(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening marginally higher on Tuesday as investors continue to weigh up the implications of last week's partial trade agreement between the US and China.
In early company news, Helios Towers revealed its IPO price, giving the African mobile phone masts operator a GBP1 billion market cap. Housebuilder Bellway raised its dividend after a robust set of annual results. Fund manager Schroders reported a rise in assets under management in the third quarter.
IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 4.25 points higher at 7,217.70. The London blue-chip index closed down 33.63 points, or 0.5%, at 7,213.45 on Monday.
The announcement of a "phase one" trade deal between the US and China last week had enthused investors late Friday, but the lack of details since then has curbed sentiment.
Helios Towers set its initial public offering price at 115 pence as it completes its listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. At that IPO price, Helios has an equity value of GBP1.15 billion, ranking it among the biggest IPOs of 2019 in London, behind Airtel Africa, Network International, Trainline, and Finablr.
Helios will use the initial public offering proceeds to foster growth through the construction and acquisition of new sites.
Helios Towers shares start conditional dealings on Tuesday, with unconditional dealings to commence on Friday.
Kash Pandya, chief executive of Helios Towers said: "Today marks the start of the next exciting chapter in Helios Towers' story, backed by fresh capital and new investors. We look forward to working with our high-quality institutional shareholder base as we seek to leverage the compelling opportunities in our chosen markets. More broadly, I hope this signifies our commitment to spreading mobile infrastructure across Sub-Saharan Africa whilst also highlighting the compelling investment opportunity throughout the continent."
Bellway said it put in a solid performance in financial 2019 and is well placed to deliver long-term volume growth and value for shareholders.
For the financial year ended July 31, revenue rose 8.6% to GBP3.21 billion from GBP2.96 billion in financial 2018. Pretax profit rose 3.4% to GBP662.6 million from GBP641.1 million the year before.
Bellway said financial 2019 was a "successful year" with a record number of housing completions at 10,892 homes, up 5.7% from 10,307 homes last year.
Bellway raised its total dividend 5.2% to 150.4 pence from 143.0p last year.
The midcap housebuilder said trading in the first nine weeks of the new financial year, has remained robust, with 183 reservations per week - an increase of 4.0% from the same period last year.
CEO Jason Honeyman said: "The board is mindful that the uncertainty surrounding 'Brexit' could pose a threat to consumer confidence. Assuming market conditions remain favourable, the strong order book, together with additional, considered investment in land and work in progress, should enable Bellway to deliver further, yet more moderate volume growth in the year ahead.
"Also in the new financial year, the one-off benefit to the operating margin from Nine Elms will not be repeated and in addition, in the absence of house price inflation, industrywide build cost pressures will continue to have a moderating effect. As a result of these combined influences, the reduction to a consistent, underlying operating margin will be more pronounced."
Fund manager Schroders reported assets under management at September 30 of GBP450.8 billion, up 11% from GBP407.2 billion at January 1.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2631 early Tuesday, up from USD1.2584 at the London equities close Monday.
The UK government has rejected claims that a Brexit deal cannot be negotiated in time for a crucial EU summit after the Finnish prime minister said "more time" is needed.
Boris Johnson is in a race against the clock to secure a fresh agreement for the meeting of European leaders starting in Brussels on Thursday.
After meeting the European Council's president-elect, Charles Michel, Finland's Antti Rinne said there was "no time" for the UK prime minister to achieve an agreement.
But Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick rejected the remarks, stressing a "great deal" of progress had been made and negotiators are working "very intensively".
Rinne's comments came as negotiators stepped up efforts to work out a way to break the deadlock over the Irish backstop, the contingency measure to prevent a hard border on the island.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 1.9%. Financial markets in Japan reopened on Tuesday after being closed on Monday for the Health & Sports Day public Holiday. In China, the Shanghai Composite is down 0.7%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is down 0.3%.
The economic events calendar Tuesday has UK unemployment data at 0930 BST.
The latest UK grocery market share figures from Kantar will be released at 0800 BST on Tuesday.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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Schroders (SDR)
Bellway (BWY)