The Morning Call - Informa agree takeover of UBM - Collins Sarri Statham Investments

Highlights of the Day

Asian Markets

Asian markets closed in negative territory after Wall Street reversed a triple-digit point gain to close lower in the previous session.

U.S. Markets

U.S. stocks closed lower, pulling back from record highs set earlier in the session, as investors weighed the possibility of a government shutdown.

Today's News

The Brexit Bill is expected to clear its final stages in the Commons on Wednesday but is heading for a rocky ride when it goes before UK peers. UK Prime Minister Theresa May has already suffered one defeat on the EU (Withdrawal) Bill at the hands of members of Parliament but faces even tougher battles when the legislation enters the Lords.

Informa, has agreed a takeover with smaller events-focused rival UBM in a deal that is expected to generate “significant synergies”. Informa will offer 1.083 of its shares and 163p per UBM share, equivalent to 972.43p based on Tuesday’s closing price, as well as allowing UBM shareholders to receive their final dividend for 2017 as well as Informa’s final dividend or an equivalent special dividend.

Burberry has maintained its guidance for full year operating profit at both constant and reported exchange rates and is on track for the next phase of its transformation. Retail sales were up 1% on an underlying basis and down 2% on a reported basis in the three months to the end of December. Comparable store sales rose by 2%.

Pearson said it expected its 2017 annual profit to come in at the upper end of its guidance range, though it also indicated that adjusted profits would fall in 2018. Assuming guidance exchange rates, the publisher expected its operating profit for the year through to December to be between £600m and £605m, which was at the upper end of its October 2017 guidance range of £576m-to-£606m.

Nearly half a million businesses in the UK ended 2017 in a state of ‘significant’ financial distress, according to Begbies Traynor’s latest Rd Flag report. It said research for Q4 showed that 493,296 businesses were experiencing ‘significant’ financial distress – up 36% compared to the corresponding period in 2016 and 10% higher than the previous quarter.

Nestle is selling its US sweets and chocolate business to Ferrero Group for 2.7bn Swiss Francs. The Swiss food giant said it was offloading brands such as Crunch, Nerds, Runts and Butterfinger to focus on other products. Italy’s Ferrero, which makes Nutella spread, Tic Tac and Ferrero Rocher, will become the US’s third biggest confectionery maker.

Cineworld reported a jump in full-year revenue on Wednesday as it announced a fully-underwritten rights issue to raise money to part fund its acquisition of US cinema chain Regal.

Gold eversed early gains to trade slightly lower as the U.S. dollar recovered from a three-year low against a basket of currencies.

Oil Prices gave away earlier gains as analysts warned of a downward correction after prices have gained more than 13 percent over the past month.

Companies Reporting this week

Day	Companies
Wednesday (Trading Updates):	Burberry Group
Thursday (Trading Updates):	Associated British Foods * Ibstock * William Hill * Experian
Friday:	No Companies Reporting

Early Market Movements

Market	Index	Change	% Change
UK 100	7,750.7	-5.2	-0.1%
UK 250	20,877.3	+44.5	+0.2%
GER 30	13,199.0	-47.4	-0.4%
FRA 40	5,495.1	-18.7	-0.3%
U.S. 30	25,792.86	-10.33	-0.0%
U.S. 500	2,776.4	-9.8	-0.4%
OIL (BRENT)	69.10	-0.05	-0.1%
GOLD	1,334.54	-3.87	-0.3%

UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)

Company	Price	Change	% Change
NMC Health	3156	+54	+1.7%
Mediclinic	607.6	+7.4	+1.2%
UBM	909.5	+123	+15.6%
Informa	703.2	-44.2	-5.9%
Pearson	680.6	-37.8	-5.3%
Cineworld	530.25	-33.25	-5.9%

Latest Broker Views

Company	Broker	Recommendation	Price	Target
RSA Insurance	Credit Suisse	Outperform	620.8	710
GlaxoSmithKline	Barclays	Overweight	1355	1650
Micro Focus	JPMorgan	Neutral	2231	2500
Prudential	Credit Suisse	Outperform	1966	2180

Forthcoming Economic Data

Time/Date	Previous	Forecast	Outcome
11:00am: European final CPI y/y	1.5%	1.4%	–
3:15pm: U.S. Capacity Utilisation Rate	77.1%	77.3%	–
3:15pm: U.S. Industrial Production Month	0.2%	0.4%	–