9th Apr 2015 10:15
LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Thursday.
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COMPANIES
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Shire said the phase two trial of its SHP625 investigational compound failed to meet primary or secondary endpoint goals in its study of pediatric patients with Alagille syndrome. Alagille syndrome a rare genetic disorder which presents with chronic cholestasis, or accumulation of bile acids in the liver, and severe pruritus, or itching. FTSE 100-listed Shire said mean serum bile acid levels and pruritus at the end of the study were lower in both SHP625 and placebo treated groups as compared to baseline. But in a separate analysis, a positive correlation between the percent changes from baseline in serum bile acid levels and pruritis was observed in the SHP625 treated group.
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PZ Cussons said its performance for the period from January 28 to April 8 has been in line with expectations and its country performance has been line with "the comments made in the interim results announcement". The maker of bath products Imperial Leather and Original Source said that trading in Nigeria, the group's largest market, has resumed as normal following a "short period of lost trading days during the presidential election process", and that the naira exchange rate is currently stable after further devaluation in the period. It said the outlook for the financial year remains in line with expectations.
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Victrex said it delivered a good performance in the first half of its financial year, with revenue rising on the back of an improved sales volume boosted by the strong performance of its consumer electronics division. The FTSE 250-listed polymer products company said group revenue in the first half of its financial year to the end of March is expected to be GBP130.3 million, up 8.7% from GBP119.9 million a year earlier. Its sales volume in the first half was 2,028 tonnes, 28% higher year-on-year. The first half was boosted by a good performance in its consumer electronics business, though this was slightly offset by lower sales in its Invibio medical business.
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Cranswick said it finished its recent financial year with a "strong final quarter" as sales grew, and said it expects its full-year results to be in line with expectations. The food producer reported a 1% rise in underlying sales for its fourth quarter for the year ended March 31 as a lower input prices were passed onto customers, and it said its full-year underlying sales were in line with the year before. Total sales were up 4% for the fourth quarter and 1% for the full year, it said.
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St Modwen Properties said all of the contracts for the New Covent Garden Market development in Nine Elms in London have gone unconditional. St Modwen is working on the project under the Vinci St Modwen joint venture with French construction company Vinci and also is working with the Covent Garden Market Authority. The ten-year project will involve the delivery of a 500,000 square-foot market across a 37-acre site in the Nine Elms development in Battersea.
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Spirax-Sarco Engineering said it has agreed a GBP7 million deal to acquire ASPECO Corp, a US-based high-purity aseptic valves and magnetic mixers manufacturer. Spirax said the new business will be integrated into its Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group division and will strengthen its presence in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. It will pay for ASPECO in cash.
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Gulf Keystone Petroleum said its pretax loss significantly widened in 2014 as a rise in revenue was offset by a substantial impairment charge and a vast increase in costs as the company continues talking to numerous parties about potential corporate or asset sales. The oil and gas producer operating in the Kurdistan region of Iraq reported a pretax loss of USD246.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2014, compared to a USD31.8 million loss in 2013. Despite revenue rising to USD38.6 million from USD6.7 million, a USD144.1 million impairment against the Akri-Bijeel block in Iraq and administrative costs doubling to USD39.0 million from USD15.8 million caused the company's loss to widen.
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Mylan said it has offered to buy Dublin-based Perrigo Co for USD205 per share in cash and stock, or USD28.9 billion, as the generic drug maker seeks to create a diversified pharmaceutical behemoth. The offer represents a premium of more than 25% premium to Perrigo's closing price on April 3. The two companies had 2014 pro forma sales totalling about USD15.3 billion. Mylan, based in Potters Bar, England, is one of the largest generics and specialty drug companies, with about 1,400 different products. Last year, Mylan agreed to buy the non-US operations of Abbott Laboratories for USD5.3 billion as a strategy to shift its tax base to the Netherlands. In a similar effort, Perrigo in 2013 had acquired Elan Corp in order to be domiciled in Dublin.
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Swiss cement giant Holcim and its French peer Lafarge agreed to name Eric Olsen, a Lafarge executive, as chief executive officer of the combined group on closing of their proposed merger, according to media reports. The agreement removes an obstacle to shareholder approval of the deal, after a protracted fight that nearly derailed the marriage last month. Both companies hold shareholder meetings next month to approve the combination. The reports indicated that the companies are set to announce the appointment as early as Thursday.
