LONDON MARKET PRE-OPEN: Mulberry To Take Hit From House Of Fraser Woes

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening marginally lower on Monday with investor focus on the resumption of talks between the US and China, while fashion firm Mulberry Group issued a profit warning due to the collapse of House of Fraser. IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 4.19 points lower at 7,554.40. The blue chip index closed flat at 7,558.59 on Friday. Last week, the Wall Street Journal said Chinese and US negotiators were drawing up a road map for talks to try to end their trade impasse.Citing officials in both nations, the Journal indicated the plan would culminate in planned meetings between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at multilateral summits in November. The report came after China accepted an invitation from the US for a new round of trade talks to be held on Tuesday and Wednesday. In early UK corporate news, United Arab Emirates-focused healthcare provider NMC Health said the first half of 2018 saw strong organic growth supported by complementary acquisitions.For the half year to the end of June, revenue rose 20% to USD932.0 million from USD775.2 million the year before. Pretax profit increased 20% to USD118.7 million from USD99.3 million last year. NMC declared no interim dividend but said any dividend for the 2018 financial year will be paid fully as a final dividend."Continued strong demand for NMC's healthcare services, combined with a healthy ramp-up at key facilities, particularly NMC Royal, translate into a strong outlook for the second half. This positive view is further bolstered by bolt-on acquisitions completed after the first half. Focused largely on the Multi-Specialty vertical, the acquisitions are mainly based out of the UAE," NMC said. Luxury handbag maker Mulberry Group said its annual profit could be lower due to challenging market conditions in the UK and the woes of House of Fraser.Earlier this month, the beleaguered department store chain was acquired by Mike Ashley's Sports Direct International. Like many UK high street peers, House of Fraser has been hurt by soaring costs, decreased footfall, and falling consumer spending power.Mulberry operates 21 concessions within House of Fraser stores across the UK, employing 88 workers. Following a review of debtor balances, fixed assets and potential costs resulting from potential restructuring, Mulberry said it is expecting to provide GBP3 million in exceptional costs in the results for the six months to September 30. "Since the group reported in June 2018, the UK market has continued to remain challenging and sales in House of Fraser stores have been particularly affected," Mulberry said. "If these sales trends in the UK continue into the key trading period of the second half of the financial year, the group's profit for the whole year will be materially reduced."Outside the UK, trading is broadly in line with management's expectations, Mulberry said. Oilfield services firm John Wood Group said it has been awarded a new six-year contract with oil major Royal Dutch Shell to provide asset management services to the Malampaya deepwater gas-to-power project in the Philippines.John Wood said it will provide maintenance services, modifications and shutdown support as part of the contract, which covers Shell's onshore facilities in Batangas and offshore assets in the Malampaya field, near Palawan Island. "This win is a powerful example of a revenue synergy achieved by the combination of Amec Foster Wheeler and Wood Group's broad capabilities and depth of experience. As Wood, we bring together our successful track record and local knowledge developed from working on these offshore assets and onshore gas plant, and our strong global operations and maintenance expertise," said Chief Executive Robin Watson. Sterling was firm quoted at USD1.2742 early Monday against USD1.2733 at the London equities close on Friday.In early economic news, UK house prices dropped in August as more sellers entered the market during summer holiday season, property website Rightmove said.Average asking prices decreased 2.3% in August from July. On a yearly basis, house prices increased 1.1% annually to GBP301,973. In London, house prices plunged 3.1% on month in August.Ahead this week, on Friday, US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will make his first address at the central bank's annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.4%, S&P 500 up 0.3% and Nasdaq Composite up 0.1%.The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.3%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is down 0.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.7%.