Highlights of the Day
Asian Markets
Asian shares barely moved in thin trade as investors continued to shun riskier assets ahead of potentially market moving global events later this week |
U.S. Markets
U.S. shares retreated amid investor caution ahead of this week’s British general election and congressional testimony from fired former FBI chief James Comey.
|
Today's News
Tesco was criticised by Pensions & Investment Research Consultants for the £142,000 paid to Chief Executive Officer Dave Lewis in relocation costs. PIRC, in a report ahead of the company’s annual general meeting on Friday next week, advised shareholders to oppose Tesco’s remuneration report, arguing that a near tripling of benefits for Lewis was “not considered appropriate”. The increase was mostly as a result of relocation costs as Lewis moved to be close to Tesco’s Hertfordshire head office.
Santander has acquired embattled Madrid-based rival Banco Popular for €1 after its shares lost more than half their value in the past week on fears it might be forced into a deeply discounted rights issue. The European Union’s Single Resolution Board has approved the transferal of all the shares and capital instruments of its struggling rival, meaning it will operate under normal conditions as a member of the Santander Group with immediate effect.
RPC has more than doubled its FY pretax profit, and at the same time boosted its dividend and revenue. “The implementation of the Vision 2020 growth strategy is progressing well, reflected in a good trading performance in 2016/17 with continued organic growth and achieving record profitability levels with robust cash generation,” said CEO Pim Vervaat. “Acquisitions made since the launch of the strategy in 2013 continue to add value including the recent GCS and BPI acquisitions, whose performance in the year was better than expected.”
Full-year losses at Intercede, a specialist in digital identity, credential management and secure mobility, rose to £3.9m – up from £1.0m last time. Revenues for the year ended 31st March totalled £8,286,000 – 25% down on the previous year’s record revenues of £11,004,000. Intercede said the US presidential race resulted in delays from government agencies making investment decisions but it had seen the resumption of business for the MyID platform.
St. Modwen said that since the start of the financial year its diverse portfolio and wider business has continued to perform in line with directors’ expectations. It said it had demonstrated resilience in the face of broader market uncertainties. CEO Mark Allan said over the last six months St. Modwen had undertaken a detailed review of the current portfolio and the existing opportunities within its extensive asset base.
AstraZeneca has entered an agreement with Grunenthal for the global rights to Zomig (zolmitriptan) outside Japan. Zomig is indicated for the acute treatment of migraines and cluster headaches, an area of medicine outside AstraZeneca’s strategic focus. Grunenthal will pay AstraZeneca $200m upon completion. AstraZeneca will also receive up to an additional $102m in future milestone payments. Grunenthal will acquire the rights to Zomig in all markets outside Japan, including the US, where the rights were previously licensed to Impax Pharmaceuticals (Impax).
International Consolidated Airline Group SA on said British Airways cancelled more than half of its flights on the day it suffered a power failure that led to severe disruption that spread into the following days. IAG, which also owns Iberia and Vueling in Spain and Aer Lingus in Ireland, also confirmed press reports that it will commission an independent forensic of what went wrong. IAG shares were down 0.5% at 589p. The company was put in the spotlight on 27th May, the Saturday of the UK May Bank Holiday, when the power failure caused British Airways to cancel 479 flights and a further 193 flights on the following day. That represents 59% of total operations on the first day of issues and 23% of the operations on the second day.
Workspace Group proposed a 40% hike to its dividend, as it expressed confidence in its prospects despite uncertainty in the market following the UK’s Brexit vote, and despite reporting a big drop in profit. The property investor reported pretax profit of £88.8m for the year ended in March, down from £391.3m the prior year, mostly as a result of realising an only £39.5m gain from an underlying increase in the value of its investment properties, compared to a hefty £296.6m gain the prior year.
Oil prices edged up, finding technical support after sliding below $47 a barrel on pressure from a diplomatic rift in the Middle East and sustained high crude inventories in the United States.
Gold held steady near its highest in seven months, supported by a weaker U.S. dollar ahead of key political and economic events that are expected to stoke bullion’s safe-haven appeal.
Companies Reporting this week
Day |
Companies |
Today: |
Grafenia * Picton Property Income * Ramsdens Holdings * RPC Group * SRT Marine Systems * Sysgroup * Tricorn Group * Workspace Group |
Tomorrow: |
Auto Trader Group * CMC Markets * First Property Group * Flybe Group * Volex |
Early Market Movements
Market |
Index |
Change |
% Change |
UK 100 |
7,508.6 |
-16.4 |
-0.2% |
UK 250 |
19,747.6 |
+92.7 |
+0.5% |
GER 30 |
12,653.8 |
-36.3 |
-0.3% |
FRA 40 |
5,261.4 |
-7.8 |
-0.2% |
U.S. 30 |
21,136.23 |
-47.81 |
-0.2% |
U.S. 500 |
2,429.3 |
-6.8 |
-0.3% |
OIL (BRENT) |
49.89 |
-0.23 |
-0.5% |
GOLD |
1,292.42 |
-1.97 |
-0.15% |
UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)
Company |
Price |
Change |
% Change |
Travis Perkins |
1593 |
+26.5 |
+1.69% |
Persimmon |
2381 |
+36 |
+1.54% |
Taylor Whimpey |
181.2 |
+2.2 |
+1.23% |
Shire |
4441 |
-81 |
-1.79% |
Johnson Matthey |
3011 |
-28 |
-0.92% |
Astrazeneca |
5304 |
-51 |
-0.09% |
Latest Broker Views
Company |
Broker |
Recommendation |
Price |
Target |
Just Eat |
Deutsche Bank |
Buy |
642.50 |
785.00 |
Ocado Group Plc |
Deutsche Bank |
Sell |
302.00 |
220.00 |
Tesco PLC |
Deutsche Bank |
Buy |
184.00 |
240.00 |
Workspace Group Plc |
Liberum Capital |
Buy |
747.00 |
850.00 |
Forthcoming Economic Data
Time/Date |
Previous |
Forecast |
Outcome |
7:30am: U.K. Halifax HPI m/m |
-0.1% |
-0.2% |
– |
2:30pm: U.S. Crude Oil Inventories |
-6.4M |
-3.1M |
– |
7:00pm: U.S. Consumer Credit m/m |
16.4B |
15.2B |
– |
Sources:
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1496814565607993000.html
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1496759785967511500.html
https://www.digitallook.com/news/international-companies/santander-acquires-struggling-spanish-rival-banco-popular–2709156.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5563021/RPC-Group-more-than-doubles-FY-pretax-profit.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5563023/Intercede-losses-widen.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5563018/St-Modwen-says-performing-in-line-with-views.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5563022/AZ-deal-with-Grunenthal-over-migraine-treatment.html
http://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/asia
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/us-stocks-fall-ahead-of-british-vote-8923292
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUSKBN18X02H
http://uk.reuters.com/article/global-precious-idUKL3N1J406B