Highlights of the Day
Asian Markets
Asian stocks were largely higher in early trading, a day after widespread regional declines following Turkey’s currency crisis. |
U.S. Markets
U.S. stocks closed lower, with the US 500 and the US 30 down for a fourth straight session as the ongoing turmoil in Turkey dampened investors’ appetite for riskier assets. |
Today's News
Esure confirmed it had accepted a £1.17bn takeover bid from Bain Capital. The company also revealed a fall in first-half profits as the cold snap earlier in the year, increased claims. Under the terms of the acquisition, each Esure shareholder would be entitled to receive 280p per share, which represented a 37% premium to their closing price on Friday. For the six months to 30 June, profit before tax fell 19.96% to £36.1m from £45.1 a year earlier, gross written premiums rose 12% £440.3m from £393.3m.
Antofagasta slashed its dividend by more than a third after reporting a fall in first-half profit as higher costs and lower production weighed on performance. But the miner left its guidance unchanged and said its expected performance to improve ‘substantially’ in the second half of the year. For the six months to 30 June, profit before tax fell 32% to $465.6m, from $688.6m a year earlier, and revenue fell 3.6% from $2.12bn
John Menzies half-year profit rose 15.4%, as the logistics provider benefited from higher cargo volumes and new contracts in its aviation business. The company said that underlying profit before tax rose to £28.5m from £24.7m a year earlier.
Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com has agreed on a deal with Unilever to move products like Lipton’s tea and Lux soap between warehouses across China as the consumer goods firm looks to expand sales in more remote parts of the country. The deal is the latest move by an e-commerce company to muscle into the territory of logistics companies by leveraging the expertise and supply chains they have built up for their own retail business to offer those services to others.
Polypipe Group, a manufacturer of plastic piping and ventilation systems, posted a small fall in first-half profit after harsh winter weather weighed on revenue. Pre-tax profit fell 1.3% to £30.1m amid broadly flat revenue of £210.2m. The company declared an interim dividend of 3.7p per share, up 2.8% on-year.
Royal Mail said it would appeal a decision made by UK regulators that fined the company £50m, due to a price change it introduced in 2014. The decision by regulator Ofcom related to a price decision on its Access letters delivery service that was automatically suspended about four weeks later, before it was due to enter into effect at the end of March 2014, the company said.
Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk said he was working with Silver Lake Partners and Goldman Sachs Group for financial advice on his proposal to take the electric car company private. “I’m excited to work with Silver Lake and Goldman Sachs as financial advisors, plus Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Munger, Tolles & Olson as legal advisors, on the proposal to take Tesla private,” Musk said in a tweet.
Oil Prices rose after a report from OPEC confirmed that top exporter Saudi Arabia had cut production to avert looming oversupply.
Gold Prices suffered its worst single-session setback in nearly two months, as the dollar gained in strength against major currencies after lira tumbled amid mounting worries about Turkey’s financial health.
Companies Reporting this week
Monday: |
Clarkson * Plus500 |
Tuesday: |
Antofagasta * John Menzies * Esure |
Wednesday: |
Admiral * Balfour Beatty * Hikma Pharmaceuticals |
Thursday: |
Rank Group * KAZ Minerals * Allied Minds |
Friday: |
Kingfisher |
Early Market Movements
UK 100 |
7,659.2 |
+16.8 |
+0.2% |
UK 250 |
20,621.1 |
+46.0 |
+0.2% |
GER 30 |
12,434.7 |
+75.9 |
+0.6% |
FRA 40 |
5,435.2 |
+22.9 |
-0.4% |
US 30 |
25,187.70 |
-125.44 |
-0.5% |
U.S. 500 |
2,821.93 |
-11.35 |
-0.4% |
OIL (Crude) |
72.81 |
+0.20 |
+0.3% |
GOLD |
1,195.48 |
+1.98 |
+0.2% |
UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)
Elementis |
276.5 |
+20.7 |
+8.1% |
Mediclinic |
482.75 |
+11.15 |
+2.4% |
Direct Line |
331.6 |
+4.3 |
+1.3% |
Card Factory |
178.4 |
-9.6 |
-5.1% |
Antofagasta |
909.8 |
-43 |
-4.5% |
Fresnillo |
981.6 |
-5.8 |
-0.6% |
Latest Broker Views
BHP Billiton |
Barclays |
Overweight |
1693.2 |
2000 |
Centrica |
HSBC |
Reduce |
148.4 |
130 |
Standard Life Aberdeen |
RBC |
Outperform |
321.7 |
400 |
WPP |
Goldman Sachs |
Neutral |
1233.5 |
1441 |
Forthcoming Economic Data
9.30am: UK Average Earnings Index 3m/y |
2.5% |
2.5% |
– |
9.30am: UK Claimant Count Change |
7.8k |
2.3k |
– |
9.30am: UK Unemployment Rate |
4.2% |
4.2% |
– |
Sources:
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/alliance-news/detail/1534185902011326600.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/6090184/Esure-accepts-pound1-point-17bn-takeover-bid-from-Bain-Capital-cold-snap-hurts-H1-profits.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/6090172/Antofagasta-maintains-outlook-despite-slashing-first-half-dividend-as-profits-slump.html
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/6090161/Polypipe-profit-falls-slightly-after-harsh-winter-weather-bites.html
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-tesla-musk/musk-says-silver-lake-goldman-advising-on-taking-tesla-private-idUKKBN1KY1HE?il=0
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-jd-com-unilever/unilever-to-use-jd-com-to-move-products-across-china-idUKKBN1KZ0DI
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/nikkei-leads-asian-market-rebound-following-turkish-currency-jitters-2018-08-13