RPS.L Share News (RPS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Thursday.
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COMPANIES
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Peter Sands made a long anticipated exit as the chief executive of Standard Chartered, with the emerging markets bank appointing Bill Winters, the former co-chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co's investment bank to succeed him in the summer of this year. amid concern in the financial community about impairments and their suitability to lead a recovery after the bank reported an end to ten years of profit growth last year. The bank said Chairman John Peace also intends to stand down during the course of 2016.
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Royal Bank of Scotland Group revealed a GBP3.47 billion attributable loss in 2014 as it counted the cost of billions of pounds' worth of writedowns, restructuring, litigation and conduct. In a statement, RBS reported a GBP3.47 billion loss attributable to shareholders in the year ended December 31, 2014, a significant improvement on the GBP9.0 billion attributable loss reported in the prior year. However, the group swung to an operating profit of GBP3.50 billion in 2014, compared with an operating loss of GBP7.50 billion in 2013, aided by impairment releases in its Ulster Bank and RBS Capital Resolution.
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Anglo-Dutch publisher Reed Elsevier announced plans to combine its UK and Dutch parent companies in an effort to simplify its corporate structure and "increase transparency" for shareholders, as it posted a rise in adjusted pretax profit for 2014. The company is transferring ownership of all of its businesses and its two listed parent companies Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV into a new single group entity, named RELX Group PLC, although it will not change its brand or name for customer-facing products and business units. Reed Elsevier proposed a full-year dividend of 26.0 pence for 2014, up from 24.60 pence a year before.
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British American Tobacco reported a drop in 2014 profit in both current currency rates and at constant rates, while revenue grew at constant exchange rates, but was hit at the reported rate by the strength of sterling. The tobacco giant reported a pretax profit of GBP4.85 billion for 2014, down 16% at currency exchange rates, from GBP5.80 billion in 2013, after the group said it was hit by a non-tobacco litigation charge and adverse exchange movements on a translational and transactional level. The group declared a 4% increase in its total dividend per share for the year of 148.1 pence.
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CRH reported strong growth in operating profit for 2014, as a recovery in its US markets gained momentum and markets in Europe stabilised, and it predicted a strong 2015 as it looks to take advantage of falling commodity prices and further improvements in its markets. The Irish building materials company said it swung to a pretax profit of EUR761 million in 2014, compared with a loss of GBP215 million in 2013 when it had booked a EUR755 million impairment charge related to a review of its asset portfolio. Despite the return to earnings and margin growth, the company decided to keep its dividend for the year unchanged at EUR62.5 cents.
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Capita reported a strong increase in profit and revenue for 2014, driven by new contract wins and acquisitions, and said it had got off to an "excellent start in 2015, with new contract wins almost double the level they were this time last year. The outsourcing company reported a pretax profit of GBP292.4 million for 2014, up from GBP215.0 million in 2013, as revenue rose to GBP4.38 billion, from GBP3.90 billion. Its closely-watched pretax profit excluding exceptional items rose 13% to GBP535.7 million, from GBP475.0 million. It raised its total dividend for the year by 10% to 29.2 pence, from 26.5p in 2013.
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RSA Insurance Group marked a swing to pretax profit in its last financial year by resuming dividend payments, which had been put on hold as part of a broad restructuring aimed at getting the insurer back on track. RSA, which was hit by an accounting scandal in its Ireland operations in 2013, said it made a GBP60 million statutory pretax profit in 2014, compared with a GBP203 million pretax loss in the prior year. RSA said it will pay a 2 pence final dividend.
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Domino's Pizza Group said strong profit and revenue performance in its last financial year, driven by its UK business and successful meal-deal bundles, prompted a more than 10% increase in its dividend for the year, while it highlighted a confident outlook for the year ahead. The pizza delivery company said it served up more than 75 million pizzas during 2014. It declared a 10% increase in its total dividend for the year to 17.50 pence per share, as it reported a pretax profit of GBP53.8 million for the year to December 28, up from GBP21.6 million a year earlier.
