LONDON MARKET PRE-OPEN: Sports Direct Offers To Rescue Debenhams

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening in the red on Monday tracking Asian equity markets lower despite better-than-expected jobs data in the US on Friday and a report of progress in trade negotiations between the US and China.In early company news, Sports Direct International offered to underwrite a GBP150 million rights issue for Debenhams, and Indivior reported positive findings from a drug study. IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 17.87 points lower at 7,429.00. The blue-chip index closed up 44.93 points, or 0.6%, at 7,446.87 on Friday.The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.2%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is down 0.7%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.1%.Financial markets in China and Hong Kong reopened on Monday after being closed for the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday on Friday.Chinese official broadcaster CCTV reported that there was "new progress" in trade talks that concluded in Washington on Friday.Sports Direct International said it seeks to "constructively engage" with the Debenhams board and has made a proposal to Debenhams under which the sportswear retailer would underwrite a GBP150 million pre-emptive equity issuance to existing Debenhams shareholders.Sports Direct said the equity issuance, which would form part of a comprehensive refinancing of Debenhams, is subject to a number of conditions, which Sports Direct believes should be deliverable with the co-operation of Debenhams and its existing lenders.Sports Direct said that this includes the appointment of Mike Ashley, the founder and chief executive of Sports Direct, as Debenhams' CEO and Debenhams' lenders agreeing to write-off GBP148 million of Debenhams debt.Sports Direct added that its 5 pence per share takeover bid for Debenhams remains on the table. Debenhams shares closed Friday at 2.04p.Drugmaker Indivior reported results of a new study which showed injecting opioid users may benefit from a higher maintenance dose of its Sublocade treatment, a once-monthly injection for the treatment of moderate to severe opioid use disorder.Indivior said injecting opioid users treated with the Sublocade maintenance dose regimen of 300 milligrams remained in treatment longer and had a higher study completion rate than those treated with the 100 milligram maintenance dose.Keywords Studios said it delivered a strong annual performance amid further expansion of new and existing services.For 2018, pretax profit almost doubled to EUR22.1 million from EUR12.0 million in 2017 on revenue of EUR250.8 million, which was up 66% from EUR151.4 million the year before. The video game services provider declared a final dividend of 1.08p which brings the total dividend for 2018 to 1.61p up from 1.46p in 2017. "We have started 2019 promisingly. In a year in which the games industry is likely to see some changes with the arrival of games subscription and streaming services from new entrants like Apple and Google, we feel well placed to benefit from the likely increased demand for content. The considerable progress we made in 2018 has improved our quality of earnings and moved us higher up the value chain," said Chair Ross Graham. Adept4 said annual revenue and earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation are expected to be below management's expectations following a contract termination by an unnamed customer.The IT services provider said the customer contract that was terminated had delivered GBP0.7 million of recurring revenue to Adept4. It is disputing the termination the contract and is considering its legal options, the company said.Deutsche Bank cut sports car maker Aston Martin to Hold from Buy. In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.2%, S&P 500 up 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.6%.US stocks rose on Friday as better-than-expected job growth in March along with hopes for a US-China trade agreement helped ease investor concerns about economic growth. "The positivity from Wall Street didn't fully spill into Asia at the start of the new week. Asian markets were mixed, as investors digested the nonfarm payrolls report and trade deal developments. European markets are also pointing towards a mixed start to trading after the opening bell," said London Capital Group's Jasper Lawler.The pound was quoted at USD1.3065 early Monday, up from USD1.3020 at the London equities close Friday, as the Brexit deadline of this coming Friday looms.On the political front, time is running out for UK Prime Minister Theresa May to reach a Brexit compromise with Labour ahead of a summit on Wednesday with European leaders.May has angered fellow Tories by holding talks with Labour, with Brexiteers including Boris Johnson concerned she will accept a customs union as the price for a deal with opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn.May has told EU leaders she wants a delay to Brexit until June 30 at the latest, with the possibility of an early exit if she can get a deal through Parliament.But Brussels is expected to demand a clear strategy from the prime minister at a meeting of EU leaders on Wednesday and could insist on a longer delay which would require the UK to participate in European elections.Still to come in the economic calendar on Monday are US factory orders at 1500 BST.