(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening slightly lower on Monday, following a weak US close on Friday, as investors continued to monitor the development of the coronavirus outbreak.
The death toll from the virus surged past 900 in mainland China on Monday.
In company news, embattled private healthcare firm NMC Health said it has received takeover approaches from two US private equity firms. Meanwhile, office provider Workspace Group appointed a new finance head.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 9.00 points lower at 7,457.40. The blue-chip index closed down 38.09 points, or 0.5% at 7,466.40 on Friday.
NMC Health confirmed it received "highly preliminary approaches" from private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and GK Investment Holding Group, regarding possible offers for the UAE-focused private healthcare company. The Mail on Sunday had reported that KKR had held talks with NMC Health senior executives in the past few weeks.
NMC Health shares had closed down 22% on Friday in London and are down 60% so far in 2020. The company's current market capitalisation of GBP1.46 billion compares to GBP5.5 billion a year ago.
NMC said no proposal has been made by either party, and there have been no discussions as to the terms of any possible offer. Further, "there can be no certainty that any offer will be made", NMC added.
In December, US short selling firm Muddy Waters Capital accused NMC of manipulating its balance sheet to understate debt, which the company firmly denied.
In a separate announcement, NMC said it has been informed by Joint Non-Executive Chair Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty that his advisers are conducting a legal review in order to verify the size of the total interests of himself and associated family holding companies. The company said this suggests that the total beneficial interests of Shetty have been "incorrectly reported historically to the company and the market".
NMC added that its operations continue to perform strongly and expects to report full-year 2019 results in-line with management's expectations.
Shetty also owns currency provider Finablr which said independent directors are to review "purported arrangements" between major shareholders, including Shetty. Finablr said it is not yet known how the arrangements may have affected respective the respective interests in the company.
Office provider Workspace Group said it has appointed Whitbread Corporate Finance Director David Benson to be its new chief financial officer. Workspace said Benson will assume the role on April 1.
Premier Inn owner Whitbread also Monday was downgraded to Sell from Neutral by Goldman Sachs.
In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.9%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both ended off 0.5%.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.6%. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended up 0.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 0.6%. Japanese financial markets will be closed on Tuesday for a public holiday.
China consumer prices rose at their fastest pace in more than eight years, official data showed Monday, with inflation rising more than expected on the back of Lunar New Year demand and the deadly virus outbreak.
Beijing had already been battling a slowing domestic economy before the new coronavirus emerged, disrupting businesses, travel and supply chains.
On an annual basis, consumer price index rose 5.4% in January, accelerating from 4.5% in December - with prices of pork and fresh vegetables pushing up costs.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2903 early Monday, flat from USD1.2907 at the London equities close Friday.
UK retail footfall declined in January, although promisingly at a slower rate than a year prior, data showed, with visitor numbers in shopping centres rising for the first time in nearly three years.
Data from Springboard Footfall Monitor & Insights showed footfall was down 0.5% annually in January, comparing favourably to the same month in 2019, when it dropped 0.7% year-on-year. In December, footfall across retail destinations in the UK fell by 2.5% from the year prior. In retail parks, footfall improved by 1.4% in January "demonstrating their ability to bridge the gap between functionality and experience", Springboard said.
The euro was quoted at USD1.0954 early Monday, marginally firm from USD1.0948 late Friday.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY109.81, slightly up from JPY109.75 late Friday.
Brent oil was quoted at USD54.49 a barrel early Monday, down from USD54.86 at the London equities close Friday.
Gold was quoted at USD1,570.57 an ounce early Monday, firm against USD1,567.40 late Friday.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
