WPP Share News (WPP)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening lower on Monday following a sell-off in the US on Friday, amid heightened global trade tensions and worries about global economic growth.In company news, construction company Kier Group issued a profit warning, telecom firm KCOM Group received a higher takeover offer, and auto dealer Caffyns swung to an annual loss. IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 30.51 points lower at 7,131.20. The blue chip index closed down 56.45 points, or 0.8%, at 7,161.71 on Friday.Kier said it continues to experience volume pressures within its Highways, Utilities and Housing Maintenance businesses. Moreover, the company said that while it continues to perform well, with double-digit growth in its order book during financial 2019, its Buildings business's revenue growth for 2019 will be lower than previously forecast.Kier said it now expects that revenue for financial 2019, to June 30, will be broadly in line with revenue for financial 2018, but it expects underlying operating profit for 2019 will be around GBP25 million lower than previously expected. Furthermore, Kier said it is likely to report a net debt position as at June 30 that "would have an adverse impact on 2019 average month-end net debt position".Hull-based telecommunications provider KCOM said it received a GBP563 million cash takeover offer from Macquarie Infrastructure.Back in April, KCOM had agreed to a GBP504 million acquisition offer from Humber Bidco, a subsidiary of the Universities Superannuation Scheme. However, on Monday, KCOM said it would be withdrawing its recommendation for USS in favour of the offer from Macquarie.KCOM said Macquarie offered 108 pence per share, which is 11p higher than the offer from USS.Car dealer Caffyns reported a drop in annual earnings amid challenging market conditions. For the financial year ended March 31, the company swung to an annual pretax loss of GBP428,000 from a restated GBP1.2 million profit, while revenue fell to GBP209,246 from a restated GBP215,868.Caffyns pointed to the new emissions-testing regime, the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure, which "created a scarcity of supply of new cars for most of our brands". The company held its annual dividend at 22.5p. Caffyns said it was cautious over its outlook due to predictions of single-digit fall in the UK new car market "Our balance sheet is appropriately funded and our freehold property portfolio is a source of stability. We remain confident in the longer-term prospects of the company and are ready to exploit future business opportunities," Chief Executive Simon Caffyn said. Elsewhere, Goldman Sachs upgraded advertising firm WPP to Buy from Neutral and downgraded events company Informa to Neutral from Buy. Meanwhile, sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion is holding its annual general meeting on Monday starting at 1300 BST. JD Sports is likely to be promoted to the FTSE 100 index from the FTSE 250 as part of the FTSE Russell index review changes to be announced on Wednesday. US President Donald Trump's decision to impose a 5% tariff on all Mexican imports from June 10 weighed on investor sentiment. Trump also said he has decided to end preferential trade treatment for India from June 5.The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.9%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is down 0.3%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 0.1%."Asian markets moved mostly lower overnight, European and US stocks are pointing to a softer open as concerns grow that new threats against Mexico and India, heaped on top of the US-China trade dispute could push the global economy into recession," said London Capital Group's Jasper Lawler.Chinese manufacturing expanded slightly in May for the third straight month, according to the Caixin China General Manufacturing Index released on Monday.Caixin reported its purchasing manager's index stood at 50.2 in May, the same as April. A figure over 50 indicates expansion. It said that manufacturers had seen an increase in new orders despite the fact that China is the midst of a trade war with the US.In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended sharply lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.4%, S&P 500 down 1.3% and Nasdaq Composite down 1.5%.The pound was quoted at USD1.2643 early Monday, up from USD1.2616 at the London equities close Friday.Trump praised Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage, talked up the prospect of a Brexit trade deal, rebuked London Mayor Sadiq Khan and denied making "bad" comments about the Duchess of Sussex as he set off for the UK.The US president said he expected his three-day state visit to be "very important" and "very interesting" as he left the White House on Sunday evening.Ahead of the visit, Trump called on the UK to leave the EU without a deal if Brussels refuses to meet its demands and urged the government to send Farage into the negotiations.The economic events calendar on Monday has manufacturing PMI readings from Italy, France, Germany, the eurozone and UK at 0845 BST, 0850 BST, 0855 BST, 0900 BST and 0930 BST respectively. The same for the US is due at 1445 BST.