Last checked at LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares have opened mixed in London Friday, with blue-chips lagging mid- and small-caps despite Anglo American and Coca Cola HBC both reporting swings to profit in 2013. Anglo American is up 1.7% at the open, while Coca Cola HBC is down 0.2%.
Following its results announcement Thursday, Lloyds Banking has been raised to Overweight from Neutral by JPMorgan.
Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 6.83 at 6,652.59
FTSE 250: up 11.52 at 16,040.91
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.14 at 873.42
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DJIA: closed up 63.65 at 16,027.59
S&P 500: closed up 10.57 at 1,829.83
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.6687
EUR-USD: up at USD1.3699
GOLD: up at USD1,308.26 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD108.13 a barrel
(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Friday's Key Economic Events still to come
09:00 Italy Gross Domestic Product
10:00 EU Trade Balance
13:30 US Import Price Index
13:30 US Export Price Index
14:15 US Industrial Production
14:55 US Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index Preliminary
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Germany's economic growth accelerated marginally in the fourth quarter, driven by positive contributions from foreign trade and investment, preliminary data from the Federal Statistical Office showed. Gross domestic product grew 0.4% from a quarter ago, while it was expected to remain stable at 0.3%. According to provisional calculations, the sequential increase in exports of goods and services was substantially higher than that of imports.
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The French economy expanded at the end of 2013 after stagnating in the third quarter, helped by buoyant external demand, data from the statistical office Insee showed. Gross domestic product expanded 0.3% sequentially in the fourth quarter, following a nil growth in the third quarter. The expenditure-side breakdown of GDP showed that both household and government spending accelerated in the fourth quarter, to 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively.
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Chinese inflation remained unchanged at the lowest level since last May in January, as the underlying price pressures were subdued, giving leeway for the central bank to loosen policy to kick start a faster recovery. Reflecting moderating demand in global commodity markets, producer prices in China extended its decline for the 23rd month, separate data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Friday. Consumer prices were up 2.5% in January from the prior year, the same rate of growth as seen in December, but slightly above the 2.4% rise forecast by economists.
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A competition market study was launched into the UK's GBP12 billion a year annuities market after the regulator found it isn't working well for consumers. The Financial Conduct Authority said the competition market study will get to the heart of the issue and make recommendations that will have wider implications for the market, which is already the biggest in Europe and expected to grow to about GBP23 billion a year by 2014-15 as the effects of maturing pension plans and the introduction auto-enrolment in the workplace begin to come through. As part of its study, the FCA will assess whether changes to its investment rules are needed in order to create an annuities market that treats customers better.
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Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta announced his resignation, clearing the way for Matteo Renzi - the upstart leader of his centre-left Democratic Party (PD) - to take over his job. Letta suffered a humiliating defeat as PD party executives approved a proposal to replace the ruling grand coalition government with a new administration, with Renzi as its expected leader. The vote was 136-16 with two abstentions.
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Syrian regime helicopters pounded rebel-held areas of Aleppo with barrel bombs, killing at least 51 people, a pro-opposition watchdog said Thursday, as state TV reported that a humanitarian ceasefire in the besieged Old City of Homs was extended by three days. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 38 civilians - including a family of seven - as well as 13 rebel fighters were killed in Wednesday's raids on northern Aleppo.
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Thai police reclaimed two intersections held by anti-government protesters for months in the capital, but demonstrators vowed to retake them, news reports said. National Security Council Secretary-General Paradon Pattanatabut said police had succeeded in retaking two intersections leading to Government House, the seat of administration, Spring News TV reported. Early Friday, more than 2,000 riot police with shields and batons moved on the Missakawan and Nang Leung intersections in western Bangkok. There were no reports of violence or clashes during the operation.
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Three international airports on Indonesia's main island of Java were closed and thousands of residents were being evacuated following a volcanic eruption, an official said. Volcanic ash reduced visibility in the cities of Yogyakarta, Surabaya and Solo after the eruption of Mount Kelud in East Java province late Thursday, said Bambang Ervan, spokesman for the Transportation Ministry. "Volcanic ash is covering the airports and it's too dangerous for flights," Ervan said. Television footage showed aircraft and streets covered with thick ash.
