19th Apr 2016 10:04
LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Tuesday.
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COMPANIES
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Belgian-American drinks giant Anheuser-Busch InBev said it has accepted the binding offer from Asahi Group Holdings for the purchase of some of SABMiller's European premium beer brands. Japan's Asahi is buying the Italian Peroni, Dutch Grolsch and English Meantime brand families and their related businesses for EUR2.55 billion, but the acquisition is conditional on the successful closing of AB InBev's takeover of Anglo-South African SABMiller.
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Associated British Foods reported growth in profit in the first half of its financial year but slightly lower revenue due to unfavourable foreign exchange rates, but said it no longer expects currency translations to have a "material impact" on its full-year results. AB Foods, which owns discount fashion retailer Primark, said its pretax profit in the 24 weeks ended February 27 grew to GBP457 million from GBP213 million in the same period the year before, as it didn't book any exceptional items in the period. Revenue, however, retreated by 2% to GBP6.12 billion from GBP6.25 billion, although this would have grown by 2% on a constant currency basis, AB Foods said. AB Foods will pay an interim dividend of 10.3 pence per share, which is up 3% year-on-year.
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Experian said it agreed to buy CSIdentity, a US provider of consumer identity management and fraud detection services, for USD360.0 million in cash from private equity and other investors, management and employees. Experian said its earnings will receive an immediate boost from the acquisition, which will be funded with bank borrowings already in place, and highlighted the "significant" opportunities for "cost synergies" over the next four years. The US identity protection market is estimated to be a USD1.6 billion industry, according to Experian.
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Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto said its iron ore production for the first quarter increased 13%, while shipments rose 11%. Rio Tinto, the world's second-largest iron-ore producer, said its global iron ore production for the first quarter increased 13% to 84.0 million tonnes. Global iron ore shipments rose 11% to 80.8 million tonnes. Bauxite production for the quarter rose 6% in the quarter, while aluminum production increased 10%. Mined copper production declined 2%, while hard coking coal production inched down 1%. Semi-soft and thermal coal production declined 3%.
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Carnival late Thursday said the start of its cruises to Cuba may be delayed as it continues talks with the country. The FTSE 100 cruise operator said it is continuing talks with Cuba to allow its ships to operate in the same manner as current air charter operations, which transport Cuba-born individuals to and from Cuba. Carnival said it has started accepting bookings on its Fathom brand from all travellers to Cuba, regardless of their country of origin, and remains set at present for its inaugural voyage on May 1.
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Zoopla Property Group said it will buy Property Software Holdings for GBP75.0 million on a cash-free, debt-free basis, and also said it now expects full year 2016 results at the higher end of market expectations. Zoopla said Property Software provides software products to estate and letting agents across the UK for the management of inventory, marketing and communications, and for diary management. Zoopla said the transaction will be funded from its existing cash and a GBP50.0 million extension of the current debt facility it has secured from its existing lenders.
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Saga, which sells insurance and holidays to people over the age of 50, increased its full-year dividend and said pretax profit grew by more than half in its last financial year. Saga increased its full-year dividend to 7.2 pence per share from 4.1p, which the company said was above expectations, as pretax profit from continuing operations rose by 55% to GBP176.2 million in the year ended January 31.
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Aerospace and defence components company Meggitt said trading in the first quarter met its expectations, with solid performance in its civil aerospace and defence arms offset by weakness in its energy unit. Group revenue grew 1.0% in the quarter to the end of March on an organic basis, which strips out the effect of acquisitions and currency movements. Civil aerospace organic revenue grew 6.0%, helped by 7.0% growth in aftermarket sales, while military revenue increased 1.0%. Energy revenue declined 15% amid the ongoing pressures on the oil and gas industry.
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Ashmore Group said it ended the third quarter of its financial year with more assets under management than at the start, as positive investment performance more than offset net outflows of client money. Investment performance added USD3.0 billion, while net outflows took away USD1.1 billion, Ashmore said, meaning assets under management rose to USD51.3 billion from USD49.4 billion during the three months ended March 31.
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AVEVA Group said it anticipates revenue and adjusted pretax profit, stripping out exceptional items, will broadly meet market expectations for the year to the end of March. The group did note, however, that adjusted pretax profit had taken a hit in March from the weakening of the dollar.
