Paddy Power Betfair Share News (PPB)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London were seen opening higher on Friday amid a sense of easing global trade tensions, while Paddy Power Betfair saw a strong performance in the US and Sage Group promoted from within. IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open up 71.34 points at 7,186.00. The blue chip index closed down 0.2%, or 13.44 points at 7,114.66 on Thursday.The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 2.6%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 2.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 3.5%.In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 up 1.1% and Nasdaq Composite ending 1.8% higher.Focus later Friday will be on the release of the US Labor Department's monthly employment report at 1230 GMT. US employment is expected to climb by 190,000 jobs in October after rising by 134,000 jobs in September, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 3.7%.Wall Street ended higher on Thursday after President Donald Trump said he had a "very good" conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping about trade."Just had a long and very good conversation with President Xi Jinping of China. We talked about many subjects, with a heavy emphasis on Trade," Trump said in a post on Twitter."Those discussions are moving along nicely with meetings being scheduled at the G-20 in Argentina," he added. "Also had good discussion on North Korea!"In early UK corporate news, Paddy Power Betfair reported a rise in revenue for the third quarter.For the three months to September-end, revenue rose 12% in constant currency and 8% on a pro forma basis to GBP248 million from GBP216 million in the third quarter last year. However, underlying earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation fell 16% to GBP101 million from GBP121 million due to the inclusion of losses from its FanDuel fantasy sports site acquisition. In the US, revenue was up 22%, with underlying growth in each of the existing businesses supported by USD5 million in sports betting net revenue, Paddy Power said. Going forward, the company expects annual underlying EBITDA, pre-US sports betting, to be between GBP465 million and GBP480 million. Paddy Power Betfair's previously guided range was between GBP460 million to GBP480 million. It expects US sports betting EBITDA losses to be around GBP25m in 2018, reflecting marketing and promotional investment made in New Jersey.In response to the UK government's implementation for a reduced stake limit for gaming machines the bookmaker continue to estimate that the direct hit of this new stake limit would be a 33% to 43% decrease to its total machine gaming revenue.The UK decision generated fresh controversy on Thursday, when Sports Minister Tracey Crouch resigned in protest at a delay in introducing a cut to the maximum stake for fixed-odds betting terminals to October 2019.Commenting on the Paddy Power results, Chief Executive Peter Jackson said: "We are pleased with the substantial progress we continue to make against our strategic priorities. Our continued investment in brands and customer proposition means that all our businesses will exit the year with enhanced competitive positioning. Together with our scale and strong balance sheet this means we are better positioned to face the significant regulatory and fiscal headwinds that apply next year and to capitalise on the long-term industry growth opportunity."Sage said it has promoted Chief Operating Officer Steve Hare to be its new chief executive, effective immediately. He joined the accounting software provider in January 2014 as chief financial officer and was appointed to the additional post of interim chief operating officer in August, when Stephen Kelly stood down as CEO. Hare will continue as CFO in tandem with his CEO duties until a permanent CFO is found. TP ICAP said revenue in the four months to October was up 1% to GBP568 million while revenue in the same period was down 1% to GBP1.48 billion. The interdealer broker said it expects the outcome for the full year to be in line with its guidance.Separately, TP ICAP said it acquired US energy and commodities broker Axiom Commodity Group for USD15.1 million in cash. Barclays said Thursday that John McFarlane will retire as chairman in May and that Nigel Higgins has been appointed to succeed him, subject to regulatory approval.The company said McFarlane will step down as a non-executive director and as chairman of Barclays with effect from the conclusion of the Barclays annual general meeting on May 2, 2019, at which point Higgins will become chairman, having joined the board as a non-executive director March 1.Higgins is currently deputy chairman of Rothschild & Co, having been managing partner and co-chairman of its executive committee until September 1 this year.The economic events calendar on Friday has manufacturing PMI readings from Italy, France, Germany, eurozone and UK at 0845 GMT, 0850 GMT, 0855 GMT, 0900 GMT and 0930 GMT.The pound was up against the dollar quoted at USD1.3000 compared to USD1.2969 at the London equities close Thursday.Twenty Labour MPs rebelled to oppose Philip Hammond's income tax changes, amid opposition party tensions over how to respond to the UK chancellor of the exchequer's latest government budget.Former ministers Yvette Cooper, Margaret Hodge and David Lammy were among those Labour MPs who voted against the budget resolution to raise the personal allowance to GBP12,500 and the higher rate threshold to GBP50,000 from April 2019, despite party orders to abstain.MPs approved the proposal by 314 votes to 31, majority 283, as the budget debate concluded after four days.In US corporate news, Apple on Thursday reported earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter that trumped Wall Street estimates, helped by strong demand for its pricier iPhone X and XS cellphones. However, shares slipped 4% in the extended US trading session after the iPhone maker issued a weak revenue outlook for the holiday season quarter.Ahead in the US earnings calendar oil majors Chevron and Exxon Mobil report before the market open in New York.