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Adelaide exemplified the vagaries of Australia's weather as a near-record run of heat ended with local media reporting the wettest 24 hours in over 40 years. Flooding was recorded in the South Australia state capital on Friday after more downpours followed a 75-millimetre soaking the previous day. Rainfalls across the state helped do the job of exhausted firefighters and douse dozens of blazes ignited during a run of 13 consecutive days of temperatures topping 40 degrees.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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JPMORGAN RAISES LLOYDS TO 'OVERWEIGHT' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 95 (84) PENCE
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UBS RAISES LADBROKES TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 180 PENCE
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TRADERS: SOCGEN RAISES ROLLS-ROYCE TO 'HOLD' ('SELL')
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TRADERS: EXANE BNP CUTS MORRISON TO 'UNDERPERFORM' ('NEUTRAL')
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BERENBERG RAISES PETROFAC TO 'BUY' ('HOLD') - TARGET 1740 (1370) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Anglo American PLC said it swung to a pretax profit in 2013 as improved production and weakening producer currencies helped company finances. The major mining company posted a pretax profit of USD1.70 billion for the twelve months ended December 31, 2013, compared from a pretax loss of USD171 million the previous year. The company said its group revenues including associates and joint ventures increased 0.8% to USD33.06 billion from USD32.79 billion in 2012, as increased production rates and weaker currencies where it incurs costs offset generally lower commodity prices across the company's portfolio of assets.
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Vodafone Group PLC said it had acquired mobile spectrum licenses in India for GBP1.9 billion, enabling it to roll out 4G services and bolster its 3G services in key cities like Mumbai and Delhi.
The company said its Indian unit was awarded spectrum licences in 11 telecom circles in the Indian government's 900 MHz and 1800 MHZ spectrum auction. It said it bought a total of 23MHz in the 900MHz band in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata and 49MHZ in the 1800MHz band in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat, UP East, Rajasthan, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab. It will pay GBP540 million in the current financial year and the remainder in instalments starting in 2017.
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Tesco has deactivated some customers' net accounts after their login names and passwords were shared online, the BBC reported. The list of more than 2,000 Tesco.com accounts was posted to a popular text-sharing site on Thursday, the BBC said, quoting the supermarket saying the data had been compiled by hackers using details stolen from other sites. Tesco told the BBC it was "urgently investigating" the appearance of the data.
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Coca-Cola HBC AG, Europe's largest bottler of Coca-Cole products, said it swung to a net profit in the fourth quarter of 2013 as it boosted margins by cutting costs and volume growth returned. The company, which moved its listing to London from Athens last year, reported a net profit of EUR8.4 million for the quarter, compared with a loss of EUR45.8 million a year earlier. Its profit for the whole year rose to EUR221.2 million, from EUR190.4 million. Coca-Cola HBC was hit by the economic crisis in Europe as sales in southern Europe fell sharply. Volumes have now started to recover in those markets, but are dropping elsewhere.
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A US appeals court on Thursday allowed certain shareholders to proceed with some securities claims against BP PLC, following statements made during a 2006 oil spill in Alaska, according to Reuters. The ruling from the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco comes after a shareholders class action against BP in 2008 which was dismissed by a lower court judge in Seattle.
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Royal Dutch Shell PLC will announce the sale of three assets in the North Sea, as part of its ongoing divestment programme, The Telegraph reported. The newspaper said staff at the oil major were briefed about the sale of the Anasuria, Nelson and Sean assets in the last few days, and an announcement by the company is expected shortly. In its 2013 results announcement last month, Shell had said it was considering selling downstream marketing assets in Norway. However, so far, its USD30 billion disposal programme has resulted in the sale of upstream assets only in Australia and Brazil.
