Highlights of the Day
Asian Markets
Asian markets closed mostly higher as investors mostly shrugged off North Korea’s latest missile launch. |
U.S. Markets
Wall Street stocks surged to fresh records on progress towards passage of US tax cuts and a benign confirmation hearing with Federal Reserve Chair nominee Jerome Powell. |
Today's News
Theresa May is facing the threat of a Brexit backlash after an apparent breakthrough in talks in Brussels which could see the UK paying a “divorce bill” of as much as £50bn. Officials close to the negotiations were reported as saying there was broad agreement on a framework for the UK to settle liabilities expected to total around EUR45 billion to EUR55 billion. If confirmed, the move could clear the way for the prime minister to finally achieve her goal of moving Brexit negotiations on to the issue of trade – though differences with Dublin over the status of the border in Ireland could still block progress at the European Council summit on December 14-15.
Imperial Brands has warned that operating profits face a hit of up to £160m after its trading partner Palmer & Harvey went into administration. Imperial said that last month P&H entered a period of exclusivity with the Carlyle Group with the intention of securing significant capital investment. Imperial said it was disappointed to learn that despite its on-going support, the directors of P&H had appointed administrators.
Brewin Dolphin’s adjusted pre–tax profits rose by 14.8% to £70.0m in the year to the end of September following another strong period of organic fund inflow. Total funds increased by 13.3% to £40.1bn – up 11.3% excluding acquired funds. Discretionary funds rose to £33.8bn, an increase of 17.4% or 15.3% excluding acquired funds following record net discretionary funds inflows, including transfers, of £2.3bnrepresenting an annualised growth rate of 8.0%.
RPC Group posted a large rise in first-half profit that was buoyed by acquisitions and higher polymer prices. Adjusted pre-tax profit jumped 59% to £199.2m on the back of a 53% increase in revenue to £1.88b. The packaging company declared an interim dividend of 7.8p, up 28%. “Trading was encouraging in the first half with record profitability levels and strong cash generation,” chief executive Pim Vervaat said.
ZPG has agreed to acquire Calcasa, a provider of automated property valuations and statistical market analysis in the Netherlands, for up to €80.0m. The deal will involve an initial consideration of €30.0m, with a performance-based earn-out of up to €50.0m available over the next three years. Completion of the deal is expected to take place on December 1, ZPG said. “The combination of Hometrack and Calcasa will give us unrivalled capabilities as an international property data platform and there is a clear opportunity to leverage our complementary products and relationships,” chief executive Alex Chesterman said.
Tullow Oil said it has refinanced $2.5bn worth of credit facilities, which have a final maturity in November, 2024. The deals comes after a resolution of the Ghana – Cote d’Ivoire border dispute, was materially over-subscribed and extends the maturity of the group’s existing credit facilities. Tullow said it had also decided to reduce the commitments of its revolving corporate credit facility to $600m from $800m, ahead of a scheduled amortisation in January 2018.
FirstGroup welcomed a new strategic vision for the Great Western rail network from the Department for Transport, with the DfT confirming it would exercise its option to extend First’s franchise in the region by one year, to 1 April 2020. The passenger transport operator said the department also announced its intention to negotiate a direct award for the Great Western franchise for an extra two years to April 2022, with an option for an extension of up to two further years at the DfT’s discretion.
Cineworld Group is poised to make a $3.07bn (£2.3bn) offer for the second largest chain in the US, Regal Entertainment. Cineworld, which owns the Cineworld and Picture House chains, said it planned to fund the $23-per-share offer through new debt and by raising funds via a rights issue, which its 28% shareholder Global City Holdings has committed to a “full subscription”.
The chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, Xavier Rolet, has left the company after a bruising boardroom row over his future. The company said Mr Rolet had “agreed to step down with immediate effect” at the board’s request. Mr Rolet was due to leave next year, but one of the firm’s biggest shareholders claimed he was forced out. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said on Wednesday the situation needed to be cleared up as soon as possible. It has also been announced that LSE Chairman Donald Brydon, who faced a shareholder vote on whether to remove him from the board, will step down in 2019.
Pennon Group reported a 5.6% uplift in its first-half revenue, to £723.9m, with its board claiming higher water revenues were driven by customer demand. The water utility and waste management company’s EBITDA was 3.3% higher than last year in the six months to 30 September, to £253.5m, while adjusted EBITDA was up 3.1% at £285.8m. Operating profit stood at £162.4m, a 5.5% improvement on the first half of the prior year, while profit before tax rose 2.3% to £131.1m.
Britvic said its full-year adjusted core earnings rose 5.1 percent, but warned that the introduction of a soft drinks tax in Britain and Ireland would create uncertainties in the sector. The tax is due to come into force in April 2018, giving soft drinks makers such as Britvic and Coca-Cola European Partners, time to reduce sugar in their products. The company said annual profit after tax fell 2.5 percent to 111.6 million pounds.
