LONDON BRIEFING: Coca-Cola HBC And Standard Life Impress With Results

LONDON (Alliance News) - Bottler Coca-Cola HBC and investment manager Standard Life were leading a firm market early Friday, after providing solid sets of 2015 results.

Coca-Cola HBC shares were up 4.7% and Standard Life shares up 3.5%.

In the FTSE 250, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels was down 6.9% after slashing its dividend for 2015 amid a huge drop in profit.

The week ends with London's focus squarely on the 28 EU leaders meeting for a second day, starting at 1000 GMT, to hash out a deal to keep the UK in the group.

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 5,989.37
FTSE 250: up 0.1% at 16,192.17
AIM ALL-SHARE: flat at 682.64
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Hang Seng: closed down 0.4% at 19,285.50
Nikkei 225: closed down 1.4% at 15,967.17
DJIA: closed down 0.3% at 16,413.43
S&P 500: closed down 0.5% at 1,917.83
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GBP: flat at USD1.4331 (USD1.4331)
EUR: up at USD1.1119 (USD1.1088)

GOLD: up at USD1,223.90 per ounce (USD1,217.39)
OIL (Brent): flat at USD34.15 a barrel (USD34.34)

(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Friday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in GMT)

EU European Council meeting

09:30 UK Retail Sales
09:30 UK Public Sector Net Borrowing
13:00 US FOMC Member Mester speech
13:30 US Consumer Price Index
13:30 Canada Retail Sales
13:30 Canada Consumer Price Index
14:30 UK Conference Board Leading Economic Index
15:00 EU Consumer Confidence Preliminary
18:00 US Baker Hughes US Oil Rig Count
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EU leaders ended their first day of talks without breakthrough on a British reform deal, leaving Prime Minister David Cameron to haggle out details with top EU officials overnight in the hope of reaching agreement later Friday. The reforms are intended to convince Britons that they should vote for their country to remain in the EU in a referendum that is widely expected to take place this year. The leaders' initial round of discussion yielded some progress, said EU President Donald Tusk, while adding that "a lot still remains to be done." The negotiations were paused after two hours to address the other key summit issue, Europe's migration crisis. The 28 leaders are expected to reconvene at 11 am (1000 GMT) on Friday in a second attempt to hash out a deal for Britain, EU diplomats said.
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Saudi Arabia is "not prepared" to cut oil production, its foreign minister said on Thursday, according to AFP. Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar and Venezuela said they will keep output unchanged if Iran and Iraq agree to do the same. "If other producers want to limit or agree to a freeze in terms of additional production that may have an impact on the market but Saudi Arabia is not prepared to cut production," Adel al-Jubeir told AFP.
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British households perceived that the value of their home increased in February, with the corresponding index rising to the highest level in sixteen months, survey figures from Markit Economics and Knight Frank showed. The Knight Frank/Markit House Price Sentiment Index climbed to 59.6 in February from 58.7 in the previous month. A reading above 50 signals a rise in house prices, while a figure below 50 indicates a decline. This marked the thirty-fifth successive month of the index remaining above 50.
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Germany's producer prices declined at a faster-than-expected pace in January, figures from Destatis showed. The producer price index slid 2.4% year-over-year in January, exceeding economists' expectations for a 2.0% drop. It was slightly faster than the 2.3% fall in December. Prices have been falling since August 2013. Energy prices alone dipped 7.3% in January from a year ago, as prices of petroleum products plunged by 11.6%. Excluding energy, producer prices dropped 0.6% annually in January and edged down by 0.1% from the preceding month.
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Japan's all industry activity decreased for the second straight month in December, and at a faster-than-expected pace, figures from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed. The all industry activity index slid a seasonally adjusted 0.9% month-over-month in December, exceeding economists' expectations for a 0.3% drop. In November, the measure had fallen 1.1%, which was revised from a 1.1% decline reported earlier.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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JPMORGAN CUTS ASTRAZENECA PRICE TARGET TO 3900 (4500) PENCE - 'NEUTRAL'
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JPMORGAN RAISES GLAXOSMITHKLINE PRICE TARGET TO 1470 (1390) PENCE - 'NEUTRAL'
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GOLDMAN CUTS HIKMA PHARMACEUTICAL PRICE TARGET TO 2590 (2740) PENCE - 'BUY'
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Cantor Ups Tullow Oil To Hold From Sell, Cuts Target To 163p From 176p
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Coca-Cola HBC reported growth in profit in 2015 as volumes increased in all of the markets in which it operates, but revenue continued to be hit by unfavourable movements in foreign exchange rates. The soft drinks bottling company made a pretax profit of EUR357.1 million in 2015, up from EUR352.0 million in 2014, despite net sales revenue slipping to EUR6.35 billion from EUR6.51 billion. Coca-Cola HBC said volume grew 2.6% in the full year, following a continuation of strong underlying trends into the fourth quarter, with volume growth in each of the established, developing and emerging markets categories. The company will pay a dividend of EUR0.40 per share, which is an 11% increase on 2014.
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Standard Life reported higher operating profit before tax in 2015, as stronger fee-based revenue more than offset a fall in spread/risk margin business. The Edinburgh-based firm, which provides pensions, savings, insurance and investments products, said operating profit before tax from continuing operations amounted to GBP665 million in 2015, up from GBP608 million in 2014, and ahead of analyst forecasts of GBP616 million. The FTSE 100 constituent lifted its dividend for the year to 18.36 pence per share from 17.03p. Analysts had forecast an annual dividend of 18.32p.
