The Morning Call - Eutelsat withdraws interest in Inmarsat

Highlights of the Day

Asian Markets

Asian stocks continued to decline almost across the board, after heightened trade tensions hit U.S. equity markets again overnight.

U.S. Markets

U.S. stocks tumbled but later pared declines as investors grappled with conflicting messages from senior White House officials on the future of trade policy between the world’s two biggest economies.

Today's News

Heathrow expansion moved a step closer after the UK government easily won a vote on controversial plans for a third runway late Monday. Support from Labour MPs helped push through the proposals to expand Europe’s busiest airport with an overwhelming majority of 296.

Eutelsat Communication said it did not intend to make an offer for Inmarsat, a day after the French satellite group said it was considering making a bid.

Petrofac, a provider of services to the oil and gas industry, has taken $1.8bn of new orders since the start of the year, which is slightly more than at this stage last year. However the order backlog of the company, which is remain the focus of an ongoing Serious Fraud Office investigation, has shrunk to $9.7bn from the £10.2bn at the end of December and the $13bn a year ago.

Ibstock, which manufactures clay bricks and concrete products, has agreed to sell a former quarry near Bristol. The company said that it has entered into an unconditional contract for a consideration of £9.3m in cash.

Smurfit Kappa said it had installed eight digital printing presses across its European sites, for an undisclosed sum. The technology was included in HP Scitex corrugated presses, which the company said facilitated clearer graphics and were capable of short runs to meet increasing demand for reduced turnaround times.

SIG said it had sold technical fixings business VJT to private equity firm Primary Capital for around £29.7m. The divestment was in line with SIG’s medium-term strategy of disposing of smaller, non-core businesses in order to refocus its portfolio and strengthen its balance sheet, the company said.

Anglo American said the value of rough diamond sales at its De Beers unit had risen during the fifth cycle of 2018 to $575m. The figure was higher than the $554m seen in the fourth cycle of 2018 and $541m seen in the fifth cycle of 2017.

Polymetal International said it had started up its new Kyzyl gold mine in Kazakhstan ahead of schedule and below budget. Kyzyl successfully produced first gold concentrate on 25 June, the company said. The milestone was achieved one quarter ahead of the original announced in 2014, and one month earlier compared with the January 2018 updated plan.

Brazil’s Vale and BHP Billiton said they had reached a framework agreement with Brazilian authorities to negotiate a settlement of a lawsuit worth billions over the Samarco mine disaster.

Shares in Anglo-South African financial services firm Old Mutual will be de-listed from the London Stock Exchange as a new holding company, Old Mutual, joins the exchange. Likewise, Old Mutual shares will leave the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Friday, as well as the exchanges in Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi.

Oil Prices edged up on uncertainty over Libyan oil exports, but gains were dampened by an expected increase in supply from producer cartel OPEC

Gold Prices edged higher amid escalating trade tensions involving the United States and other major economies.

Companies Reporting this week

Day	Companies
Monday:	–
Tuesday:	Carpetright, HML Holdings
Wednesday:	Bunzl, Whitbread
Thursday:	DS Smith, Stagecoach Group
Friday:	–

Early Market Movements

Market	Index	Change	% Change
UK 100	7,534.3	+24.4	+0.3%
UK 250	20,807.0	+32.6	+0.2%
GER 30	12,340.8	+70.4	+0.6%
FRA 40	5,307.0	+23.1	+0.4%
U.S. 30	24,252.80	-328.09	-1.3%
U.S. 500	2,717.07	-37.81	-1.4%
OIL (Crude)	74.71	-0.02	-0.0%
GOLD	1,264.16	-1.48	-0.1%

UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)

Company	Price	Change	% Change
Carnival	4327	+112	+2.7%
CRH	2685	+31	+1.2%
Cairn Energy	248	+9.8	+4.1%
Sainsburys	305.8	-7.1	-2.3%
Ferguson	5881	-68	-1.1%
Phoenix Group	684.5	-73.5	-9.7%

Latest Broker Views

Company	Broker	Recommendation	Price	Target
Royal Mail	RBC	Sector Perform	492	500
Next	HSBC	Hold	5962	5550
Entertainment One	JPMorgan	Overweight	362	546
Auto Trader	Goldman Sachs	Neutral	426.3	385