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Severn Trent PLC said trading from October 1, 2013 to date remained in line with expectations, while operating expenditure continues to be in line with expectations for the year. In an interim management statement for the period to Thursday, the utility firm said operating costs are expected to rise year on year due to the impact of inflation and power costs, partially offset by efficiency improvements. The utility said the current flooding in the UK is not expected to have a financial impact on the company.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC raised its revenue growth forecasts for 2013, saying its injectables and generics businesses performed strongly towards the end of the year, although it cautioned that generics revenues will likely be lower in 2014. In a trading statement, the company said it now expects revenue growth of 23% for 2013, up from its previous forecast for 20% growth.
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Kenmare Gets Deal To Restructure Moma Mine Project Financing
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Pennon Group Says Viridor's PBIT Expected To Be Broadly Similar To Last Year; Says Struggling Viridor Successfully Holding Operational Performance In Line With Expectations; Says South West Water Continuing Robust Performance
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Riverstone Energy Signed Agreement Jan 30 To Acquire Area In Williston Basin; May 23 To Dec 31 Net Profit USD575,000; FY Total Assets Worth USD1.14B; Total Liabilities Worth USD3.4M
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COMPANIES - ALL-SHARE AND AIM
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Caffyns New Car Sales Up 9.8% In Four Months To End-January; Used Car Sales Up 21%, Aftersales Revenue Up 2.6%
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Severfield-Rowen Says Group Trading Performance In Line With Expectations; Ideally Position For Recovery In UK Construction Market; Says Indian Market Still Difficult But Order Book Stable At GBP32M
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Tangiers Petroleum Says It Now Holds 5.27% Of Jacka Resources
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Fastjet Says Tanzania Operations Carried 31,241 Passengers In January, Up 20%; Tanzania Operations January Revenue USD2.8M, Up 128%
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Max Petroleum Announces Successful Drilling And Results From SAGW-10 Well In Kazakhstan
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IPPlus H1 Pretax Profit GBP613,984 Vs GBP174,732; Revenue GBP4.7M Vs GBP4.1M; Happy With H1 Performance In Face Of Difficult Trading Conditions
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Triad Group Says Trading In H2 In Line With Expectations
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Phoenix IT Says New Business Order Intake In Q3 Was Strong; Says Order Book At Dec 2013 GBP189.4M Vs GBP188.9M In Sept 2013
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Scientific Digital Imaging Buys Opus Instruments For Up To GBP1.3M
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Manroy Takeover Offer Deadline Extended To March 7
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Afarak FY Loss EUR4.4M Vs EUR16.6M Loss, Q4 Loss EUR0.7M Vs EUR6.2M Loss; Revenues Up 5.4%, Q4 Revenues Up 72.5%
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Equipment rental company Vp PLC said it expects to report full year results that are in line with market expectations after it continued to trade in line with hopes over the winter and revenues continued to grow compared with last year. In a statement, the company said demand from infrastructure and housebuilding has remained strong, whilst general construction is showing some early signs of improvement. Prospects within the oil and gas sector are steadily improving with a number of new contracts set to commence in the coming months," it added.
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Friday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs
BlackRock New Energy Investment Trust
McKay Securities
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite
Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
IN BRIEF: Triad celebrates return to profit, busy recruitment process
Triad Group PLC - Godalming, England-based technology consultancy - Company revisits Executive Chair John Rigg's statement from December which cited Rigg as very confident and enthusiastic about the state and prospects of the company. Rigg says: "I am delighted to confirm that both these statements are proving to be more than amply justified." He says that the company has won major and long-term pieces of new business since its December statement. Rigg says: "We returned to profit in November and, apart from the Christmas/New Year holiday period, have been on a strongly rising trajectory ever since. Cash flow, as normal, is following closely behind the profit trend. We have been nominated for more national awards. Our recruitment process is operating at full steam ahead with great success." Further, he adds that costs of setting up the new projects will be absorbed in the fourth quarter, noting that it will enable the company "to get off to a flying start" in the new financial year beginning in April.
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