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(Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Friday.
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COMPANIES
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SSE has agreed a sale of its Energy Services business, it said, after a long-drawn-out process to find a future for the unit. Energy Services provides energy to UK householders, under brands such as SSE, SSE Scottish Hydro, SSE Southern Electric, and SSE Swalec. Ovo Group is the buyer, at an enterprise value of GBP500 million, made up of GBP400 million in cash for SSE and GBP100 million worth of loan notes. Ovo had been named by SSE as a potential buyer in August. Ovo's purchase will make it one of the largest energy suppliers in the UK, just a decade after its founding. SSE expects the deal to complete either towards the end of 2019 or early in 2020, subject to necessary regulatory approvals. It will use the proceeds to reduce debt.
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Nationwide Building Society joined a long list of UK financial services providers warning on increased costs stemming from mis-selling payment protection insurance. Nationwide said, in line with experience in the broader market, the building society - the UK's biggest - received a higher-than-anticipated volume of complaints and enquiries in the period immediately before the August 29 deadline. As a result, Nationwide now expects to record an additional charge of between GBP20 million to GBP50 million for increased PPI complaints and enquiries. The lender warned however that the ultimate PPI provision could be above or below the provided range as it is still processing the PPI complaints and enquiries. Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, CYBG, Co-Operative Bank and retailer N Brown Group all have warned of a "substantially greater volume" of PPI enquiries and complaints in the final days before the deadline.
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JD Wetherspoon reported a rise in annual earnings and said that it anticipates a reasonable outcome in the current financial 2020 despite continuing political problems. For the year ended July 28, the company reported 7.2% rise in pretax profit to GBP95.4 million from GBP89.0 million in the year ago period. Revenue rose by 7.4% to GBP1.82 billion from GBP1.69 billion. Same store sales for the period increased by 6.8%, with bar sales rising 5.8%, food sales by 8.3%, slot & fruit machine sales by 10.3% and hotel room sales by 3.9%. Stripping out exceptional items, pretax profit fell 4.5% year-on-year to GBP102.5 million from GBP107.2 million. The company held its full-year total dividend at 12.0 pence per share, after proposing a unchanged final payout of 8.0p.
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MARKETS
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London shares were mixed with the FTSE 100 hindered by the strong pound, which hit a seven-week high against the dollar. The FTSE 250 crossed above the 20,000 mark for the first time since October 2018. Wall Street was pointed to a higher open amid hopes for a break in the US-China trade war.
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FTSE 100: down 0.2% at 7,328.06
FTSE 250: up 0.3% at 20,023.43
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.3% at 882.75
GBP: up at USD1.2447 (USD1.2334)
EUR: up at USD1.1099 (USD1.1035)
GOLD: down at USD1,506.30 per ounce (USD1,512.20)
OIL (Brent): firm at USD60.02 a barrel (USD59.30)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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US trade negotiators want to make "meaningful progress" in upcoming talks with China, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, one day after conciliatory gestures by both sides boosted hopes of an eventual resolution. Mnuchin said on CNBC he is "cautiously optimistic" about chances for a deal to resolve the conflict, while President Donald Trump hinted at a watering down of his position with the possibility of an interim deal. Washington and Beijing will first hold talks at the deputy level to ensure senior officials who meet later can advance towards an agreement. Trump told reporters he preferred to seal a complete deal, but that he might be willing to consider an interim agreement. "I'd rather get the whole deal done," he said, but noted analysts have been discussing the possibility of an interim deal "meaning we'll do pieces of it, the easy ones first". "There's no easy or hard, there's a deal or there's not a deal. It's something we would consider I guess," he said.
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Trump said he believes that Iran's leadership wants to talk, adding to expectations that he is trying to arrange a summit with his Iranian counterpart at the upcoming UN assembly. "I can tell you that Iran wants to meet," he told reporters at the White House. Trump has repeatedly indicated he is ready to meet with President Hassan Rouhani, who is expected to attend the UN General Assembly in New York this month. However, the Iranians have so far not given a positive response.
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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been warned against breaking the law over Brexit by Speaker John Bercow, who vowed "creativity" in Parliament would scupper a no-deal exit. The warning came as the EU's chief negotiator said there is "no reason to be optimistic" that a new agreement can be brokered before the prime minister's deadline to ask for a delay. Michel Barnier told political leaders in the European Parliament on Thursday that he was unable to say whether contacts with the UK government would result in a deal by mid-October. Commons Speaker Bercow said in a London speech that the so-called Benn Act enforcing the extension means the only possible Brexit outcome is one approved by Parliament.
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The leader of the Democratic Unionist Party has dismissed a report that it will offer Johnson a lifeline to help him unlock a Brexit deal. The Times newspaper said the DUP has agreed to shift its red lines on Brexit, saying it could accept Northern Ireland abiding by some EU rules post-Brexit as part of a new deal to replace the Irish backstop. The Times reported the DUP, the biggest party in Northern Ireland, also had privately said it would drop its objection to regulatory checks in the Irish Sea, something it had previously said was unacceptable since it would separate Northern Ireland politically and economically from the mainland. However, DUP leader Arlene Foster insisted that, as previously indicated, any moves which did make Northern Ireland different from the rest of the UK would be unacceptable to the party. "UK must leave as one nation. We are keen to see a sensible deal but not one that divides the internal market of the UK," Foster tweeted.
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The eurozone trade surplus was wider than forecast in July after exports expanded considerably ahead of imports during the month, data from Eurostat showed. The trade surplus within the single-currency bloc widened 20% to EUR24.8 billion from EUR20.6 billion recorded in June, also ahead of the EUR16.9 billion recorded a year prior. The July print exceeded the EUR17.4 billion trade surplus forecasted by economists. The trade balance was boosted by exports in July growing 8.7% to EUR206.5 billion from EUR189.9 billion in June. Meanwhile, imports grew 7.3% to EUR181.7 billion from EUR169.3 billion in June.
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