(Alliance News) - AstraZeneca said Monday it has decided to close the phase 3 trial of Epanova due to its low likelihood of demonstrating a benefit to patients with mixed dyslipidaemia.
The drug maker said it is reviewing the USD533 million intangible value of Epanova and will write down USD100 million in inventories.
Any impairment in intangible value will be traded as a non-core item in the results for the fourth quarter of 2019, but the inventory write-down will impact core fourth-quarter earnings, it said.
More positively, Astra separately said the US Food & Drug Administration has granted priority review for Lynparza in combination with bevacizumab for patients with advanced ovarian cancer.
Astra shares were down 0.4% early Monday.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.3% at 7,607.15
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Hang Seng: up 0.9% at 28,895.85
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.5% at 23,850.57
DJIA: closed down 133.13 points, 0.5%, at 28,823.77
S&P 500: closed down 0.3% at 3,265.35
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GBP: down at USD1.3009 (USD1.3061)
EUR: firm at USD1.1127 (USD1.1112)
Gold: down at USD1,552.84 per ounce (USD1,559.30)
Oil (Brent): down at USD64.97 a barrel (USD65.40)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Monday's Key Economic Events still to come
Japan Coming of Age Day (Adult's Day) holiday. Financial markets closed.
0930 GMT UK trade
0930 GMT UK index of production
0930 GMT UK monthly GDP estimates
1230 GMT UK NIESR monthly GDP tracker
1000 EST US Employment Trends Index
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Iran has signalled it favours a de-escalation after 10 days of heightened tensions with the US during which both sides fired missiles and Tehran accidentally shot down a passenger aircraft. Security was stepped up in Iran's capital Sunday after a vigil the previous night for those killed in the air disaster turned into an angry protest and police temporarily arrested the British ambassador for being there. US President Donald Trump warned Iran against harming demonstrators and against a repeat of a deadly crackdown against rallies in November sparked by a fuel price hike. US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, however, said Trump was still willing to "sit down and discuss without precondition a new way forward" with Iran, although Tehran has steadfastly refused to hold talks with Washington unless it lifts sanctions first. In a meeting between Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and the visiting emir of Qatar, both sides agreed de-escalation is the "only solution" to the regional crisis, the Qatari ruler said.
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Brexit uncertainty continues to drag on the investment plans of UK financial services firms despite expectations of a return to growth in the coming months, a new study suggests. Profits in the sector are set to "stabilise", research by the CBI and PwC among almost 100 companies indicated. Optimism rose just before the UK general election, at the fastest pace since the summer of 2015, said the report. Improvement was driven by investment management, insurance broking and general insurance, but was flat in banks and building societies, said the CBI.
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Retailers in the UK again felt the brunt of consumer uncertainty, with numbers on Monday showing yet another footfall decline in December, despite the pivotal Black Friday promotional spell falling during the period. In the five weeks from November 24 to December 28, footfall across retail destinations in the UK fell by 2.5% from last year, data from the Springboard Footfall Monitor & Insights showed. This was despite the Black Friday weekend, when retailers both on the high street and online offer a flurry of promotional discounts, occurring on November 29. The sales follow the US's Thanksgiving Day holiday, which in 2019 came later than normal.
