11th Jun 2019 07:44
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening higher on Tuesday, tracking gains in Asia and the US overnight, while the pound remained below the USD1.27 mark ahead of UK jobless figures at 0930 BST. In company news, Compass Group and Smith & Nephew acquired companies in Europe, Saga announced a partnership with Goldman Sachs, and Bellway reported strong sales.IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open up 14.86 points at 7,390.40. The blue chip index closed up 43.60 points, or 0.6%, at 7,375.54 on Monday. "The FTSE 100 is preparing to challenge the 7,400 level on the back of a cheap pound, but the UK's ambiguous political scene could be a turn-off for many investors, as there are many interesting opportunities to seize across the board," said London Capital Group analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya. The pound was quoted at USD1.2678, early Tuesday flat against USD1.2680 at the London equities close Monday. Sterling has fallen back from intraday high of USD1.2726 in early trade on Monday and is 0.4% lower over the past week. Contract caterer Compass Group said it will acquire Finnish food company Fazer Food Services for an enterprise value of EUR475 million. Compass said the transaction will be financed using cash and existing credit facilities. Compass Chief Executive Officer Dominic Blakemore said: "Fazer Food Services is a highly regarded food service business in the Nordic region, and like Compass, is focused on high-quality food, culinary innovation, sustainability and great customer service. I am excited that, together with our existing colleagues in the region, we will be able to further enhance our customer proposition in the Nordic market."Medical devices maker Smith & Nephew said it has agreed to acquire Switzerland-based optical tracking technology provider Atracsys for an undisclosed sum. Smith & Nephew said the acquisition is expected to complete during the third quarter of 2019. Over-50s holiday and insurance specialist Saga said it has formed a long-term savings partnership with Goldman Sachs to launch new products together from autumn 2019.The partnership will see Saga team with the US investment bank's Marcus savings account product, aimed at returning Saga to its "heritage of delivering high-quality products and services to its customers", Saga said.Harit Talwar, global head of Marcus by Goldman Sachs, said: "We are excited to collaborate with brands such as Saga and to provide savings products to their customers. This partnership is an example of our ambition to bring our global scale and deep capabilities to meet a broad range of personal finance and investment needs."Midcap housebuilder Crest Nicholson Holdings said it has made good progress on delivering its revised strategy during this period of "heightened political uncertainty".For the six months to April 30, revenue increased 7% to GBP501.9 million from GBP467.6 million in 2018, but pretax profit fell 6.8% to GBP64.4 million from GBP72.0 million the year before. Crest Nicholson reported total forward sales of GBP625.2 million, up from GBP544.4 million last year.Crest Nicholson declared an unchanged interim dividend of 11.2 pence. Interim Chief Executive Officer Chris Tinker said: "Trading performance has been encouraging in the first half set against the uncertain and politically turbulent backdrop. Business operations are proving resilient and operational efficiency initiatives are making planned progress. We have also recently strengthened the operational leadership team to further support these programmes. We have implemented large parts of the revised strategy and are on track to continue during the second half year."Given the current market, the board remains confident in the prospects for the rest of the year and in achieving earnings in line with consensus."Bellway said it saw strong sales demand in the period from February 1 to June 2, with a 4.7% increase in the reservation rate to 244 per week, up from 233 per week at the same time in 2018.The housebuilder said it has a strong forward order book with plots up 2.7% to 6,312 homes. Bellway added that its order book value was slightly lower at GBP1.64 billion from GBP1.70 billion in 2018, due to "planned growthin lower-value social completions", but said it is well placed to meet expectations in the current financial year.The ten candidates vying to succeed Theresa May as UK prime minister will face the first official hustings of Tory MPs, starting on Tuesday, after nominations closed on Monday."The pound will likely remain under a decent selling pressure in the coming weeks, as the political uncertainties loom following Theresa May's forced exit," London Capital Group's Ozkardeskaya said. The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.3%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is up 2.0%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.8%.US President Donald Trump expects to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit this month in Japan, warning that unless the sides reach a trade deal, he will raise tariffs on the final tranche of Chinese products."We are expected to meet," Trump said Monday, in an extensive interview on CNBC. "If we do, that's fine, and if we don't, that's fine." He added: "If we don't make a deal, we will be raising the tariffs."Trump also warned Mexico that tariffs will be reinstated if Mexico's legislative body does not approve an unrevealed, but "very important" part of the US-Mexico deal.In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.3%, S&P 500 up 0.5% and Nasdaq Composite up 1.1%. The economic events calendar on Tuesday has US producer prices at 1330 BST.
Related Shares:
SagaSmith & NephewCrest NicholsonBellwayCompass Group