3rd Mar 2014 11:27
LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Monday.
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COMPANIES
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AstraZeneca PLC said the US Food and Drug Administration has approved its Bydureon Pen injectable suspension treatment for type 2 diabetes as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycaemic control in adults. In a statement, the drugs giant said that Bydureon should not be used to treat type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis and is also not recommended as a first-line therapy for patients who have inadequate glycaemic control on diet and exercise alone. It is also not a substitute for insulin.
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Hiscox Ltd said it has agreed to acquire online insurer DirectAsia from the Whittington Group for USD55 million plus an earn out over four years. It said it has "significant" plans to invest in the business, which it says will complement its existing direct-to-consumer retail offering. Hiscox said the deal supports its strategy to grow its retail lines of business and balance the more catastrophe-exposed, internationally traded lines, which expand and contract according to market conditions.
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Amlin PLC reported a 23% rise in 2013 pretax profit as a solid underwriting performance was supported by a quiet year for major catastrophes. Amlin reported a GBP325.7 million pretax profit for 2013, compared with GBP264.2 million in 2012, as its combined ratio, a measure of underwriting profitability, moved in its favour, down 3 percentage points to 86%.
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Keller Group PLC reported a 70% increase in profit for the recent full year, boosted by acquisitions and improved operating margins across its four geographical divisions. The engineering contractor posted pretax profit of GBP74.1 million for 2013, up from GBP43.5 million, as revenue rose 1.0% to a record GBP1.45 billion from GBP1.32 billion a year earlier. Operating margin widened to 5.4% across the group from 3.7% in 2012.
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HellermannTyton Group PLC reported a fall in pretax profit for the full year, after it listed in London raising EUR248.5 million. The manufacturing company posted pretax profit of EUR35.1 million for 2013, down from EUR50.3 million in 2012, while revenue increased 11% to EUR538.0 million, from EUR514.2 million a year earlier. Profit was dented by an increase in finance costs which totalled EUR28.4 million compared with EUR15.3 million a year earlier. The increase was primarily due to the accelerated write down of a bond transaction costs of EUR13.0 million.
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Premier Foods PLC confirmed that it is continuing to review its options regarding its future capital structure and will update the market when it puts out its 2013 results. It said it was responding to recent comments in the press regarding a potential capital restructuring. The company has been struggling with its debt pile for several years, and media reports say a wide-ranging capital restructuring will be announced in an attempt to finally put it on a firm financial footing.
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MARKETS
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UK markets are being weighed down heavily by political tensions in the Crimea
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FTSE 100: down 1.4% at 6713.91
FTSE 250: down 2.0% at 16397.04
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.9% at 84.54
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The pound is down against the dollar even after positive manufacturing data in the UK and the highest mortgage approvals since 2007. Gold is up to a four-month high on the Ukraine situation.
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GBP-USD: down at USD1.6733
EUR-USD: up at USD1.3782
GOLD: up 1.4% at USD1,343.59 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up 2.1% at USD111.42 a barrel
(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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British mortgage approvals hit their highest level since November 2007, data from the Bank of England showed. Lenders approved 76,947 mortgages in January, the highest since November 2007. Approvals were expected to rise to 74,000 from 72,798 in December. Net consumer credit increased by GBP 0.7 billion, in line with expectations. However, lending to business continued to decline in January.
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UK manufacturing sector expanded for the eleventh successive month in February, and to a slightly larger extent than in the prior month, survey data published by Markit Economics and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) revealed. The seasonally adjusted manufacturing purchasing managers' index advanced to 56.9 in February from 56.6 in January, which was revised down from 56.7. PMI readings above 50 indicate growth in activity, while those below show contraction. The index has now stayed above the neutral mark for the eleventh straight month.
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The average asking price for a house in the UK was up 0.7% on month in February, property tracking website Hometrack revealed. That follows the 0.3% increase in January. On a yearly basis, house prices climbed 5.4%, accelerating from the 4.8% increase in the previous month. "The continued imbalance between supply and demand indicates we can expect further upward pressure on prices in the months ahead," Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack, said in a statement accompanying the data.
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Employment vacancies in London's financial services sector increased sharply in February, in a sign that the sector is recovering from the recent slump, survey data released by recruitment firm Astbury Marsden showed. The number of new City jobs climbed 25% on an annual basis to 3,220 in February, which followed an exceptionally strong January for new jobs. In February last year, only 2,575 new jobs were created.
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Eurozone's manufacturing sector growth weakened in February, but to a lesser extent than estimated earlier, final data published by Markit Economics revealed. The seasonally adjusted manufacturing purchasing managers' (PMI) index dropped to 53.2 in February from 54 in January, which was the highest reading in thirty-two months. The February decline was the first in five month. The reading was slightly higher than the previously estimated score of 53. The index has now stayed above the no-change 50 mark, which separates growth from contraction, for the eighth month in a row.
