85 billion acquisition in Barbados.
Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.4% at 6,515.73
FTSE 250: down 0.2% at 15,493.11
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.2% at 715.04
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Hang Seng: closed down 0.2% at 23,649.31
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.9% at 16,792.48
DJIA: closed up 0.6% at 17,484.53
S&P 500: closed up 0.6% at 2,023.57
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.5995
EUR-USD: up at USD1.2515
GOLD: up at USD1,145.65 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD82.43 a barrel
(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Thursday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in GMT)
09:30 UK Industrial Production
12:00 UK BoE Interest Rate Decision
12:30 US Challenger Job Cuts
12:45 EU ECB Interest Rate Decision
13:30 EU ECB Monetary policy statement and press conference
13:30 US Jobless Claims
15:00 UK NIESR GDP Estimate
15:30 US EIA Natural Gas Storage change
15:40 US Fed's Evans Speech
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SWISS OCT CONSUMER CONFIDENCE -11 VS. -1 IN JULY, CONSENSUS -5
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Members of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy board said the pace of the country's economic recovery was satisfactory, minutes from the board's meeting on October 6 and 7 revealed. The biggest downside risk to the economy includes commodity-exporting economies, the European debt problem and the race of recovery in the US, the minutes showed. "Japan's economy is expected to continue its moderate recovery trend, and the effects including those of the subsequent decline in demand following the front-loaded increase prior to the consumption tax hike are expected to wane gradually," the minutes said.
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The leading index for Japan rose more-than-expected in September, preliminary figures from the Cabinet Office showed. The leading index increased to 105.6 in September from 104.4 in August, slightly more than the 105.5 score expected by economists. This was the highest reading since April.
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US President Barack Obama signalled Wednesday his plans to keep up the fight against Islamic State militants as another Islamist group in Syria fought against US-backed rebels in northern Aleppo. The leader of the al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front, Abu Mohammed al-Jaulan, warned of the intentions of the US-led coalition to fight the Islamic State - the rival jihadist group that controls swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq. Obama said it was "too early" to say whether the US and its partners were winning against the Islamic State but that the group is "in a more vulnerable position."
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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BERNSTEIN CUTS LLOYDS TO 'MARKET-PERFORM' ('OUTPERFORM') - TARGET 83 (100)P
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TRADERS: UBS RAISES MARKS & SPENCER TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL')
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TRADERS: GOLDMAN REMOVES MARKS & SPENCER FROM 'CONVICTION SELL LIST'
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BERENBERG INITIATES RESTAURANT GROUP WITH 'BUY' - TARGET 800 PENCE
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BERENBERG INITIATES DOMINO'S PIZZA WITH 'BUY' - TARGET 770 PENCE
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BERENBERG INITIATES BIG YELLOW GROUP WITH 'HOLD' - TARGET 550 PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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AstraZeneca raised its guidance for the full year 2014, as it saw revenue rise in the nine months to end-September at constant currency. The pharmaceutical company said its growth drivers offset the hit from generic competition, although exceptional costs hit its pretax profit. The company also announced that it has agreed to sell its Myalept orphan product for the treatment of leptin deficiency in patients with generalised lipodystrophy to Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc for USD325 million upfront. It expects to complete this transaction in January 2015.
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Coca-Cola HBC reported a drop in third-quarter revenue as poor weather in its markets hit volumes, and it warned that it expects tough market conditions for the rest of the year. Revenue in the three months to September 26 fell 5.3% to EUR1.82 billion, from EUR1.92 billion, on a drop in volume to 547 million cases. Comparable earnings before interest and taxes fell 3.1% to EUR200.9 million though its margin improved slightly to 11.1% from 10.8%.
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WM Morrison Supermarkets said it was making progress in its three-year turnaround plan and narrowed its full-year profit guidance as third quarter sales continued to slide. The UK grocer said it was continuing to invest in price cuts, as total store sales excluding fuel and sales tax fell 3.6% from a year earlier. In stores open longer than a year, third-quarter sales fell 6.3% following a 7.6% drop in the second quarter and 7.1% in the first. Analysts had forecast a drop of around 6%.
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Schroders reported a rise in assets under management over the course of the third quarter, citing GBP2.2 billion of net inflows and GBP2.5 billion of investment returns, foreign exchange and other factors. In a statement, the FTSE 100 asset manager said its assets under management rose to GBP276.2 billion at the end of September from GBP271.5 billion at the end of June. Schroders said it made a GBP130.3 million pretax profit in the third quarter, compared with GBP106.2 million in the corresponding period last year.
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Randgold Resources said earnings rose in the third quarter as a production increase driven by the ramp-up of the Kibali mine more than offset a currency hit, and it said it was on track to produce more than a million ounces of gold in 2014. In a statement, the gold producer said third quarter earnings per share rose 11% compared with the second quarter, to USD0.63, while its profit from mining rose 6% on the quarter to USD172.6 million.
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Information services company Experian reported a rise in first-half pretax profit, citing strength in North America Credit Services, a return to growth in Brazil and a good all-round performance in the UK. In a statement, Experian, which provides services such as helping to manage credit risk and prevent fraud, said it made a USD534 million pretax profit in the six months ended September 30, compared with USD480 million in the corresponding period last year. The group increased its first interim dividend by 7% to 12.25 US cents per share, citing strong cash performance.
