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LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares have opened higher Tuesday ahead of UK GDP figures at 0930 GMT.
A day after confirming an approach by Bank of Montreal, F&C Asset Management said Tuesday it has agreed to be taken over by the Canadian bank in a GBP708 million deal.
Carpetright has issued a second profit warning, due to weakness in its Dutch business, while reporting strong UK trading.
HSBC has cut National Express to Neutral from Overweight, while raising Stagecoach to Overweight from Neutral.
Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 22.89 at 6,573.55
FTSE 250: up 90.44 at 15,618.65
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 1.62 at 851.99
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DJIA: closed down 41.23 at 15,837.88
S&P 500: closed down 8.73 at 1,781.56
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.6600
EUR-USD: down at USD1.3662
GOLD: flat at USD1,257.60 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD107.06 a barrel
(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Tuesday's Key Economic Events still to come
09:00 Italy Consumer Confidence
09:30 UK Gross Domestic Product
10:00 Italy Wage Inflation
13:30 US Durable Goods Orders
13:55 US Redbook index
14:00 US S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices
15:00 US Consumer Confidence
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France's consumer confidence increased for the second consecutive month in January, survey data released by statistical office Insee showed. Economists had forecast sentiment to remain steady. The headline consumer confidence index advanced to 86 in January from 85 in December and 84 in November. Economists had forecast the index to remain unchanged at the December level.
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EU proposals to reduce banks' exposure to risk - due to be unveiled later this week - fall short of the steps advised by experts to avoid future financial crises, critics charged Monday. The European Commission is expected on Wednesday to propose a ban on proprietary trading - a practice under which banks make bets with their own money - and the separation of certain risky activities from their core business, according to a draft seen by dpa. But both rules "have been drafted in such a manner that they risk having no effect on the banking sector apart from adding additional bureaucracy," the European Parliament's Green party wrote of the measures.
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India's central bank raised its key interest rates unexpectedly, as inflation remains elevated at close to double-digits. The Reserve Bank of India raised its repo rate by 25 basis points to 8.00% from 7.75%. The repo rate is the rate at which the RBI lends to banks. The RBI adjusted the reverse repo, the rate at which the bank accepts deposits from banks, to 7% from 6.75%. The bank was widely expected to leave key rates unchanged. Governor Raghuram Rajan has raised the key rates twice last year after taking the helm at the central bank in September.
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Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sissi was one step closer to becoming president of Egypt after receiving the endorsement of the military leadership on Monday. In July, it was al-Sissi who announced the ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, the country's first freely elected leader, after millions took to the streets demanding his overthrow. Members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces gave their approval to al-Sissi's presidential bid after meeting for several hours.
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The US government will allow communication companies like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Facebook to reveal more information about previously secret government requests for customer data, the Justice Department said Monday. Revelations about surveillance programmes had prompted technology companies last year to call for greater leeway in sharing requests with clients that they had been bound by law to keep secret.
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The worldwide smartphone shipments topped one billion units in 2013, for the first time in a single year, according to the International Data Corporation Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. Large screen devices and low cost were among the top trends driving smartphone growth, with low cost being the key difference maker. Vendors shipped 1.004 billion smartphones worldwide, up 38% from the 725.3 million units shipped in 2012, aligning with IDC's most recent forecast of 1.010 billion units.
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Ukraine's parliament will consider repealing new anti-protest legislation Tuesday and extending an amnesty to all demonstrators, after the government met with protest leaders. The president also offered to bring the opposition into the government during the four-hour meeting late Monday, but that was rejected, Justice Minister Yelena Lukash said.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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EXANE BNP RAISES BHP BILLITON TO 'NEUTRAL' ('UNDERP,) - PRICE TARGET 1850 (1650) PENCE
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HSBC CUTS NATIONAL EXPRESS TO 'NEUTRAL' ('OVERWEIGHT') - TARGET 300 (290) PENCE
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HSBC RAISES STAGECOACH TO 'OVERWEIGHT' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 415 (325) PENCE
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CREDIT SUISSE RAISES BG GROUP TO 'NEUTRAL' ('UNDERP,') - PRICE TARGET 1115 (1200) PENCE
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JPMORGAN CUTS BG GROUP TO 'NEUTRAL' ('OVERWEIGHT') - PRICE TARGET 1300 (1550) PENCE
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CITIGROUP INITIATES ROYAL MAIL WITH 'SELL' - TARGET 531 PENCE
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NOMURA RAISES EUROPEAN METALS & MINING SECTOR TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BEARISH')
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TRADERS: MERRILL LYNCH REMOVES PERSIMMON FROM 'BUILDINGS MOST PREFERRED LIST'
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TRADERS: MORGAN STANLEY STARTS G4S WITH 'UNDERWEIGHT' - TARGET 235 PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC said late Monday it has set aside GBP3.07 billion in new provisions for a number of past issues, the bulk of which relate to litigation and regulatory decisions regarding mortgage-backed securities and securities sold in the years leading up to the financial crisis of 2008. In a separate statement, RBS said its executive committee will not receive bonuses for 2013, though Chief Executive Ross McEwan already had said he did not wish to be considered for a bonus for 2013 or 2014, when he was appointed in August.