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Russian stocks plunged as tensions rose between Moscow and the West over Ukraine after a US official said the Russian military had taken "complete operational control" of Crimea. The Micex Index dove nearly 9.8% to 1,302.87.
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Russia's central bank raised its key interest rate in an unexpected move amid escalating concerns over crisis in Ukraine took the ruble to record lows against the US dollar. The Bank of Russia lifted its lending rate to 7.00% from 5.50% citing rising risks to inflation and financial stability.
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International pressure on Russia mounted, as seven of the world's most industrialized nations issued a joint condemnation of Russian actions in Crimea, saying they would stop their involvement in preparations for a planned Group of Eight (G8) summit in June in Sochi. "We, the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US and the President of the European Council and President of the European Commission, join together today to condemn the Russian Federation's clear violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," the G7 statement, released by the White House late Sunday, read. As of Sunday afternoon, the Russian military had "complete operational control" of Crimea, a senior US official said. The Russian military presence included 6,000 airborne and naval forces, and they are "flying in reinforcements."
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An indicator of performance by the Chinese manufacturing sector dropped for a seventh successive month in February amid faltering demand both at home and abroad, adding to concerns that economy is facing downside risks from weak industrial activity. The Markit/ HSBC manufacturing purchasing managers' index, or PMI, dropped to 48.5 in February from 49.5 in January. An index reading below 50 indicate decline in activity. The February score was slightly higher than the flash estimate of 48.3.
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North Korea fired two short-range missiles from its east coast early Monday, South Korea said.
The missiles, launched at 6:19 am (2119 GMT Sunday) had a presumed range of more than 500 kilometres, the Defence Ministry in Seoul said, adding they were thought to be of the Scud-C type.
North Korea on Thursday fired four missiles with a 200-kilometre range of its east coast, Seoul said last week. The North's military regularly tests short-range missiles. Annual spring manoeuvres by US and South Korean forces began last week in South Korea despite protests by Pyongyang.
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A magnitude-6.6 earthquake struck south-western Japan early Monday, the Meteorological Agency said. No casualties or damage were reported and no tsunami warning was issued. The quake jolted the region at 5:11 am (2011 GMT Sunday) with its seismic centre off the north-western coast of the main Okinawa island, at a depth of 120 kilometres, the agency said. The quake registered intensity 4 on the Japanese seismic scale of 7 in several areas of Okinawa, 1,600 kilometres south-west of Tokyo.
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Anti-government protesters retreated from four occupied intersections in the Thai capital Sunday, but vowed they were not giving up their struggle. Suthep Thaugsuban, leader of the People's Democratic Reform Committee, called Friday for his followers to vacate several vital intersections occupied since the launch of the Bangkok Shutdown campaign, and to fall back to Lumpini Park in the city centre. The freed-up intersections would be reopened to traffic late Sunday, police said, as street sweepers and water trucks were dispatched to clean up behind the hundreds of protesters who occupied the sites since the campaign was launched on January 13.
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Egypt's new Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb on Sunday called for an end to labour strikes and protests, which are straining the economy. "The time has come for work and productivity," Mehleb said in a televised address, his first since his cabinet was sworn in on Saturday. "Let us end all kinds of protests and sit-ins and strikes." There have been strikes in state-owned textile firms, public transport and post offices. Doctors in public hospitals have also staged one-day stoppages.
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The trial of Egypt's ousted former president Mohammed Morsi on charges of inciting the killing of protesters was adjourned until Tuesday due to bad weather conditions, state television reported.
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Dozens of Libyans Sunday stormed the building of the parliament in the capital Tripoli in protest against the extension of its mandate, the official Libyan News Agency reported, citing an official. "The demonstrators had set fire in the vicinity of the National Congress (parliament) before storming its hall while members were in session," the parliament's spokesman Omar Humaydan said. He added that some protesters were armed and attacked the members, some of them were later hospitalized.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Sunday not to give into pressure over Israel's peace negotiations with the Palestinians and the Iranian nuclear issue, as he took off for a five-day trip to the US. "I will stand firmly on the state of Israel's vital interests, first and foremost among them the security of our citizens," Netanyahu said before take-off, according to a statement from his office.
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UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned violators of human rights in Syria - both from the government and the opposition - that, "Those committing such acts are on notice: This council and the world are watching," he said speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva at the start of the body's month-long spring session. He stressed that is the duty of the UN Security Council to end rights violations and bloodshed in Syria.
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