9th Mar 2016 11:06
LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Wednesday.
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COMPANIES
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Prudential said net profit rose in 2015, driven by double-digit growth at its operations in Asia, the US and the UK, and declared a special dividend payment to shareholders. Net profit rose to GBP2.58 billion in 2015, the life insurer said in a statement, from GBP2.22 billion in 2014. The life insurer increased its full-year ordinary dividend by 5.0% to 38.78 pence per share, and declared a special dividend of 10p. "I am pleased to be able to announce such a strong performance today despite the current macroeconomic and political uncertainty, which have created a more volatile and unpredictable short-term outlook for global growth," Chief Executive Mike Wells said.
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AstraZeneca said its MedImmune research and development arm has secured orphan drug designation for its MEDI-551 drug from the US Food & Drug Administration. The drugmaker said MEDI-551 is used to treat patients with neuromyelitis optica, an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system by which the body's immune system attacks healthy cells, most commonly in the optic nerves and spinal cord.
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Security services provider G4S said pretax profit slipped in 2015 due to a goodwill charge on businesses it has sold, as revenue dipped on currency movements and it booked more provisions on legacy contracts in the UK. The world's largest security company by revenue said its pretax profit fell to GBP78.0 million from GBP128.0 million in 2014, hit by a GBP66.0 million goodwill charge it booked on businesses it has sold and on one of its operations in Estonia. G4S will pay a flat final dividend of 5.82 pence per share, meaning its total payout will rise 1.9% year-on-year to 9.41p.
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DS Smith said trading has remained in line with its expectations in the second half and backed its medium-term targets. The packaging company said volume growth has been strong in four months since the start of November, particularly in western and south eastern Europe. Its return on sales and return on average capital employed also improved year-on-year, DS Smith said, leading it to back its medium-term targets and its expectations for the full year to the end of April.
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Restaurant Group posted stronger profit and revenue and hiked its dividend for 2015, but gave a bearish outlook on 2016, with like-for-like sales having fallen so far this year. The restaurant operator said its pretax profit rose to GBP86.8 million in the 12 months to the end of December from GBP84.9 million a year earlier, with revenue rising 7.9% to GBP685.4 million from GBP635.2 million. The group will pay a final dividend of 10.6 pence per share, taking its total dividend up to 17.4p, a 13% rise year-on-year.
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Cairn Energy said it has successfully completed its second appraisal well offshore Senegal, adding it is "delighted" with the test results. The FTSE 250-listed oil and gas company said the SNE-3 well underwent two drill stem tests within the upper reservoirs. The first test produced a maximum flow rate of 5,400 barrels of oil per day and a main flow rate of 4,000 barrels of oil per day, both over a 24 hour period from a 15.0 metre zone.
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Building products distributor SIG said its pretax profit increased in 2015 due to lower one-off costs, but revenue was dragged lower by a challenging European market and a slowdown in the UK repair, maintenance and improvement segment. SIG said pretax profit for the year to the end of December rose to GBP51.3 million from GBP39.0 million in 2014, mainly due to lower amortisation and one-off costs booked by the group. Stripping out those one-offs, underlying pretax profit fell to GBP87.4 million from GBP99.1 million. SIG will pay a final dividend of 2.91 pence per share, taking its total dividend up to 4.60p, up 4.5% from the 4.40p payout in 2014.
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Diploma said it has acquired Cablecraft, headquartered near Dunstable in the UK, which provides cable accessory products used to identify, connect, secure and protect electrical cables, for up to GBP26.0 million in net cash. The acquired company made a GBP3.5 million pretax profit in 2015, according to Diploma, on revenue of about GBP15.4 million. It said Cablecraft will be immediately earnings enhancing for Diploma.
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Car dealer and mechanic Lookers said pretax profit and revenue grew in 2015 following a strong year in its new and used car franchises. The company said pretax profit rose to GBP62.8 million from GBP59.2 million, as revenue grew to GBP3.65 billion from GBP3.04 billion. Lookers will pay a final dividend of 2.05 pence per share, taking its total dividend to 3.12p, a 10% rise from the 2.84p 2014 payout.
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MARKETS
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UK indices were mixed, with Prudential among the leading large-cap gainers. The euro was lower against the dollar as investors look ahead to the European Central Bank's monetary policy meeting on Thursday. Brent oil held above USD40 per barrel. Wall Street was pointed to a higher open.
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FTSE 100: up 0.1% at 6,133.81
FTSE 250: down 0.3% at 16,609.03
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.2% at 698.94
GBP: flat at USD1.4227 (USD1.4218)
EUR: down at USD1.0957 (USD1.1042)
GOLD: down at USD1,256.11 per ounce (USD1,268.52)
OIL (Brent): flat at USD40.27 a barrel (USD40.03)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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UK industrial production increased for the first time in 3 months in January, the Office for National Statistics showed. Industrial output grew 0.3% on a monthly basis, reversing December's 1.1% decline. This was the first rise in three months and the fastest in five months. However, the pace of growth was slightly slower than an expected 0.4% increase. At the same time, manufacturing output climbed 0.7%, faster than the expected 0.2% growth. On a yearly basis, total production advanced 0.2%, while manufacturing output fell 0.1%. Economists had forecast total output to remain flat and manufacturing to drop 0.7%.
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The UK government is facing the prospect of a damaging Commons defeat over plans to relax the Sunday trading laws in England and Wales after the SNP said it will vote with Tory rebels to block the measure. The move - after the nationalists had previously indicated they would abstain - infuriated ministers, with one government source branding their action as "disappointing and hypocritical". But Labour called on the government to accept defeat and drop the changes which would give councils in England and Wales the power to extend Sunday trading hours in their areas.
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Wind and rain will continue to batter the UK as severe weather warnings cover southern parts of the country. Commuters are likely to be affected as flooding and difficult driving conditions are expected and severe gales could affect trains. The Met Office has issued yellow warnings - which advise people to "be aware" - of wind and rain affecting southern England and Wales, with the rain warning stretching to the Midlands and Yorkshire. The South West and Wales will see severe gales bringing gusts of up to 70mph on the coast and 50-60 mph to inland areas. Some hill snow is also expected across England and Wales during the morning but this will ease slowly later
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Analysts widely expect the European Central Bank to announce a deposit rate cut, as well as an increase in the size and duration of its asset purchases programme, after its monetary policy meeting on Thursday, but they differ on the likely mixture of stimulus measures. ECB President Mario Draghi also is expected to announce a downward revision to the central bank's eurozone inflation and growth forecast for 2016 and 2017.
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Republican front-runner Donald Trump won two more states - Michigan and Mississippi - setting the stage for a potentially decisive round of intra-party battles next week for the conservative party's presidential nomination. Senator Ted Cruz, Trump's closest competitor, won the primary in the Western state of Idaho. Meanwhile, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton rolled to victory in Mississippi on the Gulf Coast but in the Midwest unexpectedly lost to Senator Bernie Sanders in Michigan, leaving the race for the left-leaning party's nomination unresolved.
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A plan by the EU and Turkey aimed at tackling migration flows came under fierce criticism from human rights advocates, even as thousands of asylum seekers remained stranded in Greece. Europe has struggled with an influx of migrants and asylum seekers that brought more than 1 million people to its shores last year, with some 140,000 more following since January. Many are fleeing the war in Syria, but economic migrants have also joined their ranks. Late Monday, EU leaders and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu agreed to work on a deal under which all migrants reaching Greece from Turkey would be returned to the country, while the EU would directly resettle as many Syrians from Turkey as Ankara took back from Greece.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; [email protected]; @ArvindBhunjun
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