Last checked at LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening higher Friday as Unilever abandoned plans to simplify its corporate structure in a quiet day for UK corporate news.IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 14.8 points higher at 7,430.5. The blue chip index closed down 1.2% at 7,418.34 on Thursday.In early UK company news, Anglo-Dutch consumer goods firm Unilever has ended plans to simplify its "dual-headed" legal structure. Unilever had hoped to de-list all UK and Dutch shares before re-listing as a new single Dutch firm. It also wanted to move its headquarters to Amsterdam from London, and it faced leaving the FTSE 100 index due to the move. After an "extensive" period of shareholder engagement, Unilever said though many shareholders supported the move a "significant group" did not.Chairman Marijn Dekkers said: "Unilever has built a long track record of consistent and competitive performance. The board continues to believe that simplifying our dual-headed structure would, over time, provide opportunities to further accelerate value creation and serve the best long-term interests of Unilever."The board will now consider its next steps and will continue to engage with our shareholders. We will proceed with the plan to cancel the NV preference shares, further strengthening our corporate governance."Rio Tinto said it has opened a new mine at Hope Downs in Western Australia's Pilbara region, in its joint venture with Hancock Prospecting.The partners have also approved investment into greater automation, driving productivity, and safety.Rio Tinto's iron ore Chief Executive Chris Salisbury said: "This investment will ensure sustainable production levels at the Hope Downs 1 operation and is a clear demonstration of our continuing commitment to the people of Western Australia and the joint venture partnership.""As we introduce autonomous technology across the business we continue to work closely with our employees to develop their career pathways. To date, we have successfully redeployed or up-skilled employees impacted by automation and we would expect this trend to continue with the extension of this technology at Hope Downs."FTSE 250 miner Centamin reported a 27% quarter-on-quarter increase in gold output in the three months to September to 117,720 ounces. On a year-on-year basis, gold production has fallen 25%. The Egyptian miner, which operates the Sukari mine, said September was a strong month but operational improvements "have taken longer than planned to materialise".Looking to the last quarter of the year, Centamin expects improvements to continue and for production for the three months to December to be around 145,000 ounces of gold. This would give annual production of 480,000 ounces, from 544,658 ounces in 2017.Chief Executive Andrew Pardey said: "These results are a demonstrable operational improvement on the second quarter. We are extremely pleased with the operational performance from the open pit. "We are through the transitional ore, grades are improving in line with the mine plan and will continue to through the fourth quarter. The underground improvements have been very encouraging and are continuing. Our focus remains on achieving optimal and consistent performance."Property investor Assura has bought three healthcare centres for a combined total of GBP50 million. The sites bought include Stratford Healthcare Centre in Stratford-upon-Avon, though the other two were not named. Greencoat UK Wind has bought 75% of the Tom nan Clach wind farm in Nairnshire, Scotland for GBP126 million. The wind farm is currently under construction and is scheduled to start commercial operations next summer.
Elsewhere, vehicle retailer Motorpoint expects 9% year-on-year revenue growth for the six months to September, while its operating margin has performed "at a similar level" compared to a year prior. The company is encouraged by recent trading, despite economic and political uncertainty, and it said it is "well placed" to increase market share. Miner SolGold reported "very encouraging" drilling results from the Cascabel project in northern Ecuador, as it looks to add to its existing resource at the project, which currently stands at 5.2 million tonnes of copper and 12.3 million ounces of gold. "In contrast to Europe, the US economy appears to be on fire, blazing a trail in the sky, and sending US rate rise expectations sharply higher," said CMC Markets UK's David Madden."This move higher in rates saw US equity markets fall back sharply yesterday, with the Dow falling the most in two months," Madden continued."As falls go it was still pretty mediocre, compared to declines past, however US bond yields are starting to look as if they might be about to go on a bit of a run to the upside, and it is here where most of today's attention is likely to find its focus, with the latest US wages and jobs data due out."On Wall Street, stocks closed lower on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.8% lower, the S&P 500 also 0.8% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite down 1.8%.The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.8% while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 0.1%. Financial markets in China remain closed for a week long holiday.US unemployment and non-farm payrolls are out at 1330 BST."But could the nonfarm payrolls data cause a significant move this time around?" said Forex's Fawad Razaqzada. "Recently, wage growth has taken on increased importance than the actual jobs number given concerns about rising levels of inflation and in turn interest rates," he continued. "So, the dollar's response to the employment report will depend on the outcome of both the headline jobs figure and perhaps to a larger degree wage growth.""The consensus expectations for Friday's headline non-farm payrolls data point to around 185,000 jobs added in September, after August's slightly stronger-than-expected 201,000 print."Razaqzada added: "The September unemployment rate is expected to have dropped back to 3.8% from 3.9% in August. In terms of wage growth, average hourly earnings are expected to have increased by 0.3% after last month's surprisingly large 0.4% increase."An FBI investigation into allegations of sexual assault against US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is "incomplete" and "too limited" in scope, Senate minority leaders Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Schumer said on Thursday.Feinstein said the report made available to senators was "the product of an incomplete investigation," while Schumer said the probe had been "too limited" considering the fact that neither Kavanaugh nor his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, were interviewed.Meanwhile, Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, said the report submitted by the FBI had "not corroborated" the accusations and that senators should avoid the "fundamentally un-American precedent" of finding someone guilty without evidence.In UK data, the Halifax house price index is out at 0830 BST.Theresa May is facing renewed calls to abandon her Chequers blueprint for Brexit after European Council president Donald Tusk said the offer of a simple, Canada-style free trade deal remained open.Following talks in Brussels with Irish premier Leo Varadkar, Tusk said the EU remained committed to securing a deal with the UK which maintained a relationship that was "as close and as special as possible".He said the EU's proposal for an enhanced version of the free trade deal it negotiated with Canada - sometimes referred to as "Canada+++" - was still on the table.His intervention comes after May told the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham that her Chequers plan was the only proposal which would avoid the imposition of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.The pound was quoted at USD1.3013 early Friday, compared to USD1.3024 at the close on Thursday.19 Mar 2024 18:41
EARNINGS AND TRADING: UK Oil in Broadford blow; SolGold optimistic
(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of earnings and trading updates by London-listed companies, issued on Tuesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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