LONDON MARKET PRE-OPEN: Acacia Mining Reports Drop In Annual Earnings

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening higher on Monday, tracking gains in Asian markets, with the fourth quarter UK GDP reading to come in the morning.IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 39.92 points higher at 7,111.10. The blue chip index closed down 0.3%, or 22.40 points at 7,071.18 on Friday.In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 1.3%. Financial markets in China reopened after being closed for the Lunar New Year holiday last week. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.6%.Financial markets in Japan are closed for the National Foundation Day holiday.Acacia Mining early Monday reported a drop in annual revenue and forecast flat production for 2019. For 2018, revenue was down 13% to USD663.8 million from USD751.5 million last year. Annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation fell 14% to USD225.9 million from USD257.1 million the year before. Acacia reported 2018 gold sales of 520,380 ounces, down from 592,861 ounces in 2017, due to reduced operations at the Bulyanhulu mine and to stockpile processing at Buzwagi mine. For 2019, Acacia expects production of between 500,000 and 550,000 ounces of gold. The miner said it expects capital expenditure in a range of USD75 million to USD85 million for 2019, down from USD93 million last year. Acacia has been locked in a long-running dispute with the government of Tanzania which has banned exports of gold and copper concentrates from Tanzania.As such, the company has not recommended a dividend for 2018."I am pleased to report that during 2018 we successfully stabilised the business with our focus on operational performance across all three mines. We were able to return the company to free cash flow generation in the second quarter of the year, a trend which was sustained during the second half, ending the year with a net cash position of USD88 million. At the same time, we continued to demonstrate our long-term commitment to Tanzania and its mining industry, contributing over USD127 million in taxes and royalties, spending over USD273 million with local suppliers in Tanzania," said Interim Chief Executive Officer Peter Geleta. Warehouse property investor Tritax Big Box REIT said it raised GBP250 million in its open offer of shares at 130 pence each. The stock closed down 0.7% at 138.50p on Friday. As the open offer was oversubscribed, Tritax Big Box said no new shares were issued under a parallel placing, due to clawbacks. The proceeds from the fundraise will be used to acquire an 87% stake in commercial property developer db Symmetry, it said. Retailer Sports Direct International will not go ahead with its bid for troubled cafe chain Patisserie Holdings, just two days after signalling its intention to buy the group, the Financial Times reported Sunday.The FT said Sports Direct Chief Financial Officer Chris Wootton contacted Patisserie Holdings' administrators, KPMG, bemoaning the lack of information required to continue the bidding process. Sports Direct made an offer in excess of GBP15 million but was told it had to increase the offer by as much as GBP2 million, according to the newspaper.The economic calendar events calendar has UK GDP and industrial and manufacturing figures at 0930 GMT.The pound was flat against the dollar, quoted at USD1.2934 from USD1.2937 at the London equities close Friday."Kicking off with UK GDP this morning, the expectation is for economic growth to have completely stalled quarter on quarter. This comes just days after the Bank of England downwardly revised economic growth for the UK to just 1.2% across this year," said London Capital Group's Jasper Lawler.Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Theresa May has offered further talks with the opposition Labour party in an attempt to secure cross-party support for a Brexit deal.May questioned Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's key call for the UK to remain in a customs union with Brussels but offered concessions in other areas and said she wanted talks between Labour and Tory teams "as soon as possible".Her offer came as Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay prepared for talks with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier as the government stepped up efforts to secure changes to the Irish backstop measure in the Withdrawal Agreement.In her letter to Corbyn, responding to the conditions for a Brexit deal set out by the Labour leader, the prime minister said she wanted the Tory and Labour teams to consider "alternative arrangements" to the Irish backstop.In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.3%, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both ending 0.1% higher.Investors will look ahead to the next round of US-China trade talks to be held in Beijing later this week."Trade talks between the two largest economies continue to be the primary focus for investors, with the narrative around the success of them appearing to change week by week. The prospects for a deal now look very slim, with the best case scenario now looking like an extension of the deadline and a commitment to no more tariffs during that period," said Oanda senior market analyst Craig Erlam.