LONDON MARKET PRE-OPEN: Galliford Try Rejects Bovis Offer For 2 Units

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening higher on Tuesday tracking gains in Asian equity markets overnight, with the UK and US markets having been closed on Monday for public holidays.In early UK company news, Galliford Try confirmed a press report that it has rejected an offer from FTSE 250 peer Bovis Homes for its housebuilding business, Amigo Holdings delivered a positive set of maiden annual earnings, and Provident Financial once again rebuffed Non-Standard Finance's advances. IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open up 34.37 points at 7,312.10. The blue chip index closed up 46.69 points, or 0.7%, at 7,277.73 on Friday. London markets were closed on Monday.Construction company Galliford Try confirmed its received a proposal from housebuilder Bovis Homes to acquire Galliford's Linden Homes and Partnerships & Regeneration divisions in exchange for new Bovis Homes shares.Galliford rejected the Bovis Homes advance, saying it believes the offer received does not fully value the Linden Homes and Partnerships & Regeneration divisions and is not in the interests of shareholders. Galliford added that it remains confident in its long-term prospects.In response, Bovis on Monday confirmed it had made an offer of GBP950 million, plus assumed debt, which was rejected and is no longer in discussions with Galliford Try. Under the proposal, first reported by Sky News at the weekend, the rump of Galliford would have remained an independent UK-listed company focused on construction. Sportswear retailer Sports Direct International on Monday said it has sold property at its Shirebrook distribution centre for GBP120.1 million. Sports Direct said it will take a 15-year lease on the property to continue to operate at Shirebrook. The company will use proceeds from the sale for working capital purposes. Subprime lender Provident Financial reiterated its view that the takeover offer from smaller peer Non-Standard Finance is "significantly flawed and value destructive", and urged shareholders to take no action in relation to the offer. This comes after Provident received the backing of shareholder M&G in its fight against Non-Standard. M&G holds a 1.7% stake in Provident."I am writing on behalf of M&G Investments to inform you that our current intention is to not accept NSF's offer for PFG in respect of our entire shareholding," Rupert Krefting, head of Corporate Finance & Stewardship at M&G said in a letter to Provident. Loans guarantor provider Amigo Holdings said it delivered strong maiden annual results after listing in July last year, against a "challenging external environment". For the financial year ended March 31, revenue was up 28% to GBP270.7 million from GBP210.8 million the year before, and pretax profit was up 67% To GBP111.0 million from GBP66.1 million last year. The company a proposed a final dividend of 7.45 pence, and a total annual dividend of 9.32p."We maintained a cautious attitude to credit risk during the year especially in the latter half due to the uncertainty from Brexit. Unfortunately, there is still no end in sight. Our attitude and outlook remain cautious," said Chair Stephan Wilcke.The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is up 0.8%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.6%.At a news conference in Tokyo on Monday, US President Donald Trump avoided remarks that could increase tensions about US trade issues with Japan and instead, praised the strong bilateral ties between the two countries, boosting investor sentiment.Trade issues also remained in investors' focus after Trump said that the US was "not ready" to make a trade deal with China."Asian markets climbed cautiously higher overnight in thin trading volumes after market closures in the US and the UK on Monday for public holidays. Trump's comment that the US was not ready to make a trade deal with China had little impact on the market. Investors are waiting for fresh cues as trade tensions and weaker economic data have driven stocks over the past few weeks. The markets are pausing for breath from the trade tensions story but this should change as we move towards the G20 where hopes of a resolution should intensify," said London Capital Group's Jasper Lawler. In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.4%, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both up 0.1%. Financial markets in the US were closed on Monday for Memorial Day. The economic calendar on Tuesday has UK mortgage approvals at 0930 BST and eurozone consumer confidence at 1000 BST. The pound was quoted at USD1.2675 early Tuesday, marginally lower than USD1.2687 at the London equities close Friday.Labour and the Conservatives' Brexit policies were dealt a hammer blow by voters in a terrible night for both parties in the European elections.The Brexit Party and the Liberal Democrats triumphed, but the scale of disaster for the main parties was laid bare as the final results for Great Britain were announced.The Tories secured just 9.1% of the vote - their worst ever national election share - while Labour finished on 14.1%, with voters split between the clear Brexit alternatives offered by Nigel Farage's new party and the pro-EU Liberal Democrats.Just four Conservatives were elected in England, Scotland and Wales, while the Brexit Party had 29 seats, overtaking the 24 MEPs that Farage's former party Ukip sent to the European Parliament in 2014. The Lib Dems, reduced to just a single MEP in 2014, were on 16 after their best ever European results.UK Prime Minister Theresa May said it was a "very disappointing night" for the Conservatives.