The Morning Call - Inmarsat cuts dividend as profit falls

Highlights of the Day

Asian Markets

Asian stocks advanced following news that U.S. President Donald Trump had agreed to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

U.S. Markets

Stocks closed higher after President Donald Trump implemented steel and aluminum import tariffs that excluded Canada and Mexico, two key U.S. trade partners.

Today's News

Major trading partners of the US have condemned President Donald Trump for signing off new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. Mr Trump says the US has suffered from “unfair trade” and that the tariffs will boost US industry. The import duties – 25% on steel and 10% on aluminium – will go into effect in 15 days, although Canada and Mexico will be exempt while negotiations continue over the North America Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is to meet US President Donald Trump by May, a top South Korean security official announced Thursday in Washington, in an unprecedented development. Chung Eui Yong, who led a South Korean delegation to meet Kim in Pyongyang earlier this week, said the North Korean leader had “expressed his eagerness to meet President Trump as soon as possible”.

SIG reported another annual loss, owing to write-downs, restructure charges and losses on asset sales. Pre-tax losses amounted to £51.2m, narrowing from losses in 2016 of £110.0m, and included £130.4m of one-off charges. Underlying pre-tax profit increased by 4.3% to £79.2m, which the company said was in line with expectations. Revenue grew by 7.4% to £2.78bn, with like-for-like sales growing by 3.8%. SIG declared a full-year dividend for 2017 of 3.75p, up from 3.66p in 2016.

GVC Holdings reported a pre-tax loss of €25.6m in the year to December 31, a significant improvement on the €173.5m loss in the previous year. The loss was mainly due to costs related to its purchase of Bwin, which was completed in 2016. For 2017, GVC said that net gaming revenue (NGR) – the amount gained in stakes minus payouts – rose 17% on a constant currency basis to €925.6m from €794.3m.

Inmarsat reported a fall in fourth-quarter pretax profit and warned that cash payments from its collaboration with Ligado Networks LLC beyond the end of 2018 are in doubt. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, the U.K. satellite operator made a profit of $45.6m compared with $92.3m in the same period a year earlier. Revenue fell to $353.7m from $358.1m.

Gold Prices fell on as the U.S. dollar bounced from a near three-week low against the euro after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi signaled that any policy normalization in the euro zone would be very gradual.

Oil Prices rose as Asian stock markets gained on news that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Companies Reporting this week

Day	Companies
Monday:	Mondi
Tuesday:	Intertek * McCarthy & Stone * John Laing * Just Eat * Paddy Power Betfair
Wednesday:	Rolls Royce * Legal & General
Thursday:	G4S * Aviva * Domino’s Pizza * Premier Oil * Countrywide
Friday:	Inmarsat

Early Market Movements

Market	Index	Change	% Change
UK 100	7,203.8	+0.5	+0.0%
UK 250	19,980.7	+12.7	+0.1%
GER 30	12,333.5	-22.1	-0.2%
FRA 40	5,244.5	-9.6	-0.2%
U.S. 30	24,895.21	+93.85	+0.4%
U.S. 500	2,739.0	+12.2	+0.5%
OIL (BRENT)	63.79	+0.18	+0.3%
GOLD	1,318.38	-3.61	-0.3%

UK Risers & Fallers (8:15am)

Company	Price	Change	% Change
NMC Health	3498	+136	+4.1%
Severn Trent	1830.5	+39	+2.2%
SIG	155.35	+5.55	+3.7%
WPP	1216.5	-14	-1.1%
Rio Tinto	3651.5	-41.5	-1.1%
John Laing	244	-19.6	-7.4%

Latest Broker Views

Company	Broker	Recommendation	Price	Target
Lloyds	Deutsche Bank	Buy	67.5	80
Rolls Royce	JPMorgan	Neutral	921.8	950
Vodafone	Bernstein	Market-Perform	207.6	205
Severn Trent	JPMorgan	Overweight	1791.5	2250

Forthcoming Economic Data

Time/Date	Previous	Forecast	Outcome
9.30am: U.K. Manufacturing Production m/m	0.3%	0.2%	–
9.30am: U.K. Goods Trade Balance	-13.6bn	-12.0bn	–
1.30pm: U.S. Average Hourly Earnings m/m	0.3%	0.2%	–
1.30pm: U.S. Non-Farm Employment Change	200k	205k	–
1.30pm: U.S. Unemployment Rate	4.1%	4.0%	–