LONDON BRIEFING: Morrisons Lifted By Amazon Deal As Ocado Falls

LONDON (Alliance News) - Grocers Wm Morrison Supermarkets and Ocado topped and tailed the FTSE 250 at the open Monday, after releasing statements about their own partnership and a new one with Amazon.com for Morrisons.

Shares in Morrisons were up 5.1% after announcing a supply deal with the US online retailing giant, while those of online grocery specialist Ocado were down 5.6% after Morrisons and Ocado also revealed discussions to expand their own relationship, with Ocado seemingly left on the sidelines of the Amazon arrangements.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.7% at 6,052.00
FTSE 250: down 0.5% at 16,488.98
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 692.71
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Hang Seng: closed down 1.3% at 19,111.93
Nikkei 225: closed down 1.0% at 16,026.76
DJIA: closed down 0.3% at 16,639.97
S&P 500: closed down 0.2% at 1,948.05
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GBP: up at USD1.3907 (USD1.3863)
EUR: up at USD1.0958 (USD1.0931)

GOLD: up at USD1,230.75 per ounce (USD1,216.65)
OIL (Brent): down at USD35.48 a barrel (USD36.12)

(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
(all times in GMT)

09:30 UK Mortgage Approvals, Net Lending, Consumer Credit, M4 Money Supply
10:00 EU Consumer Price Index Preliminary
10:00 Italy Consumer Price Index Preliminary
11:00 Ireland Retail Sales
13:30 Canada Industrial Product and Raw Material prices
13:30 Canada Current Account
14:45 US Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index
15:00 US Pending Home Sales
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The G20 meeting of finance ministers said the global economic recovery has continued but remains "uneven", adding the risk of Britain leaving the European Union is among the downside risks causing concern. Following a meeting in Shanghai, the ministers said the global economic recovery has continued and said the "magnitude" of recent volatility in markets had not reflected "underlying fundamentals" of the global economy. They expect "activity to continue to expand at a moderate pace in most advanced economies, and growth in key emerging market economies remains strong." However, the G20 said the downside risks threatening recovery have continued, including volatile capital flows, a large drop in commodity prices, escalated geopolitical tensions worldwide, and the "shock" of Britain's potential exit from the EU.
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Uncertainty over the make-up of the next government was dominant in Ireland as the general election count continued Sunday. With 109 seats out of 158 filled, governing Fine Gael was on course to be slightly ahead of opposition Fianna Fail, despite suffering major losses. Speculation shifted from possible coalitions to talk of fresh elections, as a grand coalition between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail looked unlikely.
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A clear majority of Swiss voters rejected on Sunday a tough proposal to expel all delinquent foreigners, spelling a defeat for the plan's key backer, the right-wing People's Party. If passed, the measure would have seen extraditions for foreigners, without judicial review, for minor and serious crimes, including false testimony and possession of drugs. According to the final vote count, 59% opposed the plan, which had come to be seen as a test of the Swiss legal and political system.
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Iran's reformists have won all of Tehran's 30 seats in parliament, according to preliminary results for Friday's elections, marking a major boost for President Hassan Rowhani. "With your votes you have made possible a new era, and I bow to you in reverence," Rowhani wrote on his Twitter page. It remains to be seen now how the tally will break down for the seats outside the capital. The vote count will be complete late Sunday or Monday at the latest, Iran's Interior ministry said.
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Russia and the Syrian opposition on Sunday traded accusations of breaches of Syria's truce agreement, but the country remained largely calm on the second day of the partial ceasefire. Ahmed Ramadan, a spokesman for the opposition National Coalition, said government forces had breached the Russian- and US-brokered ceasefire in 36 areas. Russian forces were guilty of two breaches, including eight air raids on a village near the central city of Hama, Ramadan said.
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Hillary Clinton claimed victory Saturday in the Democratic primary in the southern US state of South Carolina. With results in for all 46 counties, the former US secretary of state took 73.5% of ballots, over her rival Bernie Sanders on 26%, the state's board of elections said. It was Clinton's third win in four statewide contests in the race to become the Democratic Party's nominee to run for president in November.
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Germany's retail sales increased at a faster-than-expected pace at the start of the year, preliminary figures from Destatis showed. Retail sales rose a seasonally and calendar-adjusted 0.7% month-over-month in January, exceeding economists' expectations for a 0.3% climb. It was also slightly faster than the 0.6% gain December. This also marked the third consecutive monthly rise.
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Japan's housing starts increased unexpectedly at the beginning of the year, after falling in the previous month, data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism showed. Housing starts rose 0.2% year-over-year in January, confounding economists' expectations for a 0.3% drop. In December, it had fallen 1.3%. The number of annualized housing starts grew to 873,000 in January from 860,000 in the preceding month. It was expected to rise to 862,000.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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GOLDMAN RAISES SKY TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - PRICE TARGET 1271 (1250) PENCE
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TRADERS: GOLDMAN CUTS ITV TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY')
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BERNSTEIN CUTS HSBC TO 'UNDERPERFORM' ('MP') - PRICE TARGET 380 (550) PENCE
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BERENBERG INITIATES ANTOFAGASTA WITH 'SELL' - TARGET 410 PENCE
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TRADERS: JEFFERIES RAISES GO-AHEAD GROUP TO 'BUY' ('HOLD')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Distribution and outsourcing company Bunzl said its pretax profit and revenue grew in 2015, mainly through the acquisitions it has made, and as it reported yet more bolt-on deals. The FTSE 100-listed group said pretax profit rose 7.0% to GBP322.7 million from GBP299.8 million in 2014, as revenue increased 5.0% to GBP6.49 billion from GBP6.16 billion and operating margin improved 10 basis points to 7.0%. Bunzl will pay a final dividend of 26.25 pence, taking its total dividend up to 38.0p per share, a 7.0% rise year-on-year. Bunzl also announced another two acquisitions, of Earthwise Bag Co, a reusable bags supplier based in California, and Bursa Pazari Insaat Sanayi ve Ticaret AS, a Turkish food packaging company company.