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Fresnillo PLC said its full-year 2013 gold production ended slightly below its revised guidance due to an court-order explosives suspension in Mexico. The precious metals miner, operating in Mexico, said it made attributable gold production of 425,831 ounces in the full year 2013, a 10% fall when compared to its 473,034 ounces of gold produced in 2012 and slightly lower than its revised gold production guidance of 425,900 ounces.
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AMEC PLC said its AMEC Tekfen Azfen consortium has been awarded a USD974 million contract for BP PLC-operated stage 2 development of the Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian Sea. In a statement, AMEC said it will contribute its project and construction management expertise to the consortium. It didn't give a breakdown for the costs or revenues for the consortium members.
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British Land: Completing 2010 Developments And Progressing GBP1.1BN Recently Committed/Near-Term Projects; Signs New Letting At The Leadenhall Building For GBP72.50 PSF For 15 Year; Says GBP540M Of Sales Since H1 Including Sales Of Basildon Shopping Centre
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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F&C Asset Management PLC said it has reached an agreed GBP708 million deal to be acquired by Bank of Montreal, just a day after it had announced that it had been approached by the Canadian bank. In a statement, the asset manager said each of its shareholders will receive 120 pence a share in cash, as well as a 2 pence a share dividend for 2013.
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Housebuilder Crest Nicholson Holdings PLC reported an increase in profit and revenue for the full year citing the UK government's flagship, but contentious, mortgage-financing scheme as a catalyst for renewed interest in new builds. The firm saw pretax profit jump 40% to GBP80.9 million for the period ended October 31, 2013, from GBP62.1 million a year earlier, despite exceptional costs of GBP5.9 million connected with its initial public offering in February 2013.
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Greencore Sees Good Start To Year, Confident To Deliver FY Results In Line With Expectations; Says Economic Conditions In UK Steadily Improving, More Buoyant Activity In Small Stores
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Afren 2013 YR Production Of 47,112BOEPD, At Upper End Of Guidance; 2013 YR Revenue Of USD1.65B Vs USD1.57B
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COMPANIES - ALL-SHARE AND AIM
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Carpetright PLC said it now expects its full-year underling pretax profit to miss the lower end of current market expectations, due to further weakness in its Dutch business, which already swung to a loss earlier in the financial year. In a second profit warning since the group issued one back in October last year, the carpet and floor-coverings retailer said that while trading improved at its UK business during the third quarter, which is the 13 week period to January 25, sales continued to decline steeply at its Dutch business.
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Tracsis Receives Irish Order For Remote Condition Monitoring Equipment For "Six Figure Sum"; Says Forecasts For Current Financial Year Remain Unchanged
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Filtronic H1 Pretax Profit GBP93,000 Vs Pretax Loss GBP1.2M; H1 Revenue GBP20.1M Vs GBP16.4M
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Parkmead Group Raises USD66M From Placing Of 15.7M Shares At 255p Per Share
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Eurasia Drilling 2013 Revenues About USD3.48B, EBITDA Margin 26.7%; Says Positive Drilling Trends To Continue In 2014; Predicts 2014 Revenues Of Between USD3.4B To USD3.5B
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Globo FY Revenues EUR72M Vs EUR46M; Expects FY Profits In Line With Expectations; Says Current Year Trading Started Very Strongly
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1Spatial Awarded GBP2.08M Contract Extension With Ordnance Survey Of Great Britain
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Mattioli Woods H1 Pretax Profit GBP2.2M Vs GBP2.2M; Raises Interim Dividend To 3.10 Pence Vs 2.33 Pence; H1 Revenue Up 19.4% To GBP13.4M Vs GBP11.3M; Intention To Launch UK REIT To Be Listed On Main Market
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Wynnstay Group FY Pretax Profit GBP8.5M Vs GBP7.8M; FY Revenue GBP413.5M Vs GBP375.8M; Final Dividend 6.20p, Total Dividend 9.30p Vs 8.50p
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Aberforth Geared Income Trust 6-Mo Total Assets Return 27.4%, NAV Return 41%
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Acta Says 2013 Revenue Expected To Be More Than EUR400,000
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First Quantum Minerals Says Revised Cobre Panama Copper Project Will Produce Roughly 320,000T Copper Per Year
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Ilika Says Solid-State Battery Architecture Validated In Tests
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Vitesse Media Raises GBP265K By Placement Of 12M New Shares At 2.2p Each; Says Funds To Be Used For Development Of New SME Crowd Funding Platform
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Aquarius Platinum Q2 Attributable Production From Operating Mines Up 7% On Previous Corresponding Period
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San Leon Energy Signs MOU With Chevron Lummus Global LLC With Regards To Shale Oil Tech
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Tuesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs
Polar Capital Global Healthcare Grwth&Inc
Alternative Networks
Standard Life European Private Equity Trust
Wesco Aircraft Holdings
Vodafone Group
Greencore
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite
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