(Alliance News) - NMC Health's billionaire founder on Monday resigned as co-chair in a mass board exodus at the embattled private healthcare firm.
NMC Health said founder Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty has resigned as joint co-chair with immediate effect, leaving Mark Tompkins as the sole non-executive chair of the company.
In addition, Chief Investment Officer Hani Buttikhi and Non-Executive Director Abdulrahman Basaddiq also have departed the company with immediate effect.
The UAE-focused private hospital group on Friday had announced the resignation of Vice Chair Khalifa Butti Omeir Bin Yousef amid a legal review.
In December, US short selling firm Muddy Waters Capital accused NMC of manipulating its balance sheet to understate debt, which the company firmly denied. Since then the stock has suffered from volatile swings as NMC has strived to restore its reputation among investors.
NMC shares are down 56% so far in 2020.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
----------
MARKETS
----------
FTSE 100: called up 0.3% at 7,434.10
----------
Hang Seng: up 0.5% at 27,956.46
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.7% at 23,523.24
DJIA: closed down 25.23 points, 0.1%, at 29,398.08
S&P 500: closed up 0.2% at 3,380.16
----------
GBP: flat at USD1.3034 (USD1.3028)
EUR: flat at USD1.0836 (USD1.0842)
Gold: flat at USD1,581.72 per ounce (USD1,581.60)
Oil (Brent): flat at USD57.32 a barrel (USD57.15)
(changes since previous London equities close)
----------
ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
----------
Monday's Key Economic Events still to come
US Presidents Day holiday. Financial markets closed.
Canada Family Day holiday. Financial markets closed.
1100 CET EU construction output
----------
Torrential rain brought by Storm Dennis over the weekend has left more than 300 flood warnings in place across the UK, including five severe warnings in the west Midlands. The National Rail network has said some routes will be closed for hours on Monday due to flooding. The continuing danger comes after a minister admitted the government would not be able to protect every house from flooding after the country was hit by a second major storm within a week.
----------
France has warned Britain to expect a bruising battle with the EU in the forthcoming negotiations on a post-Brexit trade deal. French foreign minister Jean-Yves le Drian predicted the two sides would "rip each other apart" as they strove for advantage in the talks. Speaking at the annual Munich Security Conference, he made clear that Brussels will defend its interests when negotiations begin next month. "I think that on trade issues and the mechanism for future relations, which we are going to start on, we are going to rip each other apart," he said.
----------
UK exporters are still struggling with the impact of Brexit uncertainty and weaker global trade, a business group has warned. The British Chambers of Commerce said clarity was needed on the future trading relationship with the EU after a study found that manufacturing export orders weakened for a second consecutive quarter at the end of last year. Its survey of more than 3,300 exporters also showed that exchange rates remained the top concern for two thirds of manufacturing firms which export goods.
----------
The amount of credit available to UK consumers is expected to grow at its slowest rate in six years, according to new research. However, there was a small amount of increase in lending towards the end of 2019, in a sign of post-election demand and a slight uptick in consumer confidence, EY ITEM Club's financial services outlook found. Mortgage approvals continue to hold up well, researchers said, with lending for UK properties in December at its highest level since the summer of 2017. It is predicted to rise by 4.1% this year – close to the average of the last five years. But the structural changes in the other major lending area – the new car market – continue to keep potential growth pegged back, with new rules on engines and environmental concerns impacting the sector. Lending to businesses and other forms of bank lending are also down, suggesting any post-election and Brexit surge is currently subdued.
----------
Rightmove said the price of property coming to market in the UK rose in January as momentum builds ahead of the spring season. The average UK house price increased by 0.8% in January - just GBP40 short of a new all-time high, Rightmove said. New seller numbers were up by 2.1% in January compared to the same period last year, which is the first year-on-year rise for 13 months.
----------
The 27 EU ministers for European affairs are to meet in Brussels on Monday, with member states still bitterly divided ahead of a crunch summit over the next EU long-term budget later this week. European Council President Charles Michel unveiled his proposal for the 2021-2027 spending plan on Friday, which met with initial scepticism. For some countries, the proposed 1.074% contribution of gross national income will likely be too much to stomach. For others, the major cuts planned to popular agricultural subsidies or funds for poorer regions could be red lines. Michel had his work cut out plugging a EUR60 billion to EUR75 billion shortfall resulting from the departure of big contributor Britain.