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Barclays said it is continuing to evaluate the "strategic options" for its shareholding in Barclays Africa Group. The London-listed banking group said it will update the market on its plans for Barclays Africa Group on Tuesday, when Barclays is due to report annual results for 2015. The bank's update comes after the Financial Times reported on Friday that Barclays has decided to exit its African operations. Barclays has a 62.3% stake in Barclays Africa.
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Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline is gearing up to start a formal search to find its new chief executive as Andrew Witty's term at the helm enters its final stages, the Financial Times reported. Philip Hampton, Glaxo's chairman, has already consulted with large shareholders on the succession plan on an informal basis, the FT said, citing people involved in the talks, and it is understood a more intensive process will take place in coming months.
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Sports Direct International founder Mike Ashley is facing fresh calls from investors to shake up the board of the retailer and replace its chairman, the Financial Times reported. Among the gripes is that the lack of experience of Chairman Keith Hellawell in sporting goods retailing is holding back the business as trading conditions have weakened, the FT said. The shareholders claim Hellawell, who has been chairman since 2009, has failed to challenge Ashley on strategy and expansion plans for Sports Direct, and this has been partly responsible for the fall in its share price.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Wm Morrison Supermarkets said it has entered a new supply agreement with US online retail giant Amazon.com and has agreed new terms in principle with online grocery delivery company Ocado Group. Morrisons said it has struck a new supply agreement with Amazon, through which its products will be made available to Amazon Prime and Amazon Pantry, Amazon's food service, customers. Morrisons will provide a wholesale supply services to Amazon, allowing customers of Amazon to access a wide range of Morrisons ambient, fresh and frozen products. Amazon Pantry currently provides only packaged food. In addition, Morrisons has been in talks with Ocado to grow its Morrisons.com online grocery business and the pair have now reached an agreement in principle under which Morrisons will take space at Ocado's new Customer Fulfilment Centre in Erith and Ocado will deliver a "stock pick" service to Morrisons.
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Engineer Senior said pretax profit sank in 2015 due to mixed aerospace market conditions, though revenue increased and the group pushed up its dividend payout. The FTSE 250-listed company said pretax profit fell 21% to GBP63.8 million in 2015 from GBP80.6 million the prior year, as margins were hit in its aerospace operations by maturing, older jet programmes and volume reductions. Senior said the near-term outlook for the company looks challenging, but said it remains confident on its medium-term prospects. It will pay a final dividend of 4.36 pence per share, taking its total dividend up to 6.20p, a 10% rise year-on-year.
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Hiscox said it will look to retain more of its earnings to fund growth, as the specialty insurer reduced its special dividend and reported lower annual pretax profit. Hiscox said it made a GBP216.1 million pretax profit in 2015, down from GBP231.1 million the prior year, coming a touch above company-compiled consensus forecasts of a GBP214.2 million pretax profit. The insurer lifted its ordinary dividend per share to 24.0 pence from 22.5p, and lowered its special dividend to 16.0p from 45.0p the prior year, taking the total payment to 40.0p. That was above analyst expectations for a 38.5p total dividend for the year.
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Keller Group said it has increased its dividend after reporting a substantial rise in profit in 2015, and said its order book at the end of the year is considerably higher than at the end of 2014. The ground engineering firm said its pretax profit in 2015 rose to GBP56.3 million from GBP28.2 million in 2014, with profit before exceptional items also experiencing a lift to GBP95.7 million from GBP85.1 million. Keller increased its dividend for the year by 7.5% to 27.1 pence per share from the 25.2 pence per share paid in 2014.
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Home Retail Group said it has completed the disposal of its Homebase DIY business to Australia's Wesfarmers, leaving the group focused on the competing bids tabled for the rest of the company.
Homebase has been sold to Wesfarmers for GBP340.0 million, with GBP200.0 million of the proceeds to be returned to Home Retail shareholders.
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Security services company G4S late on Friday said it has started the process of selling its UK Children's Services business, part of which was recently subject to controversy over the alleged treatment of children held at one of the secure units it runs. The company said the sale comprises 13 children's homes and contracts to manage two Secure Training Centres in Medway in Kent and Oakhill in Buckinghamshire. The STCs house 12-to-17-year-olds who have been sentenced to or remanded in custody.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Alphabet, Google's parent company, could gain at least USD3.5 billion in new tax benefits if Intel succeeds in its international tax dispute with the Internal Revenue Service, an amount that exceeds Google's entire 2015 tax cost, the Wall Street Journal reported. The report noted that the case, which the IRS appealed to the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals last week, is being closely watched in the tech industry and elsewhere. At least 20 companies, including Microsoft and eBay, have disclosed they're monitoring the outcome of the case involving share-based compensation. However, the case's uncertainty has kept them from quantifying the potential benefits.
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Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway reported fourth quarter net earnings of USD5.478 billion or USD3,333 per Class A share, higher than the USD4.155 billion or USD2,529 per Class A share for the year-ago quarter. Total revenue for the quarter to USD51.82 billion from USD48.259 billion in the same quarter last year.
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Monday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Resource Holdings
Formation Group
Polemos
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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