4th Feb 2019 07:45
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening marginally lower on Monday amid quiet trading in Asian markets. In early UK corporate news, Irish airline Ryanair announced a reorganisation, drugmaker Indivior divested its interests in China, and outsourcer Serco signed a big contract in Australia.IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index is to open 0.52 points lower at 7,019.70. The blue chip index closed up 51.37 points, or 0.7%, at 7,020.22 on Friday. The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.5%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index closed up 0.2% after a half-day session. Financial markets in China are closed on Monday for Chinese New Year's Eve and will remain closed for the rest of the week. Hong Kong's financial markets will be closed Tuesday to Thursday for the Lunar New Year holiday."Trading in Asia was quiet overnight as celebrations for Chinese New Year kicked off, and Chinese markets remain closed. We expect muted trading in Asia across the week, a sharp contrast to recent weeks which have seen US-Sino trade headlines and China growth concerns drive movement. European and US futures are pointing to a quiet start with markets struggling for direction," said London Capital Gtopu's Jasper Lawler. The pound was marginally lower, quoted at USD1.3070 early Monday from USD1.3099 at the London equities close Friday.UK Prime Minister Theresa May will invite rebel Tory members of Parliament into the heart of government on Monday to thrash out changes to her Brexit deal she hopes can overcome massive opposition in Brussels and Westminster.Hardline eurosceptics in the European Research Group and Remain-supporting former ministers will form the Alternative Arrangements Working Group, which Downing Street said would meet "regularly" with Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay and senior officials.ERG deputy chairman Steve Baker, former Northern Ireland secretary Owen Paterson and Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh will join forces with former education secretary Nicky Morgan and ex-cabinet office minister Damian Green to examine the feasibility of the so-called Malthouse Compromise.FTSE 250 drugmaker Indivior said it is to divest its interest related to the Sai Bo Song drug in China to the Zhejiang Pukang Biotechnology Co for USD122.5 million."The divestiture of the Sai Bo Song tablet in China is consistent with Indivior's efforts to prioritize efforts on the long-term growth opportunities with our new depot assets, Sublocade and Perseris," said Shaun Thaxter, chief executive officer of Indivior. "This transaction helps us focus our resources on the highest return opportunities in the regions we know best, while ensuring patients in China have access to an important and transformational treatment." Indivior also said it has signed an agreement with Alvogen Pine Brook prohibiting the US pharmaceutical company from distributing or selling its generic buprenorphine and naloxone sublingual film product in the US.Indivior had been granted a temporary restraining order by the US District Court for the District of New Jersey against Alvogen on January 24.Outsourcer Serco Group said it signed a GBP560 million contract with Bupa Health Services to support the Australian Defence Force. The contract has up to four one-year extensions and full operational service under the new contract will begin on July 1. Under the contract, Serco will be responsible for providing defence support services across more than 50 bases in Australia. Serco will be delivering recruitment, on-boarding, training, workforce management and various other employee lifecycle, account management and support functions. Ryanair Holdings said it will make changes to its structure as the budget airline reported a swing to third-quarter loss and warned of lower annual profit. Under the proposed changes, a small senior management team led by Group CEO Michael O'Leary will oversee the development of four airline subsidiaries, Ryanair DAC, Laudamotion, Ryanair Sun and Ryanair UK. O'Leary has signed a new five-year contract to the lead the company.Ryanair swung to a EUR83.6 million pretax loss in the third quarter from a EUR112.9 million profit in the comparative period a year ago. The company's loss included a EUR61.5 million loss resulting from the acquisition of Austrian airline Lauda. Excluding Lauda losses, Ryanair still reported a EUR6.5 million operating loss, versus a EUR126.0 million profit a year before. Wizz Air reported its January load factor improved by 0.4 percentage point to 88.1% and passenger numbers rose 8.3% to 2.6 million from 2.4 million last year. The central and eastern Europe-focused airline said it expanded its network in January with an additional 14 routes announced in Macedonia, Romania and Albania.Elsewhere, JPMorgan downgraded miner BHP Group to Underweight from Neutral. The economic events calendar has UK construction PMI at 0930 GMT. There is also Italy inflation readings and eurozone producer prices at 1000 GMT. In the US earnings calendar on Monday, Google parent Alphabet will report earnings after the market close in New York.
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Wizz AirSercoIndiviorBHP Group