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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening slightly higher on Thursday tracking modest gains in Asian equity markets, despite continued concerns about the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
In early company news, housebuilder Taylor Wimpey launched a share buyback after a strong 2021 performance. Irish building materials firm CRH hiked its dividend and expressed confidence in its prospects. London Stock Exchange Group continued to hail its Refinitiv acquisition as it transitions to financial data and infrastructure business.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 9.94 points higher at 7,439.50. The index closed up 99.36 points, or 1.4%, at 7,429.56 Wednesday.
Taylor Wimpey said it delivered a strong 2021 performance with results in line with its expectations.
For 2021, it posted pretax profit GBP679.6 million, up from GBP264.4 million in 2020 on revenue of GBP4.28 billion, up from GBP2.79 billion.
2021 saw a 47% increase in UK completions including joint ventures to 14,087, up from 9,609 in 2020, driven by good build performance and strong demand.
Taylor Wimpey declared a final dividend of 4.44 pence for 8.58p total, up from 4.14p in 2020. It also plans GBP150 million share buyback in 2022 to return excess cash.
Looking ahead, the housebuilder continues to expect to deliver low single-digit year-on-year completions growth in 2022 and to make further progress towards 21% to 22% operating margin target. Its operating margin in 2021 was 19.3%, up from 10.8% in 2020.
Taylor Wimpey expects 2022 year-end net cash to be around GBP600 million, depending on the timing of land payments.
"With the opportunistic purchase of additional land over the last 18 months, our land pipeline leaves us well placed to accelerate high-quality, profitable volume delivery from 2023, generating additional value and compelling investor returns," said Chief Executive Officer Pete Redfern.
CRH said 2021 was another year of record delivery with continued strong cash generation and profit growth.
For 2021, CRH posted pretax profit of USD3.34 billion, doubled from USD1.66 billion in 2020 on revenue of USD30.98 billion, up 12% from USD27.59 billion.
CRH generated record net cash flows from operating activities of USD4.2 billion in 2021, up from USD3.9 billion in 2020.
CRH declared a final dividend of 98.0 US cents per share, resulting in a total dividend of 121.0 cents for the year, up from 115.0 cents in 2020.
Looking ahead, CRH expects underlying demand and pricing backdrop to remain favourable in 2022 albeit against an inflationary input cost environment and continued supply chain challenges. Federal funding for infrastructure is underpinned by the passing of the USD1.2 trillion infrastructure package by the US Congress, while the US residential market is expected to continue to grow driven by robust demand, it added.
London Stock Exchange Group said 2021 was a successful year following the acquisition of Refinitiv, leaving the stock exchange operator well positioned as a financial market infrastructure and data business.
For 2021, LSEG generated total income of GBP6.81 billion, up from a pro-forma GBP6.77 billion in 2020. Gross profit rose to GBP6.24 billion from GBP6.16 billion on the same basis. Adjusted pretax profit was GBP2.30 billion, up 27% from GBP1.81 billion. Statutory pretax profit was GBP987m, up from GBP492m.
LSEG declared a final dividend of 70 pence per share, a 27% increase in full year dividend to 95 pence per share, reflecting its strong performance in the year and confidence in outlook.
"The group has delivered a strong financial and operating performance in the first year following the successful completion of the acquisition of Refinitiv, with good revenue growth across all of our businesses. We are making excellent progress on integration and are on track to meet or exceed all the acquisition targets. We have established our position as a leading global market infrastructure and data business, and we carry good momentum into 2022," said Chief Executive Officer David Schwimmer.
In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended higher after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank would hike interest rates gradually to fight inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1.8%, S&P 500 up 1.9% and Nasdaq Composite up 1.6%.
Powell told US lawmakers he was in favour of a moderate pace of rate increases, with a 25-basis-point lift this month, as he tries to nurture the economic recovery while keeping a lid on prices, which are rising at their fastest pace in 40 years.
In Asia on Thursday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was ended down 0.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.3%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.5%.
Russia on Wednesday mooted the possibility of ceasefire talks with Ukraine after Russian forces shelled several Ukrainian cities and troops battled in the streets of Kharkiv.
Ukraine said a delegation was "on its way" for the talks at an undisclosed location on the Belarus-Poland border but Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv would not accept "ultimatums".
Speaking seven days since President Vladimir Putin ordered Moscow's troops to attack Ukraine, Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said the Ukrainian officials were expected at the location on Thursday.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed and hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have fled their country since the invasion began, while the West has imposed sanctions to cripple Russia's economy.
"European futures are trading higher as traders build on yesterday's momentum. The consensus among traders and investors is that worst may be behind them, and they want to look at things beyond the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine," said AvaTrade analyst Naeem Aslam.
"The factors that matter for [investors] are the health of the US economy, the monetary policy stance of central banks, especially the Fed, the price of oil, and the situation with inflation."
The pound was quoted at USD1.3400 early Thursday, up from USD1.3363 at the London equities close Wednesday.
The euro was priced at USD1.1097, down from USD1.1130. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY115.70, higher against JPY115.60.
Brent oil was quoted at USD116.67 on Thursday morning, sharply higher from USD109.94 late Wednesday. The North Sea benchmark touched the USD118 mark for the first time since early 2013.
Gold stood at USD1,928.44 an ounce, firm from USD1,923.31 late Wednesday.
Thursday's economic calendar has a raft of services PMIs including the eurozone at 0900 GMT, the UK at 0930 GMT and the US at 1445 GMT. Eurozone unemployment data are reported at 1000 GMT.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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