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Shares in energy consultancy RPS Group rose after the company reported a rise in pretax profit in 2014 on the back of higher revenue and fee income and hiked its dividend payout. RPS shares were up 1.5% to 244.5 pence, one of the best performers in the FTSE 250, after the company said its pretax profit for the year to the end of December was GBP46.3 million, up from GBP43.6 million last year. Revenue rose to GBP572.1 million from GBP567.6 million in 2013, tracking a rise in fee income to GBP505 million from GBP492.1 million.
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Ladbrokes reported a hefty drop in its pretax profit for 2014, as shop closure costs and impairment charges more than offset revenue growth during the year, while the company said it is confident in its business outlook for 2015, as it plans to expand internationally, close more betting shops, improve its online offer, and bolster its competitive position. The betting company reported a statutory pretax profit of GBP37.7 million for 2014, down from GBP67.6 million in 2013. Revenue during 2014 grew by 4.5% on a statutory basis to GBP1.17 billion from GBP1.12 billion.
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Kitchens and joinery products company Howden Joinery Group's shares rose after the company reported higher pretax profit for 2014 on the back of strong revenue growth, and it hiked its dividend and launched a GBP70 million share buyback. FTSE 250-listed Howden reported a pretax profit of GBP188.8 million for the 52 weeks to December 27, up from GBP135 million a year earlier, as revenue rose to GBP1.09 billion, from GBP956.5 million.
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National Express Group reported higher pretax profit for 2014, even though the strong pound offset higher revenue and passenger numbers across its divisions, and it signalled a switch in strategy towards using more cash flow for investments, particularly in North America, rather than debt reduction. The company, reported a pretax profit of GBP66.5 million for 2014, up from GBP64.4 million in 2013, largely due to lower finance costs.
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Playtech reported a rise in adjusted profit for 2014 on the back of higher revenue, even as its pretax profit fell owing to a one-off gain made last year, and the group hiked its dividend as it said its strong performance has continued in early 2015. The gaming technology company said its adjusted pretax profit for the year to the end of December was EUR194.1 million, up from EUR151 million a year earlier. Its actual pretax profit fell to EUR143.6 million, down from EUR491.3 million owing to the EUR340.1 million gain it made last year from the sale of its investment in William Hill Online to William Hill. Revenue for the year was up 24% to EUR457 million.
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Derwent London reported higher profit, net asset value and total returns for 2014, and said it was confident about its markets in 2015 and beyond as the London property boom shows no sign of slowing. The property company reported an EPRA pretax profit of GBP62.3 million for 2014, up from GBP57.8 million in 2013, while its EPRA net asset value rose to 2,908 pence, from 2,264p. Its total return including dividends rose to 30.1%, from 21.9% in 2013. It said it would pay a final dividend of 28.00p for the year, bringing the total dividend to 39.65p, an 8.6% increase on 2013.
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Synthomer reported a fall in pretax profit on the back of lower sales in 2014 but raised its dividend payout by 30% as the group claimed it had performed well within challenging markets. Synthomer said its pretax profit for the year to the end of December was GBP86 million, down from GBP90.1 million last year. Its total sales for the year fell to GBP990.5 million, from GBP1.05 billion last year. The group said a positive first half in Europe was offset by weaker demand in the second half, though said it saw a year-on-year improvement in unit margins.
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Colt Group said its performance in 2014 "did not deliver what we set out to achieve", as it swung to a pretax loss mostly due to restructuring costs, but said it is starting 2015 with "reasonable momentum and focused organisation." The company posted a pretax loss of EUR23.1 million, compared with a pretax profit of EUR42.4 million in 2013, as revenue declined to EUR1.50 billion from EUR1.58 billion and it posted exceptional costs of EUR46.1 million.