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McCarthy & Stone it saw strong growth in the first half of its financial year, selling more houses at higher average prices, though its profit was hit slightly by costs from its initial public offering in November. The retirement housebuilder reported GBP250.2 million in revenue for the six months ended February 29, 33% higher than the GBP188.5 million for the same period a year earlier, as legal completions grew by 19% and its average selling price rose 12%.
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MARKETS
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UK indices were higher, with the FTSE 100 hitting its highest level in four months supported by firmer oil prices. Wall Street was pointed to a higher open.
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FTSE 100: up 0.6% at 6,394.16
FTSE 250: up 1.3% at 17,108.39
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.3% at 735.71
GBP: up at USD1.4327 (USD1.4263)
EUR: firm at USD1.1335 (USD1.1319)
GOLD: up at USD1,242.55 per ounce (USD1,234.77)
OIL (Brent): firm at USD43.63 a barrel (USD43.18)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Staying in the EU will see steep levels of immigration, UK Justice Secretary Michael Gove has warned, as he accused the Remain side of treating voters like children. In a hard-hitting speech, the Cabinet heavyweight insisted remaining in the EU was the danger option as the ability of Britain's intelligence services to keep the country safe would be "undermined" by the European Court of Justice unless Brexit won. The prominent Leave campaigner insisted the government has admitted in a Treasury document warning of the economic costs of withdrawal that immigration will soar if Britain stays in the EU.
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Despite calls for him to stay silent on how Britain should vote in next month's in-out referendum on EU membership, and claims of cracks in the US-British "special relationship," US President Barack Obama is expected to back Prime Minister David Cameron's Remain campaign. A White House official said Obama plans to answer questions on his views of a British exit from the EU, or Brexit, during a joint press conference with Cameron and a "town hall" event in London, but he will "make very clear that this is a decision for the people of the UK to make."
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China and the West traded blame over the crisis plaguing the global steel sector, as the world's top-producing countries met in Brussels amid efforts to keep their industries from buckling under the pressure of overproduction. The steel sector is manufacturing more than the global economy can absorb, driving down prices and leading to job cuts. China has been accused of exacerbating the problem with unfairly cheap exports and subsidies that encourage its steel sector to grow despite the lack of demand. "It's now life or death for many companies," EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom warned at Monday's talks, which were convened by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development and labelled as a high-level symposium.
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The death toll from Ecuador's strongest earthquake in decades rose steadily as rescuers raced to find survivors amid widespread destruction along the country's north-western Pacific coast. Ecuador's Ministry of Security said 413 people had been confirmed dead as of late Monday. Emergency management agency SNGR said an additional 231 people were still missing and presumed to be trapped or buried under buildings that collapsed in the 7.8-magnitude quake, which struck Saturday evening near the provincial capital of Portoviejo, 170 kilometers north-west of the capital, Quito.
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Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said she will fight on in the face of a vote by lawmakers to impeach her that has plunged her government into its deepest crisis yet. Speaking publicly for the first time since 367 members of the country's lower Chamber of Deputies voted to impeach her on Sunday, Rousseff called the vote a "coup d'etat." "It uses the appearance of a legal and democratic process to perpetrate a crime, which is injustice," she said.
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Syrian opposition negotiators and rebels temporarily withdrew from UN-brokered peace talks and vowed to strike back in reaction to the government's alleged ceasefire violations. While an opposition spokesman said his side had "decided to postpone" the talks that started Wednesday in Geneva, UN mediator Staffan de Mistura clarified that the delegation had left an opening. The delegates would suspend their participation in official meetings at UN offices in the Swiss city, he said. "They told us, however, their intention to remain in Geneva in their hotel and possibly, at my own suggestion, to pursue technical discussions with myself and my team," de Mistura told reporters.
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The start of talks to resolve Yemen's civil war was postponed after delegations representing the Houthi rebels and their allies failed to show up in Kuwait City. The rebels and the Saudi-backed government each accused the other side of systematically breaching a ceasefire that went into effect on April 10, while the UN called on both parties to show good faith and participate in the talks. The head of the Houthis' provisional government, which controls the capital Sana'a, said that attending the talks would require a complete ceasefire and no preconditions to negotiations.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; [email protected]; @ArvindBhunjun
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