19th Oct 2018 07:42
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are set to open higher on Friday, amid a lower pound, as the London Stock Exchange Group reported revenue growth in the third quarter of 2018 and Intercontinental Hotels Group declared a USD500 million special dividend, while intu Properties confirmed a takeover approach.IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 26.91 points or 0.4% higher at 7,053.90 on Friday. The FTSE 100 index closed down 0.4% at 7,026.99 on Thursday.In UK company news, London Stock Exchange Group said it will acquire another 15% stake in UK clearing house LCH Group Holdings for EUR438 million, taking its total holding to around 80%.LSE reported revenue for the three months to the end of September rose 5% to GBP522 million, after a strong performance by LCH over-the-counter clearing and the FTSE Russell index business.Intercontinental Hotels Group, also for the three months ended September 30, reported growth in revenue per available room of 1.0% year-on-year, while RevPAR for the nine month period grew by 2.7%.This was due to substantial growth in the regions of Greater China and Europe, Middle East, Asia & Africa, where RevPAR was up 4.8% and 2.5% respectively in the quarterly period, even as the Americas remained flat.In addition, IHG said it will pay a USD500 million special dividend with a share consolidation in the first quarter of 2019.intu Properties confirmed on Friday it has received a takeover proposal from a consortium comprising Peel Group, Olayan Group, and Brookfield Property Group.The group earlier in October said it was mulling a bid for intu, but the FTSE 250-listed retail property investor at that time said it had not yet received an approach. Peel and Olayan already hold a 29.9% stake in intu.Dual London- and Johannesburg-listed intu said it received a proposal from the consortium on Thursday last week of 205 pence per share in cash. A independent committee formed by intu - which does not include deputy chairman John Whittaker, as he is executive chairman at Peel Group - met to review the offer.Following "further engagement", intu on Wednesday received a revised proposal from the consortium of 215p per share in cash, it said.The terms of both the initial and revised proposals provide that the mooted consideration will be reduced by any dividends declared or paid by intu prior to completion of the deal. This includes intu's interim dividend of 4.6p per share, due to be paid in November.Accordingly, the consideration under the revised proposal would be 210.4p per share. That price values intu at GBP2.85 billion. The stock closed at 177.70p on Thursday.Sterling was quoted at USD1.3023 early Friday, down from USD1.3078 at the London equities close on Thursday.European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Thursday that an extension to the transition phase after Britain leaves the EU "probably will happen - it is a good idea".The idea, floated at an EU summit this week, has been slammed by eurosceptics in UK Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative party.It would mean that a planned 21-month Brexit transition would be extended to allow more time to negotiate arrangements to keep an open Irish border, the major sticking point in talks between the London and Brussels.In Asia on Friday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.6%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is up 2.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 1.1%.China's economy cooled to 6.5% growth in the third quarter, bogged down by a trade war with the US and efforts to reduce debt risks, official data said Friday.It marked the slowest year-on-year quarterly growth since the first quarter of 2009, during the global recession, when China's economy grew by 6.1%.Overall, the economic growth rate in the first nine months was 6.7%, above the government's cautious target of 6.5% annual growth.In Japan, consumer prices were up 1.2% on year in September, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication said on Friday. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 1.3%, which would have been unchanged from the August reading. On a monthly basis, overall inflation was flat, while core CPI picked up 0.1%.In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending down 1.3%, the S&P 500 down 1.4% and Nasdaq Composite closing 2.1% lower."Only three days ago, US markets managed to post their best one-day gains since March, on the back of optimism that a decent start to earnings season would outweigh all of those concerns that prompted stock markets to fall sharply at the end of last week," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK."It appears to have taken all of 48 hours for that optimism to become a distant memory, as US markets followed on from declines in Asia and Europe yesterday, as concerns about rising yields, a deteriorating economic outlook, and rising geopolitical tensions, saw markets fall back sharply again, and look set to see markets in Europe open lower again this morning," Hewson added.In US corporate news, New York-based American Express's third-quarter profit rose to USD1.65 billion or USD1.88 per share from USD1.36 billion or USD1.51 per share a year ago. On average, 28 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of USD1.76 per share for the quarter.American Express, the biggest credit-card issuer on the basis of purchases, said revenue, net of interest expense, for the quarter grew 9% to USD10.14 billion from USD9.29 billion a year ago. Twenty analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of USD10.05 billion.The growth in revenue reflected higher spending by consumer, small business, and corporate card members, the company said. Revenue for the quarter also benefited from higher loan volumes and fee income, it said.The economic events calendar on Friday has UK public sector net borrowing at 0930 BST while Bank of England Governor Mark Carney speaks at 1710 BST at the Economic Club of New York. In the US, existing home sales figures is due out at 1500 BST.Related Shares:
InterContinental HotelsLSE.L