2nd Jan 2020 08:07
(Alliance News) - Financial services firm Quilter confirmed Thursday it will be returning most of the proceeds of the sale of its life assurance business to shareholders.
Back in August, Quilter had announced the GBP425 million sale of Old Mutual Wealth Life Assurance to ReAssure Group, which is part of Swiss Re. ReAssure is itself now being bought, for GBP3.25 billion, by Phoenix Group Holdings.
ReAssure is Swiss Re's UK business. Plans for a London initial public offering of ReAssure were suspended in July amid weak economic conditions.
The net surplus proceeds, Anglo-South African Quilter said, are GBP375 million, and it views this cash as excess capital which can be returned to shareholders.
Quilter did not give any details as to what form this would take, such as a buyback or special dividend, but said it will make an announcement at the time of full-year results in March at the latest.
ReAssure said Thursday it expects the purchase to generate more than GBP500 million of surplus including about GBP200 million in synergies.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.7% at 7,592.62
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Hang Seng: up 1.1% at 28,506.73
Nikkei 225: Tokyo market closed for holiday.
DJIA: closed down 106.82 points, 0.4%, at 28,538.44 (Tuesday)
S&P 500: closed up 0.3% at 3,230.78 (Tuesday)
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GBP: up at USD1.3223 (USD1.3200)
EUR: down at USD1.1209 (USD1.1230)
Gold: soft at USD1,519.30 per ounce (USD1,521.04)
Oil (Brent): up at USD66.30 a barrel (USD65.94)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Thursday's Key Economic Events still to come
Japan financial markets closed after New Year's Day.
0930 GMT UK CIPS-Markit manufacturing PMI
0955 CET Germany manufacturing PMI
1000 CET EU eurozone manufacturing PMI
0830 EST US initial jobless claims
0945 EST US manufacturing PMI
0945 EST US Bloomberg consumer comfort index
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US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he will sign the first phase of a trade deal with China at the White House next month. Trump said he will travel to Beijing at a later date to open talks on other sticking points in the US-China trade relationship. He tweeted from his Florida home: "I will be signing our very large and comprehensive Phase One Trade Deal with China on January 15. The ceremony will take place at the White House." He said high-level Chinese government officials will attend the signing. No detailed paperwork on the agreement has been released, and China has yet to confirm the dollar amount of US farm goods it has pledged to buy. Both sides have said they've been waiting for text of the agreement to be translated between Chinese and English.
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China's central bank announced Wednesday it was cutting the reserve requirements for banks, freeing up about USD114 billion to boost lending and spur the slowing economy. The People's Bank of China will cut the reserve requirement ratio on January 6 by 50 basis points, it said in a statement, reducing the amount of cash banks must hold. Lowering the ratio frees up more money for banks to lend to small businesses. The central bank cut the requirement three times in 2019 to bolster the Chinese economy, which grew at the slowest rate in three decades last year. State news agency Xinhua said the latest cut will "offset the impacts of cash demand" ahead of the Spring Festival in late January.
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The "mild" downturn in the Irish manufacturing sector continued in December, AIB reported. The AIB purchasing managers' index, released by IHS Markit, came in at 49.5 in December from 49.7 the month before. This means Irish manufacturing has contracted for the sixth time in seven months. Any figure under 50 means contraction, and above that, expansion. AIB said the downturn was "mild", however, with new orders and employment only fractionally lower month-on-month. However, output was down, and new orders were held back by, in particular, a weak UK market.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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INVESTEC CUTS PARAGON GROUP TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - TARGET 555 (580) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Tullow Oil said the Carapa-1, drilled on the Kanuku licence offshore Guyana, has encountered four metres of net oil pay. A detailed laboratory analysis of the oil quality will follow in due course, the company noted. Repsol Exploracion Guyana is the operator of the Kanuku block with a 37.5% stake. Tullow Guyana also holds a 37.5% stake, with Total E&P Guyana holding the remaining 25%. Looking ahead, Tullow Oil Chief Operating Officer Mark MaxFarlane said: "We will now integrate the results of the three exploration wells drilled in these adjacent licences into our Guyana and Suriname geological and geophysical models before deciding the future work programme."
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IP Group said its portfolio company Oxford Nanopore Technologies has raised GBP29.3 million of new capital. IP Group's stake in Oxford Nanopore will be 16% upon completion of the fundraising, it said, valued at around GBP264 million. Oxford Nanopore noted that funds were raised from both new investors and existing shareholders from the US, Europe and Asia Pacific. "We're delighted to see another successful fundraising for Oxford Nanopore which rounds off an impressive year of commercial success and technical validation of nanopore sequencing," said IP Group Chief Executive Alan Aubrey.
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Iron-ore miner Ferrexpo said it will pay a special interim dividend of 6.6 US cents a share, unchanged from a year before. It said the payout reflects its "strong" cash generation ability and balance sheet strength. Dividends declared in 2019 have amounted to 13.2 US cents so far. Ferrexpo said it will consider the final dividend for 2019 and will announce it in its annual results announcement on March 18. For 2018, Ferrexpo paid 23.1 cents a share.
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COMPANIES - OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Abcam has completed its EUR120 million acquisition of Expedeon's proteomics and immunology businesses. The deal was announced back in November and will see Expedeon change its name to 4basebio as it shifts focus towards DNA manufacturing and enzymes for diagnostics. It intends to supply DNA products for use in, for example, gene therapy and gene vaccines. Of the EUR120 million due to Expedeon, EUR105.6 million will be paid immediately with the other EUR14.4 million held in escrow for another two years. "Expedeon's portfolio of products and technology, combined with Abcam's antibody and protein strengths, place us well to address the growing need for antibody conjugation and multiplexing solutions," said Abcam Chief Executive Officer Alan Hirzel.
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Restaurant operator Tasty said it has sold its dim t More London site for GBP2 million as part of its strategy of reducing exposure where it is experiencing increasing property and labour costs. Tasty said it intends to use the proceeds from the sale to pay off its remaining bank debt, to fund the working capital and selected restaurant refurbishment plans. Turning to operations, Tasty said fourth-quarter sales to-date remain in line with expectations, and it remains confident that current market forecasts for 2019 will be achieved.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Former Nissan Motor boss Carlos Ghosn, who fled to Lebanon to avoid a Japanese trial, was carrying one of his two French passports, local media said, as Japan launched a probe into the embarrassing security lapse. Ghosn, who faces multiple charges of financial misconduct that he denies, won bail in April but with strict conditions, including a bar on overseas travel. His lead lawyer Junichiro Hironaka has said lawyers hold three passports belonging to the international tycoon, who holds French, Brazilian and Lebanese nationalities.But public broadcaster NHK said the court had allowed him to keep a second French passport so long as it were kept "in a locked case" with the key held by his lawyers.
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Thursday's Shareholder Meetings
no events scheduled
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By Tom Waite; [email protected]
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