21st Aug 2019 07:40
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open on a cautious note on Wednesday ahead of the US Federal Reserve releasing minutes from its latest monetary policy meeting.In early UK company news, AstraZeneca said a drug trial failed to reach its primary endpoint, Charter Court Financial Services and OneSavings reported interim results as their tie-up progresses, and both Inchcape and Hammerson hired new chief financial officers.IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index to open 8.2 points higher at 7,133.20 on Wednesday. The London large-cap index closed down 64.65 points, or 0.9%, at 7,125.00 on Tuesday."After a wild ride over the past 10 days, investors are sitting tight. A lull in news about the ongoing trade dispute, economic stimulus and recession has investors pausing for breath ahead of today's release of minutes from the July FOMC meeting, Thursday's PMI data and most importantly Federal Reserve Jerome Powell's speech at Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday," said Jasper Lawler at London Capital Group.In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street finished in the red, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending down 0.7%, the S&P 500 down 0.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite 0.7% lower.In Asia on Wednesday, stocks were mixed. The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.3%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was flat.In the economic calendar, there is UK public sector net borrowing at 0930 BST and US existing home sales at 1500 BST. After the London market close, at 1900 BST, the US Federal Reserve releases minutes from its most-recent policy meeting, held at the end of July.The Fed minutes should give an insight into the central bank's decision to cut interest rates at that meeting, said Michael Hewson at CMC Markets."In particular there is likely to be interest as to whether there was any discussion about whether a cut was even necessary, or more importantly whether an even bigger cut of 50bps was discussed," he said.Hewson continued: "The tone of the discussions will also give a steer as to whether markets are right to expect another move in September, though the upcoming payrolls report at the beginning of September is likely to be a key milestone with respect to that determination, as well as this week's central bank symposium at Jackson Hole Wyoming, where the speech from Fed chair Jay Powell could well offer some key signposting as to whether the Feds reaction function has changed since that July meeting."UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel later Wednesday, the first in a series of meetings with European and world leaders over the coming days.Johnson will travel to Berlin where he will discuss Brexit-related issues with the German premier over dinner, before heading to Paris on Thursday to meet French President Emmanuel Macron. On Saturday, Johnson will be at the G7 summit where he will meet other world leaders including US president Donald Trump.The meetings come as Johnson has reiterated his opposition to the Northern Irish backstop, saying he will not support any withdrawal agreement that includes it.In UK company news, AstraZeneca said a trial of Imfinzi in combination with tremelimumab did not meet its primary endpoint.The trial did not meet the primary endpoint of improving overall survival versus standard-of-care chemotherapy in previously-untreated Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer patients. The safety and tolerability profile for the combination of Imfinzi and tremelimumab was consistent with previous trials, the FTSE 100 pharma firm added.Jose Baselga, executive vice president of Oncology R&D said: "We are fully committed to a deep analysis of the vast clinical and biomarker data from this trial to gain further insights to improve Immuno-Oncology approaches for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer."Charter Court Financial Services said it delivered a half year of "strong" lending growth, though pretax profit fell. Net interest income rose to GBP100.1 million from GBP84.4 million, but pretax profit fell to GBP82.6 million from GBP93.1 million. This was as the firm recorded a lower gain on the sale of loans of GBP29.8 million in the recently-ended half versus GBP36.4 million a year ago, and as administrative expenses rose to GBP39.7 million from GBP30.9 million.Charter Court's loan book increased to GBP7.0 billion from GBP5.7 billion, while its common equity tier one ratio dipped to 15.6% from 16.6%. Charter Court raised its interim payout to 4.3 pence from 2.8p."Despite the heightened uncertainty in the wider economy, we continue to see robust demand for our specialist lending propositions. We believe in the resilience of our business model, which was purpose built to capitalise on structural drivers in markets where we have significant experience and expertise," said Charter Court.On its merger with fellow lender OneSavings, Charter Court noted that shareholders have voted in favour of the deal, and the transaction has gained approval from the UK Competition & Markets Authority. All that is left outstanding is approval from financial regulators the UK Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority, plus the court sanctioning the scheme, all of which is expected to take place in the third quarter.In its own interim report, OneSavings reported flat profit, though it still raised its dividend. Pretax profit came in at GBP91.0 million in the first half of 2019, flat on GBP91.8 million a year ago. Net loan book growth was 10%, driven by 13% growth in gross organic originations to GBP1.64 billion.OneSavings raised its interim dividend by 14% to 4.9p per share.Due to the tie-up of the bank and Charter Court, OneSavings said it is "unable" to provide detailed guidance for the financial year ahead. "OneSavings Bank is exceptionally well-placed to continue to generate attractive returns for our shareholders, regardless of potential political scenarios that may take place, and we look to the future with confidence," Chief Executive Andy Golding nonetheless said.Car seller Inchcape said it has hired former LeasePlan Corp's former finance head to be its new chief financial officer. Gijsbert de Zoeten will join Inchcape as CFO-designate on August 27 before assuming the full role on September 1. Richard Howes, current CFO at Inchcape, will be leaving at the end of August to join FTSE 250-listed outsourcer Bunzl.Zoeten was CFO at fleet management firm LeasePlan until 2018, having previously worked at Unilever as finance head of Unilever Europe."We think that the timely appointment of a high-calibre CFO with global B2B and B2C experience removes any concern around transition," said analysts at Jefferies.In another board change, shopping centre owner Hammerson has hired former AIG executive James Lenton as CFO.Lenton recently left his position as CFO at insurer AIG's European business. Before that, he had been deputy CFO for Europe, the Middle East, & Asia. Lenton will join Hammerson as an executive director on September 16, before taking up his new role as CFO at the start of October. He replaces outgoing Hammerson CFO Timon Drakesmith.