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Under-pressure Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Sunday said he has decided the date of a snap general election but cannot announce it until he has consulted his cabinet. "I have made a decision but there is some unfinished business to do, which I want to get done, and also there is some respect and protocol around this and I would like to speak to the cabinet and to leaders of the opposition," Varadkar told Irish national broadcaster RTE. Varadkar said his cabinet will meet on Tuesday and parliament will resume on Wednesday as scheduled. His centre-right Fine Gael minority government has relied on the support of the opposition Fianna Fail under a confidence-and-supply deal.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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JPMORGAN RAISES RYANAIR TO 'NEUTRAL' (UNDERWEIGHT) - PRICE TARGET 15 (11.5) EUR
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GOLDMAN RAISES HALMA TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 2300 (1900) PENCE
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JPMORGAN RAISES AVAST TO 'OVERWEIGHT' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 550 (400) PENCE
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JPMORGAN CUTS HOMESERVE TO 'NEUTRAL' ('OVERWEIGHT') - TARGET 1370 (1350) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Betting shop William Hill said adjusted operating profit is expected to be in the range of GBP143 million to GBP148 million, which it said is ahead of market and management expectations. The company attributed this to favourable sporting results through to the end of 2019. In 2018, adjusted operating profit came in at GBP266.8 million. In addition, the US business continued to generate strong growth during the fourth quarter, William Hill said, driven by wagering growth and disciplined investment. The company now expects to break even for the US business overall in 2019, which is a better performance than previously guided. William Hill said its high street Retail business generated operating profit above the guided range of GBP50 million to GBP70 million. William Hill also said Chief Financial Officer Ruth Prior intends to step down from the role and join Element Materials Technology as its CFO. William Hill has started the search to find a new CFO and said Prior's departure date will be determined in due course.
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Savills said it delivered an annual performance which reflects both the "robustness and geographic diversity" of its market position. The estate agent said it has shown "considerable resilience" during a year in which it was exposed to significant challenges in the UK, due to uncertainty over Brexit and a general election, and in Hong Kong, which saw violent clashes between police and protestors. "The strength of Savill's positions in both markets contributed to a resilient performance through increased market share, despite lower volumes of activity generally," the company said. Due to an "excellent" performance in the UK, significant growth in the US and a strong performance from Savills Investment Management, Savills said it expects underlying results for 2019 to be at the upper end of expectations.
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Assura said it has continued to make strong progress in the third quarter. The Warrington, Cheshire-based firm said it has a strong pipeline of opportunities worth GBP252 million including 13 developments on site. "With the new government enshrining in law increased funding for the National Health Service and taking forward the Health Infrastructure Plan, better primary care facilities for patients, staff and services are at the heart of the agenda. In this context, Assura is well positioned to deliver high-quality assets and value for money for the NHS," said CEO Jonathan Murphy.
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LondonMetric Property said it sold an office park in Worcester for GBP6.2 million. The property investor said the disposal price is 4.3% above acquisition cost and 2.5% above book value.
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COMPANIES - OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Flybe, Europe's largest regional airline, is at risk of collapse, according to a press report. The airline operates more UK domestic flights than any other, and is reportedly in talks over potential emergency financing after suffering rising losses, Sky News reported. It reported that Flybe has been holding talks with the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and the Department for Transport on whether the UK government could provide or facilitate any emergency financing to the company. Last February, the airline was bought by a consortium led by Virgin Atlantic following poor financial results. Connect Airways, which consists of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Air and Cyrus Capital, paid GBP2.2 million for Flybe's assets and operations.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Senior executives at Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor have sped up secret contingency planning for a potential split from French partner Renault, the Financial Times reported. According to the FT, the divorce plans have been ramped up since the escape of former chief executive Carlos Ghosn from Japan to Lebanon. The plans include war-gaming a complete divide in the engineering and manufacturing functions and changes to Nissan's board, the newspaper reported citing sources.
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Contempt for regulators, airlines and their own colleagues coupled with a casual approach to safety: a series of emails by Boeing employees paint an unflattering portrait of a company culture of "arrogance" imbued with a fixation on cost-cutting. The emails underscore the task awaiting incoming CEO David Calhoun when he takes the company's reins on Monday, under intense pressure to restore public confidence – and that of aviation regulators worldwide – after two fatal crashes of the 737 MAX aircraft. The emails were contained in some 100 pages of documents dated between 2013 and 2018 and transmitted to US lawmakers by the Seattle-based aviation giant. The messages were seen by AFP after their release Thursday.
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Monday's Shareholder Meetings
no events scheduled
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Astrazeneca (AZN)
Halma (HLMA)