22nd Nov 2018 07:44
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock trading in London is set for a subdued start on Thursday, coming off a substantial gain on Wednesday, with Wall Street closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.Amid a busy day of UK company updates, Centrica said it remains on track to hit its goals despite some unexpected bumps in Exploration & Production and in Nuclear, Intu Properties secured a further takeover deadline extension, and Mitchells & Butlers reported annual like-for-like growth."Following on from a mixed session on Wall Street, Asian markets also traded mixed. Rising oil prices offered some support; however lingering concerns over trade tensions and the Fed's hiking cycle amid slowing global growth weighed on demand. European markets are pointing to a mixed open. With the US closed for Thanksgiving and a relatively quiet economic calendar, today's session could offer a well-deserved break from volatility," said Jasper Lawler, head of research at London Capital Group.IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 6.23 points lower at 7,044.00 on Thursday. The FTSE 100 index closed up 1.5%, or 102.31 points, at 7,050.23 on Wednesday.In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended broadly higher ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending flat but with the S&P 500 up 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite gaining 0.9%.In Asia on Thursday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended down 0.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is 0.3% higher in late trade.Overall nationwide consumer prices in Japan were up 1.4% on year in October, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said, in line with analyst expectations and up from 1.2% in September.UK Prime Minister Theresa May has vowed to return to Brussels at the weekend after her meeting late Wednesday with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker concluded without a breakthrough on Britain's future relations with the EU."We have had a very good meeting this evening," May said after talks with Juncker in Brussels. "We have made further progress and as a result, we have given sufficient direction to our negotiators."May told parliament before leaving London that a withdrawal agreement with the EU "has been agreed in principle," and that negotiations were continuing on an outline statement of the future relationship after Brexit.Britain's plan for exiting the bloc is uncertain due to an impasse in parliament over what do with the Irish border, amid concerns that border infrastructure could reignite violence in the former conflict zone.The economic events calendar on Thursday has the European Central Bank's monetary policy meeting accounts at 1230 GMT and eurozone consumer confidence data at 1500 GMT.Lawler commented: "We expect that if there were any excitement in the markets today, it will be surrounding the release of the ECB accounts from its monetary policy meeting on October 25. Eurozone growth is lacklustre, and investors will be watching closely for any hint of uncertainties from Governing Council members over policy normalisation."In company news, British Gas-parent Centrica said it remains on track to achieve its 2018 targets despite unexpected outages and operational issues in Exploration & Production and extended inspections and outages in its Nuclear unit.The energy provider said it expects to achieve annual adjusted operating cash flow in a range of GBP2.1 to GBP2.3 billion, and maintain a full-year dividend of 12.0p. "Our financial performance has remained resilient despite weaker than planned volumes from our E&P and Nuclear activities and cash generation remains strong. Maintaining a focus on performance delivery and financial discipline and demonstrating resilient cash flows remain our objectives for 2019 and beyond, as we deal with the impact of the UK energy supply default tariff cap," said Chief Executive Iain Conn.Centrica said that trading conditions for its commodity-exposed, customer-facing businesses continue to be highly competitive in the UK, Ireland and North America. Market volatility and weather extremes also have been challenging, the company said, but added that it managed this "effectively" with "strong energy risk management and optimisation capabilities".Turning of UK regulator Ofgem's energy price cap, Centrica said it expects a GBP70 million hit to adjusted operating profit in the first quarter of 2019 due to a revision to the methodology for calculating supplier wholesale and hedging costs during the transitional period.Severn Trent said revenue and profit edged higher for in its recently ended half-year, lifting its interim payout.Revenue for the half to September 30 grew 3.6% to GBP881.5 million from GBP851.0 million, with pretax profit up 1.4% to GBP299.1 million from GBP295.0 million. The water firm lifted its interim dividend by 7.9% to 37.35p.The firm said it delivered a "good" results, with its Regulated Water and Waste Water business growing profit despite an additional GBP10 million of operating costs over the hot dry summer.Intu Properties said an further takeover deadline extension has been secured as the consortium comprising Peel Group, Olayan Group and Brookfield Property Group completes its financing. Intu said it has engaged "extensively" with the group over the past four weeks, and the consortium has confirmed that its due diligence is largely complete with nothing having arisen that would result in the offer price being tweaked. The consortium now has until November 30 to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for Intu or to drop the deal. Pub chain Mitchells & Butlers reported annual like-for-like growth, though warned on the challenging nature of the food and beverage market. Revenue for the year to September 29 edged down to GBP2.15 billion from GBP2.18 billion, though pretax profit jumped to GBP130 million from GBP77 million. Including items, however, pretax profit fell to GBP178 million from GBP183 million.Like-for-like sales in the year to September 29 rose 1.3%, and, since the year-end, have been up 2.2%. The pub operator did not declare a final dividend as it prioritises estate investment and de-leverages against a "challenging" backdrop. "With like-for-like sales growth consistently ahead of the market and our focus on efficiency initiatives, we are confident that we are addressing the elements of performance which are within our control. However, the market in which we operate remains challenging and a high level of macro uncertainties remain," Mitchells & Butlers commented. Euromoney Institutional Investor recorded a jump in annual profit, boosted by disposal gains, as it anticipated a moderation in events revenue for the year ahead.Revenue for the year to September 30 grew 1% to GBP390.3 million, though pretax profit jumped to GBP161.2 million from just GBP40.7 million a year ago due to one-off disposal gains. On an adjusted basis, pretax profit rose 3% to GBP109.2 million from GBP106.5 million. The business information company proposed a final dividend of 22.3p, up 2% on the 21.8p paid out last year, taking its total dividend for the year to 32.5p, up 6% year-on-year. Looking ahead, the company said: "The outlook for our Pricing, Data & Market Intelligence segment is broadly consistent with 2018, however, continuing the strong growth we had in events revenues through into 2019 will be a challenge."
Related Shares:
ERM.LMitchells & ButlersCentricaINTU.LSevern Trent