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Drugmaker AstraZeneca said the European Commission has granted its Zurampic product authorisation for gout treatment in the European Union and said it has secured marketing approval for its Brilique product. The EC has approved Zurampic in combination with a xanthine oxidase inhibitor for the treatment of hyperuricemia in adult in adults with gout. In addition, AstraZeneca said it has secured marketing approval in the European Union for its Brilique drug for the treatment of patients with a history of heart attacks.
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Telecommunications giant Vodafone Group said it has raised a total of GBP2.88 billion through the issue of convertible bonds, which it had announced on Thursday. The bonds will be issued in two tranches, one with an 18-month maturity and 1.5% coupon and the other with a three-year maturity and 2.0% coupon. The bonds will be convertible into ordinary shares representing around 5.0% of the company's current share capital, and it will hedge its exposure to share price movements via an option strategy. The initial conversion price for the bonds will be 217.30 pence per share, Vodafone's closing price on Wednesday.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Millennium & Copthorne Hotels slashed its dividend for 2015 after suffering a drop in profit, despite revenue benefiting from favourable movements in foreign exchange rates. The hotel operator reported a 42% drop in pretax profit to GBP109 million in 2015 from GBP188 million in 2014, despite revenue growing 2.5% to GBP847 million from GBP826 million, leading it to slash its total dividend to 6.42 pence from 13.59p. Millennium & Copthorne said the fall in profit was because of a GBP43 million net charge as a GBP33 million net revaluation gain on investment properties failed to fully offset a GBP76 million impairment loss. The company had warned last Friday it would be making the charge.
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Industrial property investor SEGRO reported a slight drop in revenue for 2015 due to a poor performance in Germany, but raised its dividend for the year on the back of an increase in pretax profit. SEGRO said its revenue was down to GBP248.5 million, from GBP290.0 million in 2014, after its revenue from Germany dropped to GBP17.7 million from GBP55.8 million the previous year. SEGRO raised its final dividend by 3.9% to 10.60 pence from 10.20p, giving a full-year payout of 15.6p, up from 15.1p.
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CLS Holdings said it has struck a deal to sell a mixed-use property in Sweden for SEK590.0 million, or around GBP48.8 million. The property investor has sold the Vänerparken property in Vänersborg to Bengt Linden, a privately-owned real estate company.
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Plastic and fibre products company Essentra said its pretax profit was dragged lower by higher one-off, acquisition-related costs in 2015 and by the tough oil and gas environment, as its other divisions all performed well. Essentra said its pretax profit for the year to the end of December fell to GBP90.4 million from GBP99.7 million, primarily due to one-off write-offs which hit its operating margin. These mostly related to the acquisition of Clondalkin Packaging and subsequent site rationalisation measures. Essentra will pay a final dividend of 14.4 pence per share, up from 12.6p a year earlier, pushing its total dividend for the year to 20.7p, up 13%.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Oil and gas producer Gulf Keystone Petroleum said the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq has authorised a USD15.0 million gross payment to the company. The payment is being made on the basis of the monthly, contractual revenue entitlement for Gulf Keystone under its Shaikan production sharing contract for crude oil exports from the Shaiken project in the Kurdistan. Gulf Keystone said USD5.8 million of the payment falls under the ongoing contract, with a further USD9.2 million being paid towards the recovery of arrears.
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LSL Property Services said it has bought a 65% stake in Group First for GBP9.1 million in cash. Half the consideration will paid upfront, with the rest to be paid during 2017, LSL said. The deal also includes put and call options provisions which would allow LSL to acquire the remainder of the business if exercised. Group First is a mortgage and protection brokerage services provider which runs the Mortgages First Ltd and Insurance First Brokers Ltd businesses.
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Digital media and technology company Milestone Group said its Nexstar joint venture with Black Cactus Holdings has launched a new music streaming platform called MusicRoo. The platform has been developed by Black Cactus and will gather music content from a number of suppliers, while allowing users to buy music from its library. Milestone also said it will issue 18.01 million shares at 1.0 pence per share to raise GBP180,100, to be used for general working capital purposes.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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German insurer Allianz Group reported that its net income attributable shareholders for the fourth-quarter rose 16% to EUR1.42 billion from the previous year's EUR1.22 billion, with earnings per share improving 17% to EUR3.12 from EUR2.67 in the previous year. The company said it looks to generate EUR10.5 billion in operating profit in 2016, plus or minus EUR500 million. For 2015, Allianz will propose a dividend of EUR7.30 per share, an increase of 6.6% over 2014.
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French media company Vivendi reported full-year 2015 earnings of EUR1.932 billion or EUR1.42 per share, down from EUR4.744 billion or EUR3.52 per share in 2014. Revenue for the quarter increased to EUR10.762 billion from EUR10.089 billion last year.
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Apple is getting more time to argue against a court order that would force it to unlock an iPhone used by one of the suspects in the San Bernardino, California, terror attack, according to Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter. The company's response in court will be due February 26 instead of Tuesday, the report said. The federal magistrate who on February 16 granted the Justice Department's request for an order forcing Apple to help the FBI had given the company five business days to oppose her order.
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Friday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (re Roxane Laboratories acquisition)
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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