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Premier Oil joined peers in the sector by slashing its planned expenditure and reporting large writedowns due to the slide in oil prices, and the company also suspended its full-year dividend payment for the same reason as it looks to preserve its balance sheet. The sector has been rapidly scaling back investment plans in the wake of the slide in oil prices, and Premier Oil is no exception. Premier said it has budgeted for "significant cost reductions" in 2015 by making savings in operating costs, reduced general and administrative spend, and the re-phasing of capital expenditure.
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Electra Private Equity said it has noted activist investor Sherborne Investors's statements late Wednesday renewing its efforts to influence matters at Electra, and confirmed its chairman has received a letter requesting a meeting. Electra Chairman Roger Yates has agreed to a meeting with Edward Bramson of Sherborne, although a date for this meeting has yet to be set.
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MARKETS
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London stock indices are hovering around flat amid another busy day of UK company reporting, while the second reading of UK fourth quarter GDP came in line with expectations.
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FTSE 100: flat at 6,935.19
FTSE 250: up 0.02% at 17,191.17
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 710.82
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GBP-USD: flat at USD1.5526
EUR-USD: flat at USD1.1362

GOLD: up at USD1219.09 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD62.09 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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The UK economy expanded as estimated in the fourth quarter, the second estimates published by the Office for National Statistics revealed. Gross domestic product grew 0.5% sequentially in the fourth quarter, in line with the estimate released on January 27. The rate of growth eased from 0.7% in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, GDP was up 2.7% from last year, unrevised from the previous estimate. In 2014 as a whole, GDP advanced 2.6% from the prior year. The full-year growth figure was also left unrevised.
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The European Central Bank is ready to once again accept Greek government bonds as collateral for loans if the country proceeds with bailout-related reforms, ECB chief Mario Draghi said. Up until three weeks ago, Greece had enjoyed an ECB waiver that allowed its bonds to be accepted as collateral for loans even though they fell short of rating requirements. The central bank ended that exemption on February 11, amid uncertainty over whether Greece would continue with its bailout programme and associated reform requirements. The move forced Greek banks to turn to the ECB's more expensive emergency liquidity assistance. "The ECB had no choice other than lifting the waiver," Draghi said on Wednesday evening in a debate at the European Parliament, noting that a bailout programme has to be in place for the exemption to be granted.
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The ECB's quantitative easing will support economic activity and help to take inflation back towards the target of below, but close to, 2% over the medium term, Draghi told the European Parliament. "As in the case of the existing purchases of private sector securities, the purchases of public securities have a high transmission potential to the real economy," Draghi said. "We have already seen some positive effects of our measures." Financial conditions in money and bond markets throughout the currency bloc have eased further. Moreover, lending rates to households as well as firms decreased considerably and loan dynamics continued to recover, Draghi added.
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Germany's jobless rate remained unchanged at a record low in February, the Federal Labor Agency reported. The jobless rate came in at seasonally adjusted 6.5% in February, the same rate as seen in January and line with economists' expectations. The number of people out of work fell by 20,000, while economists forecast a decrease of 10,000. The labor market statistics from Destatis also showed that the jobless rate fell slightly to adjusted 4.7% in January from 4.8% in December.
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German consumer confidence is set to rise to its highest level since October 2001 as consumer optimism turned stronger underpinned by upward trend in economic expectations, data from a survey by market research group GfK showed.
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The number of unemployed people in France decreased over the previous month in January, data from the labour ministry showed. The number of people claiming unemployment benefits fell by 19,100 over the previous month to 3.48 million in January. This marked the first decline since August.
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US communications regulators were expected to vote Thursday for rules that would categorize the internet as a public utility, preventing internet providers from charging some websites for faster service or slowing or blocking others. The five members of the Federal Communications Commission are to vote on the proposal at a public meeting in Washington. It is widely expected to pass on party lines, with two Democratic commissioners joining Democratic FCC chairman Tom Wheeler to approve against opposition from two Republican commissioners, according to the New York Times.
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