16th Jan 2019 07:43
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set for a broadly flat open on Wednesday after parliament rejected UK Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan in a historic defeat for the government.In early company news, Reckitt Benckiser said Chief Executive Rakesh Kapoor intends to retire by the end of the year, Pearson guided to profit growth in 2019 and Bovis Homes said it expects profit for 2018 to be slightly above market forecasts.IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 5.18 points higher at 6,900.20 on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 index closed up 40.00 points, or 0.6%, at 6,895.02 on Tuesday.MPs voted against May's withdrawal deal late Tuesday by an emphatic 432 votes to 202, which has thrown the future of her administration and the nature of the UK's EU withdrawal into doubt.The 230-vote margin of defeat was by far the worst suffered by any government in a meaningful division since at least the First World War and in normal circumstances would be enough to force a prime minister to resign.But May made clear she intends to stay on, setting out plans for talks with senior parliamentarians from parties across the Commons in the hope of finding "genuinely negotiable" solutions which she can take to Brussels.Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the "catastrophic" defeat represented an "absolutely decisive" verdict by MPs on May's handling of Brexit.Corbyn tabled a motion of no confidence in the government, which will go to a Commons vote on Wednesday and could force an early general election if it wins the support of more than 50% of MPs.However, the no-confidence vote is seen as unlikely to succeed after the DUP's Sammy Wilson said that the Unionist party will back May in her fight for survival, saying: "We never wanted a change of government, we want a change of policy."Despite the chaos in Westminster, sterling was quoted at USD1.2861 early Wednesday, higher than USD1.2761 at the London equities close on Tuesday."Elections generally spark a sell off in a market, as they are a risky event. However, today's scenario is far more complex which is reflected by the fact the pound is flat in early trade, showing few signs of giving up yesterday's rally," said Jasper Lawler, head of research at London Capital Group.He explained: "Currency traders took an optimistic view, looking past the news to what could ultimately be a better result for the UK economy. Rather than seeing this as a step closer towards a no deal Brexit, as Theresa May had originally threatened, traders are seeing this as a move towards extending Article 50 and delaying Brexit."While UK politics will remain in focus on Wednesday, attention will also lie on the latest consumer inflation figures, due out at 0930 GMT.CPI is expected to ease to 2.1% in December on a year-on-year basis, compared to 2.3% in November. On a month-on-month basis, CPI is expected to remain steady at 0.2%.UK producer prices will be released at the same time as CPI. Elsewhere in the economic calendar on Wednesday are US import and export price indices at 1330 GMT.In company news, Reckitt Benckiser said Chief Executive Rakesh Kapoor has indicated he intends to retire from his role by the end of 2019, after more than eight years at the helm of the company and 32 years at the consumer goods giant.The maker of Nurofen painkillers said it has now started a formal process to appoint his successor, and will be considering both internal and external candidates.FTSE 100-listed educational publisher Pearson said it expects to deliver an annual profit in line with previous guidance, and forecast earnings growth for the year ahead. The company expects to deliver adjusted operating profit of GBP540 million to GBP545 million for 2018, in line its guidance range of GBP520 million to GBP560 million.Pearson said underlying revenue was down 1% year-on-year, with declines in US Higher Education Courseware of 5% and US K12 courseware largely offset by the rest of the business growing at over 1%.The firm added that its cost efficiency programme ran ahead of plan in 2018 with savings of around GBP130 million and restructuring costs of GBP100 million. Pearson now expects to deliver increased annualised cost savings in excess of GBP330 million by the end of 2019.Looking ahead, the company expects to deliver adjusted operating profit of between GBP590 million to GBP640 million in 2019. Pearson expects US Higher Education Courseware revenue to be somewhere between flat to down 5% as underlying pressures continue, though the rest of the business is forecast to show continued growth."We have made good progress in 2018, returning Pearson to underlying profit growth. We are also building a platform to enable Pearson to achieve its full digital potential...There is much still to do, but we are increasingly confident in Pearson's potential to grow and prosper," said Chief Executive John Fallon.FTSE 250-listed Bovis Homes said it delivered 3,759 new homes in 2018, up 3% on last year and in line with expectations. The total average selling price on completions was GBP273,000, marginally higher than the GBP272,400 achieved last year. The housebuilder said it expects to deliver a "significant step-up" in its operating margin for 2018 following the implementation of operational improvements, with profit for the year expected slightly ahead of market consensus."The group has made excellent operational and financial progress in 2018 and we expect to build upon this further in 2019," Bovis said, adding that early signs of trading in 2019 are "encouraging".Bovis intends to recommend a final dividend of 38.0p per share, bringing its total payout for 2018 - including special dividends - to 102.0p from 47.5p a year ago.Gold miner Hochschild Mining said it achieved an increase in production in 2018 with a record contribution from its Inmaculada mine in Peru.The company's total attributable production for the year included 260,436 ounces of gold, 19.7 million ounces of silver, 526,650 gold equivalent ounces and 39.0 million silver equivalent ounces. This compares to 254,930 ounces of gold, 19.1 million ounces of silver, 513,600 gold equivalent ounces and 38.0 million silver equivalent ounces in 2017.All-in sustaining costs for 2018 are on track to meet guidance of USD940 to USD970 per gold equivalent ounce, the company added. For 2019, Hochschild expects to produce 457,000 gold equivalent ounces and 37.0 million silver equivalent ounces. Cineworld said it remains on track to deliver an in-line performance for 2018, and is positioned well for further growth in 2019. In 2018, total revenue grew 7.2% year-on-year, helped by a 2.6% rise in admissions. The company put the growth in visitors down to a strong film slate in the US, ongoing refurbishments and the roll-out of its premium formats. In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending up 0.7%, the S&P 500 up 1.1% and Nasdaq Composite closing 1.7% higher.In Asia on Wednesday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.6%. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended flat, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is 0.2% higher.
Related Shares:
HochschildPearsonBovis HomesRB..LCINE.L