Telford Homes booked a lower first-half profit after revenue fell and administrative expenses rose. Pre-tax profit fell by 3.5% to £8.70m, though the company said this was due to development timings rather than the underlying performance of the business. Chief executive Jon Di-Stefano said the company was on track to deliver pre-tax profit “in excess of £40m for the full year, which he said was in line with market expectations.
Gold edged higher, amid a slightly weaker dollar, while North Korea’s latest missile test had little impact on the safe-haven metal.
Oil Prices fell on doubts OPEC and Russia will agree on extending a crude production cut to cover all of 2018, and after a report of an unexpected rise in U.S. crude oil inventories.
Companies Reporting this week
Day |
Companies |
Wednesday: |
Britvic Brewin Dolphin Holdings ZPG Plc LondonMetric Property Pennon Group Redcentric RPC Group Telford Homes |
Thursday: |
Marston’s Grainger Greene King PayPoint Go-Ahead Group |
Early Market Movements
Market |
Index |
Change |
% Change |
UK 100 |
7,434.8 |
-25.9 |
-0.4% |
UK 250 |
20,069.4 |
+43.2 |
+0.2% |
GER 30 |
13,156.8 |
+97.2 |
+0.7% |
FRA 40 |
5,420.0 |
+29.6 |
+0.6% |
U.S. 30 |
23,836.71 |
+255.93 |
+1.1% |
U.S. 500 |
2,627.0 |
+25.6 |
+1.0% |
OIL (BRENT) |
63.32 |
-0.29 |
-0.5% |
GOLD |
1,296.04 |
+2.06 |
+0.2% |
UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)
Company |
Price |
Change |
% Change |
Spire Health |
249.85 |
+13.85 |
+5.9% |
Barclays |
192.25 |
+4.9 |
+2.6% |
Kingfisher |
329.7 |
+6.7 |
+2.1% |
Cineworld |
608.5 |
-86 |
-12.4% |
London Stock Exchange |
3728 |
-72 |
-1.9% |
Carnival |
4916 |
-94 |
-1.9% |
Latest Broker Views
Company |
Broker |
Recommendation |
Price |
Target |
Shell |
Barclays |
Overweight |
2387.5 |
3000 |
Imperial Brands |
RBC |
Outperform |
3072.5 |
3400 |
Intercontinental Hotels |
Morgan Stanley |
Equal-Weight |
4422 |
4200 |
Spire |
Berenberg |
Buy |
251.1 |
310 |
Forthcoming Economic Data
Time/Date |
Previous |
Forecast |
Outcome |
All Day: Opec Meetings |
– |
– |
– |
10:30am: U.K. Net Lending to Individuals m/m |
5.5bn |
4.3bn |
– |
2:30pm: U.S. Prelim GDP q/q |
3.0% |
3.3% |
– |
3:00pm: U.K. BOE Gov Carney Speaks |
– |
– |
– |
3:45pm: U.K. MPC Member Ramsden Speaks |
– |
– |
– |
4:00pm: U.S. Fed Chair Yellen Testifies |
– |
– |
– |
4:30pm: U.S. Crude Oil Inventories |
-1.9m |
-2.5m |
– |
Sources
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/28/asia-markets-us-tax-reform-north-korea-missile-and-oil-in-focus.html
http://news.abs-cbn.com/business/11/29/17/us-stocks-surge-to-records-as-tax-cut-advances
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1511937405260768100.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5760991/Imperial-Brands-facing-pound160m-from-PH-collapse.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5761027/Brewin-Dolphin-hikes-divi-after-strong-inflows.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5760998/RPC-Group-profits-jump.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5760985/ZPG-acquires-Calcasa-for-up-to-euro80-point-0m.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5760714/Tullow-Oil-refinances-2-point-5b-of-debt.html
https://www.digitallook.com/news/news-and-announcements/dft-to-extend-firstgroups-great-western-franchise–2999218.html
https://www.digitallook.com/news/news-and-announcements/cineworld-makes-move-for-us-cinema-theatre-chain-regal–2999238.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42163492
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42163492
https://uk.reuters.com/article/global-precious/precious-gold-edges-up-but-investors-largely-unmoved-by-n-korea-test-idUKL3N1NZ1US
https://www.digitallook.com/news/news-and-announcements/cost-savings-drive-first-half-growth-at-pennon–2999300.html
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britvic-results/britvics-earnings-up-warns-soft-drink-levy-to-cause-uncertainties-idUKKBN1DT0TK?il=0
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5761089/Telford-Homes-profit-slips-dividend-up.html