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EasyJet said passenger numbers rose 5.5% on the year to 5.8 million in October, and its load factor rose to 90.9%, from 89.1%. It said passenger numbers were up 6.6% to 65.1 million in the 12 months to the end of October, compared with the previous 12 months when it flew 61.0 million. Load factor for the 12 month period rose to 90.7%, from 89.4%.
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RSA Insurance Group reported a fall in premiums as a result of weak insurance market conditions and the group's restructuring plan being led by Chief Executive Stephen Hester. In a statement, RSA said net written premiums fell to GBP5.68 billion in the first nine months of the year, compared with GBP6.74 billion in the corresponding period last year.
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Vodafone Group is understood to be considering buying a stake in Metroweb SpA in order to better compete with Telecom Italia SpA in the Italian market, Bloomberg reported. Vodafone could buy the stake from investor F2i SGR SpA, which owns 54% of the fibre-optic operator, Bloomberg said, citing three people familiar with the matter.
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Cruise company Carnival said it would increase fleet capacity by nearly 10% from 2014 through 2016, fuelled largely by the addition of four new ships across four brands in less than 18 months.
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A UK competition tribunal has ruled that British Sky Broadcasting Group must make its Sky Sports 1 and 2 channels available on its rival BT Group's YouView service. The decision follows a ruling from UK telecoms regulator Ofcom in 2010 that BSkyB should offer the sports channels to other pay television providers on a wholesale basis in order to promote competition. However Ofcom's original ruling was challenged by BSkyB to the Competition Appeal Tribunal. Wednesday's decision is an interim one, meaning there will be a further ruling following the assessment of further evidence.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Cable & Wireless Communications announced a placing of new shares representing up to 9.99% of its existing share capital to help fund the acquisition of Columbus International Inc for USD1.85 billion, while posting a rise in pre-tax profit for the half year to end-September. Columbus is a privately-owned telecommunications and technology services company based in Barbados. The company will fund the acquisition via the payment of USD707.5 million in cash and issue of 1.56 billion new shares in the company to some Columbus shareholders. The placing of 252.8 million new shares will part fund the cash element, with new debt financing being used for the remainder.
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UBM announced a GBP565 million rights issue to help pay for its GBP608 million acquisition of Advanstar Communications, saying it will offer four new shares at 287 pence for every five existing shares. UBM said the rights issue will result in 196.7 million new shares being issued, about 80% of its existing share capital.
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Tate & Lyle posted a big fall in pretax profit for the first half, hit by falling sales across the business which were impacted by supply chain issues and the strength of sterling. The sugar producer said pretax profit for the first half to the end of September was down to GBP104 million from GBP173 million a year earlier, down 40% on a reported basis and down 34% in constant currencies. The group hiked its interim dividend despite the profit fall, up to 8.2 pence per share from 7.8 pence a year ago.
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Property investor Hansteen Holdings said it has struck a deal to buy a portfolio of seven multi-let offices and five industrial estates for GBP36.2 million. The portfolio includes seven multi-let offices, primarily in the south east of England. The industrial estates are primarily based in South Wales, with one in Leicestershire.
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Spire Healthcare Group said it expects to see revenue for the full year between GBP825 million to GBP840 million as it has traded in line with expectations, and announced that it had agreed a contract renewal with healthcare provide Bupa UK. The independent hospital group said that its Private Medical Insurer business has seen stable volumes with a marginal increase in revenue per case for the period from the start of July to end-October.
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Cobham said trading in the first nine months of the year has been in line with its expectations, though it said further progress would be needed in the final part of the year to meet all of its engineering targets, but added it expects revenue growth to revive in 2015.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Sports goods giant Adidas reported a 11% decline in third-quarter 2014 net income attributable to shareholders to EUR282 million from EUR316 million a year before. However, quarterly net sales grew by 6.2% year-on-year to EUR4.12 billion from EUR3.88 billion euros.
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The US government has cancelled early work by the US arm of BAE Systems on upgrades for 134 F-16 fighter jets on behalf of South Korea, owing to a rise in the projected USD1.7 billion cost of the deal, Reuters reported. The move, which was announced by the Pentagon's Defence Security Cooperation Agency, will allow South Korea to pursue a similar upgrade deal with US defence contractor Lockheed Martin Corp, the original maker of the planes, Reuters said.
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German conglomerate Siemens posted a 40% surge in its fourth-quarter earnings to EUR1.498 billion from EUR1.068 billion a year ago.
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Deutsche Telekom reported that its third-quarter pretax profit decreased to EUR655 million from EUR1.14 billion a year ago. Revenue for the latest third quarter rose 0.8% to EUR15.65 billion from EUR15.53 billion. Deutsche Telekom confirmed its financial guidance for fiscal year 2014.
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News Corp reported net income for the first quarter of USD65 million or USD0.11 per share, compared to USD27 million or USD0.05 per share for the year-ago quarter. First quarter total revenue rose 4% to USD2.15 billion from USD2.07 billion a year ago.
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Liberty Global on Wednesday reported third-quarter net earnings to stockholders of USD157 million or USD0.20 per share compared with a loss of USD830 million or USD1.04 per share last year. Results were helped by derivative gains that offset foreign currency losses, the company said. Revenues for the quarter were USD4.50 billion compared with USD4.28 billion in the prior year.
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Thursday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs
Thor Mining
Hansard Global
New Star Investment Trust
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite
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