----------
Moody's Investors Service affirmed the long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings for the government of Ireland at A2. The credit ratings agency also affirmed its stable outlook. The rating affirmation is attributed to the country's strong economic performance and an improvement in its financial metrics. The Irish economy has expanded rapidly and is highly competitive, thereby attracting "sizeable" foreign investment. In the first nine months of 2019, real GDP growth came in at 5.9% year-on-year. However, Moody's warns that that the large investments of multinational corporations have translated into GDP distortions thereby making them unreliable indicators of the country's underlying economic performance. Potential changes in the global taxation environment also pose a risk to Ireland's positive performance.
----------
BROKER RATING CHANGES
----------
DEUTSCHE BANK CUTS SEGRO TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - TARGET 810 (830) PENCE
----------
CREDIT SUISSE CUTS IMI TO 'UNDERPERFORM' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 950 (920) PENCE
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 100
----------
William Hill said it hired Adrian Marsh as its new chief financial officer. Marsh joins the FTSE 250-listed bookmaker from paper and packaging company DS Smith later this year. DS Smith said it has started the process of finding a replacement and noted Marsh has a 12-month notice period.
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 250
----------
Jupiter Asset Management confirmed weekend press reports that it is in advanced talks to acquire asset manager Merian Global Investors in an all-share deal worth GBP370 million. The acquisition would be paid for with the issue of 95.4 million new Jupiter Shares to Merian shareholders. Jupiter said Merdian shareholders would own 17% of the combined company. "The addition of Merian is compelling for all stakeholders. With this acquisition, our business will benefit from an increased capacity to attract, develop and retain high quality talent, backed by further investment in our platform and technology. In turn, we will be able to offer a wider choice of strongly performing active investment strategies to our clients, while shareholders will benefit from a highly earnings accretive deal delivered through substantial cost synergies," said Jupiter Chief Executive Andrew Formica.
----------
COMPANIES - OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM
----------
Banknote printer De La Rue is facing a "showdown" with lenders who want to review borrowing arrangements, Sky News reported. De La Rue's bankers, who are led by HSBC Holdings and include all the UK's major lenders, have engaged FTI Consulting to oversee negotiations, according to the news agency. In November, the company had warned on its future amid high net debt.
----------
COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
----------
Auto and truck parts manufacturer Bridgestone Corp said annual operating profit and revenue dropped in 2019, due to a decrease in volumes amid weaker product demand. Bridgestone reported pretax profit of JPY407.3 billion, down 4.7% from JPY427.79 billion in 2018, with operating profit of JPY326.10 billion, down 19% from JPY402.73 billion and short of company guidance of JPY330.00 billion. Net sales declined by 3.4% to JPY3.525 trillion from JPY3.650 trillion, but came in above expectations of JPY3.490 trillion. Bridgestone attributed the weaker performance in 2019 to lower unit sales of tires for cars and light trucks in the Americas, Europe and China, Asia & Oceanic regions. In the group's tires business, net sales dropped by 3% to JPY2.953 trillion.
----------
Anglo American Platinum, also known as Amplats, almost quadrupled its dividend as its revenue jumped by more than a third in 2019. In addition, the producer of platinum said Chief Executive Chris Griffith will step down after more than seven years in role. This follows his decision to pursue other career opportunities. Griffith will step down at the company's annual general meeting on April 16 and his successor, who is expected to be an internal candidate, will be announced in the near future, Amplats said. Turning back to 2019 results, the miner reported net sales revenue growth of 34% to ZAR99.57 billion from ZAR74.58 billion a year earlier, pushing pretax profit up to ZAR25.31 billion from ZAR9.72 billion.
----------
Monday's Shareholder Meetings
ValiRx (re capital reorganisation)
Toople (re to approve DMS Holdings acquisition)
Ultimate Sports (re name change to Catena Group)
----------
By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
