22nd May 2015 10:11
LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Friday.
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COMPANIES
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HSBC Holdings confirmed it is exploring strategic options for its Brazilian operations, including a potential sale. In a small filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, HSBC said no decision has yet been made to proceed with the deal and it will make a further statement when appropriate.
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The UK's Competition and Markets Authority said its provisional findings on the acquisition of the K-Y brand by Reckitt Benckiser Group has found that the deal may result in higher prices for consumers. The CMA, the UK's antitrust regulator, said that after considering the evidence put forward, its provision findings on the deal is that the acquisition will lead to a substantial reduction in competition in the personal lubricants market, potentially through higher prices, meaning customers buying the products would be worse off. "We are now inviting responses to these provisional findings and will continue to assess all the evidence before we make our final decision," it said.
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Whitbread said Lloyds Banking Group executive Alison Brittain will be its next chief executive, becoming the sixth female CEO of a FTSE 100 company. The owner of the Premier Inn and Costa Coffee chains said Brittain will join the company on January 4, 2016, and will succeed Andy Harrison who is retiring from full-time executive life at the end of February, 2016. Brittain, aged 50, is currently Group Director, Retail Division at Lloyds Banking Group, which she joined in 2011.
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Severn Trent said its pretax profit more than halved in the last financial year due to losses on financial instruments, but underlying earnings and revenue rose and the company increased its dividend as expected. The FTSE 100-listed UK water company said its pretax profit for the year ended March 31 more than halved to GBP148.2 million from GBP318.9 million a year earlier. However, excluding exceptional items and losses on financial instruments, profit rose to GBP300.4 million from GBP276.1 million as revenue climbed to GBP1.80 billion from GBP1.75 billion.
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SEGRO said it has exchanged contracts to buy 90% of Vailog Srl for EUR39.6 million, or about GBP28.1 million, a move that gives it an immediate platform in the big box warehouse sector in northern Italy and new assets elsewhere including Paris. Vailog is an Italian logistics real estate development company that has developed over 1.5 million square metres of logistics space in Italy, France and the Netherlands, and has a land bank and options over land principally in Milan, Bologna, Rome, Paris, Lyon and Arnhem in the Netherlands.
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Close Brothers reported growth in its banking loan book and in its assets under management in the third quarter of its financial year, as well as improved market conditions for its Winterflood securities business. The asset management group said its banking division is generating "solid" returns, with its loan book up 2.7% in the three months ended April 30 to GBP5.6 billion. Assets under management increased to GBP10.6 billion, up 4% in the quarter, due to "solid" net inflows and positive market movements, while the revenue margin remained "broadly stable" on the first half.
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MARKETS
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UK stock indices are trading higher as investors await speeches from key central bankers and the latest reading of US consumer prices, while Vodafone Group shares hit their highest level in 14 and a half years on continued merger and acquisition speculation.
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FTSE 100: up 0.4% at 7,043.37
FTSE 250: up 0.2% at 18,1888.25
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 764.63
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The pound is flat against the dollar despite UK public sector borrowing falling in April.
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GBP: flat at USD1.5660
EUR: down at USD1.1189
GOLD: up at USD1212.17 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD65.96 a barrel
(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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The UK budget deficit narrowed in April from last year, data published by the Office for National Statistics showed. Public sector net borrowing excluding banks declined by GBP2.5 billion to GBP6.8 billion in April. This decrease in net borrowing was largely a result of a decline of GBP4.1 billion in central government net borrowing, being partially offset by an increase of GBP1.8 billion in local government net borrowing.
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British households perceive that the value of their home increased in May, a survey from Knight Frank and Markit Economics showed Friday. The house price sentiment index fell slightly to 58.0 in May from 58.2 in the previous month. However, a reading above 50 indicates a rise in house prices. This marked the twenty-sixth successive month of the index remaining above 50. A slight decrease in the latest reading showing that households may have factored in the uncertainty caused by the General Election to perceived price growth, the survey said.
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European Central Bank President Mario Draghi reiterated that euro area economic conditions have improved, indicating a cyclical recovery, and progress on structural reform is needed to sustain it. "The economic outlook for the euro area is brighter today than it has been for seven long years. Monetary policy is working its way through the economy," Draghi said in a speech at a central banking conference in Sintra, Portugal. "Growth is picking up. And inflation expectations have recovered from their trough. This is by no means the end of our challenges, and a cyclical recovery alone does not solve all of Europe's problems."
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Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says he is optimistic that a solution for his country's economic problems can be found, after holding talks with his German and French counterparts. "The discussion was very constructive, in a very good and friendly atmosphere," he tells journalists after the late-night meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande on the margins of an EU summit in Riga. "I'm optimist we can soon reach a long-term, sustainable and viable solution without the mistakes of the past, and Greece will ... come back to growth soon," he says.
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British Prime Minister David Cameron will take advantage of an EU summit in Riga this week to start discussing a renegotiation of the relationship between his country and the bloc, a leading member of his cabinet said Thursday. Cameron's Conservative Party won an outright parliamentary majority this month on a promise, among other things, to renegotiate the terms of Britain's membership in the EU and to hold a referendum on the issue by the end of 2017. The British premier will meet his EU counterparts for the first time since the elections on Friday, at the gathering between EU leaders and eastern neighbours.
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EU leaders were due to promise continued cooperation with six former Soviet countries on the final day of a summit in Riga, despite misgivings in Russia. The EU is aiming to strike a balance between the different aspirations of the countries in its Eastern Partnership programme, while the crisis in Ukraine has brought relations with Russia to their worst level since the end of the Cold War. Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova wish to be more closely aligned with the bloc and have all signed up to deeper economic and political ties, while Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus have no interest in EU membership.
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Germany's economic growth eased as estimated in the first quarter largely due to the weakness in foreign trade, final data from Destatis showed. Gross domestic product grew 0.3% sequentially in the first quarter, slower than the 0.7% expansion seen in the fourth quarter. Likewise, annual growth slowed to 1.1% from 1.6% in the prior quarter. This was the slowest growth since the second quarter of 2014. The calendar-adjusted GDP also grew at a slower pace of 1% after rising 1.4% a quarter ago.
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The total value of new orders received by the German construction industry declined in March, figures from Destatis showed. Orders in the construction sector fell a seasonally and working-day-adjusted 2.2% month-over-month in March. Demand in the civil engineering construction sector decreased 2.8% in March from the prior month and orders in the building construction sector went down by 1.7%. On an annual basis, the price and working-day-adjusted order intakes grew by 1.7% in March.
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The US Senate on Thursday took another step toward passing fast-track trade legislation, with strong backing from President Barack Obama to clear the way for the advancement of two major trade deals under negotiation. The Senate voted 62-38 to end debate on the bill and move to final consideration as early as Friday. Thirteen Democrats joined the Republican majority after Obama made a round of calls to ensure support from within his own Democratic party. Obama called the vote "a big step forward" on his top economic priorities - trade deals with 11 other Pacific Rim countries and with the 28-member EU.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; [email protected]; @ArvindBhunjun
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