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MARKETS
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UK equities are trading higher after the minutes from the recent Federal Open Market Committee meeting showed members were split on whether the US central bank should raise rates in June.
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FTSE 100: up 0.7% at 6,988.00
FTSE 250: up 0.5% at 17,652.37
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.4% at 728.66
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The pound fell to an eight-day low of USD1.4764 against the dollar as the UK trade deficit widened to its biggest gap in seven months.
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GBP: down at USD1.4796
EUR: down at USD1.0739
GOLD: down at USD1197.25 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD57.00 a barrel
(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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The UK trade deficit in goods widened by more-than-expected in February to its highest level in seven months, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. The visible trade deficit increased to GBP10.340 billion from GBP9.174 billion in January. Economists had forecast a shortfall of GBP9 billion. In the same month of 2014, the trade gap was GBP9.906 billion.
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UK house prices increased more than expected in March after falling a month ago, survey data from Lloyds Banking Group's Halifax division showed. House prices rose 0.4% month-on-month in March, offsetting a 0.4% fall in February. Economists had forecast a marginal 0.1% growth. During three months to March, house prices advanced 8.1% from the prior year, which was slightly slower than an 8.3% increase registered during three months to February and an 8.2% forecast by economists.
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The British Chambers of Commerce's Quarterly Economic Survey showed manufacturing and services companies in the UK reported slightly weaker growth in the first quarter of 2015 in comparison to the closing months of 2014. The BCC said that though the first quarter results showed weaker balances in most areas in comparison to the fourth quarter of 2014, the quarter-on-quarter trends back its view that the UK economy is growing at a "steady rate".
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Labour's lead narrowed in the daily YouGov/The Sun poll published late Wednesday, as the Conservatives snatched back some ground from UKIP, while a separate survey found scepticism among UK voters about a greater influence for the Scottish National Party. The latest YouGov/The Sun poll found Labour leading the Conservatives by one point, at 35% to the Tories' 34%. The Conservatives gained a point from the YouGov survey published a day earlier, when it was polling at 33%. The point appears to have been clawed back from UKIP, which fell from 14% to 13%, as the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party remained flat.
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Trident moved to the centre of the election debate, as the Conservatives claimed Labour will use the nuclear deterrent as a way to secure Scottish National Party support, while the battle over Labour's non-domicile rule change plans continued and the SNP renewed its call for the devolution of tax powers. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said the Conservative manifesto will include a commitment to build four new nuclear missile-armed submarines. Fallon has claimed national security in Britain would be put at risk under a Labour government, which he said would likely use Trident as a bargaining chip to secure the support of the SNP, which has made it clear it would vote to scrap the programme.
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Greece confirmed it will make a EUR450 million loan instalment to the International Monetary Fund on Thursday, Reuters reports citing a government official. "The payment has been scheduled and will go out later today," the official told Reuters.
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Germany's industrial production increased at a faster-than-expected pace in February, after falling in the previous month, preliminary figures from Destatis showed. Industrial production rose a seasonally and working-day-adjusted 0.2% in February, exceeding economists' expectations for a 0.1% climb. In January, production had fallen 0.4%, which was revised down from a 0.6% increase.
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The Bank of France raised its first quarter growth estimate for the French economy back to 0.4% on Thursday, citing growth in industrial production and stronger foreign demand. In March, the bank had lowered the forecast to 0.3% from 0.4%. In the fourth quarter, the French economy grew 0.1% from the previous three months. The European Commission forecast that the French economy will expand 1% in 2015 and by 1.8% the next year. The French economy grew 0.4% in 2014, the same rate as in 2013. The government has also forecast 1% growth for this year.
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The minutes from the March meeting of the US Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee showed that several members determined that the economic data and outlook were likely to warrant beginning the process of raising rates in June. However, others said conditions would not be appropriate to begin raising rates until later in the year due to the effects lower energy prices and the dollar's appreciation have on inflation. The Fed noted that a couple of participants suggested that the economic outlook likely would not call for an increase until 2016.
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