LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Thursday.
----------
COMPANIES
----------
International Consolidated Airlines Group said its EUR2.55 per share offer for Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus Group is its final offer and will not be raised. IAG moved a step closer to securing a deal to acquire Aer Lingus on Tuesday after the Irish government gave its backing to its EUR1.4 billion offer, though this still needs to be passed through an Irish parliamentary vote. The other step IAG still has to overcome is securing the support of Ryanair Holdings, the budget carrier which holds a 29.8% stake in Aer Lingus.
----------
The UK government said it has asked competition regulators to look at the implications on banking competition of the plans for Royal Bank of Scotland Group to carve out lender Williams & Glyn. The Competition and Markets Authority's work to assess the impact of the planned divestment on banking competition is meant to help the government and RBS to decide whether more could be done. The findings of the assessment will be reported in July, which will enable the government and RBS to consider their next actions. Currently, RBS plans to IPO the Williams & Glyn business in the second half of 2016.
----------
Kingfisher reported a drop in total revenue in the first quarter of its financial year as it was hit by adverse currency movements, but said it is making good progress with its turnaround plans. The retailer reported total sales of GBP2.59 billion for the 13 weeks to May 2, which is a 4.6% decline on the same period the year before, but would have been an increase of 2.7% had exchange rates remained constant. Like-for-like sales were up 0.8% on a constant currency basis. Kingfisher said that retail profit in the period was GBP150 million, down 4.8% after being hit by GBP10 million in adverse foreign exchange movements on the translation of non-sterling profits and GBP7 million in charges for new country development activity. Retail profit was up 1.4% at constant currencies.
----------
Sports Direct International said it will provide an update on its outlook for the financial year to April 26 at its annual conference on Thursday, saying underlying earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation will be in line with market expectations, while both underlying pretax profit and earnings per share are set to be ahead. Sports Direct said its underlying Ebitda for the year will be GBP380 million, in line with market expectations, but said its underlying pretax profit and earnings per share will be ahead of the market view, without providing any specific figures.
----------
Sky is understood to have walked away from talks to create a joint venture with Italian broadcaster Mediaset, the company founded by the country's former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, The Daily Telegraph reported. City sources told the newspaper the talks had broken down over the valuation of Mediaset Premium, Mediaset's pay-TV rival to Sky's Italian business. The two sides had been in talks over a combination of Mediaset Premium with Sky Italia.
----------
Tate & Lyle reported a huge drop in profit in its recently-ended financial year after suffering from issues with its supply chain, a weak performance from its bulk ingredients business, and tough market conditions for its SPLENDA Sucralose product. The FTSE 250-listed sugar and sweeteners company reported a drop in pretax profit in the year to March 31 to GBP51 million from GBP277 million the year before, as sales fell to GBP2.4 billion from GBP2.8 billion. Still, Tate & Lyle said it will increase its dividend for the full year to 28.0 pence from 27.6p, an increase of 1.4%.
----------
The companies involved in the Isobel deep exploration well offshore the Falkland Islands said they have made an oil discovery that has similar properties to the discovery made at the Sea Lion project. Premier Oil is the operator of the well with 36% stake, with Falkland Oil and Gas holding a 40% stake and Rockhopper Exploration holding the balance. The companies said the Isobel well has been drilled to 8,289 feet, where it met the top of the reservoir. The bottom 75 feet of the well consists of oil bearing F3 sands which were at a higher-than-expected reservoir pressure. This resulted in an influx of oil into the well which is of a similar nature to the Sea Lion crude.
----------
IG Group Holdings said it is on track to deliver against full-year financial expectations. IG Group said it has made "good" strategic progress, citing the extension of its stockbroking offering into the Netherlands and steps taken towards securing full authorisation and the opening of its office in Dubai in the coming weeks.
----------
Outsourcing company Serco Group confirmed media reports overnight by appointing Roy Gardner as its new non-executive chairman. Gardner will take up the role on July 1 and will join the board from June 1 to enable a handover period with existing chairman Alistair Lyons, who will then step down. Gardner is the former chief executive of energy firm Centrica and is the former chairman of catering and outsourcing company Compass Group.
----------
PayPoint reported higher pretax profit in its last financial year, driven by growth in its retail networks, and hiked its dividend on the back of the results. The FTSE 250-listed payments services company said it made a GBP49.6 million pretax profit in the year ended March 31, compared with GBP46.0 million in the prior year. Revenue increased by 3.0% to GBP218.5 million due to growth across its retail networks, with margins improving. The company increased its dividend for the year to 38.5 pence from 35.3p.
----------
MARKETS
----------
UK stocks are mixed, after the UK first-quarter GDP came in unrevised, which was slightly below expectations, while retailers Sports Direct International and Kingfisher lead blue-chip gainers. US futures point to a slightly lower opening, with the DJIA, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices all down 0.2%.
----------
FTSE 100: up 0.1% at 7,040.78
FTSE 250: down 0.1% at 18,225.94
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 767.29
----------
The euro is holding onto gains made Wednesday on renewed optimism for a Greek debt deal despite German officials deflating those hopes.
----------
GBP: down at USD1.5307
EUR: up at USD1.0935
GOLD: up at USD1,188.16 per ounce
OIL (Brent): flat at USD62.25 a barrel
(changes since end of previous GMT day)
----------
ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
----------
The UK economy grew at a slower pace as initially estimated in the first quarter, second estimates published by the Office for National Statistics showed. Gross domestic product expanded 0.3% in the first quarter, which was weaker than the 0.6% seen the quarter earlier. This was the slowest growth since the fourth quarter of 2012. On a yearly basis, GDP growth eased to 2.4% from 3% in the previous quarter. Both sequential and annual growth figures came in line with the initial estimate published on April 28.
----------
UK mortgage approvals climbed for a fourth straight month in April to their highest level in ten months, data from the British Bankers' Association revealed. The number of loans approved for house purchase rose to a seasonally adjusted 42,116 from March's upwardly revised 39,203. Economists had predicted 39,300 approvals for April. The April outcome was possibly influenced by the introduction of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax in Scotland, the BBA noted.
----------
The European Central Bank will not break rules to provide any short-term financing for Greece, ECB Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said, damping speculation that the bank may loosen its stance on the cash-strapped country. "We do not have flexibility to do, let's say, some financing outside our rules," Nowotny, who heads the Austrian central bank, said in an interview to the broadcaster CNBC. Acknowledging that there have been "ideas floating around" that the ECB may offer some interim financing, Nowotny said such a move was not legally possible. On Wednesday, the ECB maintained the level of Emergency Liquidity Assistance provided for Greek banks at EUR80.2 billion.
----------
Germany rejected Athens' claims that it was close to a deal with its international creditors as the world's top financial officials gathered in Dresden for a meeting overshadowed by the Greek debt crisis. Global markets rebounded on Wednesday ahead of a two-day meeting of the world's top financial officials in the eastern German city after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said his cash-strapped state was on "the final stretch towards a positive deal". But members of the German delegation in Dresden for the meeting of the Group of Seven finance ministers and central bankers said: "We have not advanced much further on the matter." The German officials went on to express surprise at the statements from Athens saying that cash-strapped Greece was close to reaching a deal with its EU and International Monetary Fund creditors.
----------
The People's Bank of China warned of deflationary pressure on the Chinese economy as it forecast consumer prices will remain subdued for the year and said the growth outlook appears challenging. The Chinese central bank also attempted to allay concerns in the report, published on its website, about the struggling Chinese economy, saying it can expand by around 7% this year, in line with the central government's economic growth target. The annual report by the bank also saw it reiterate that will maintain a prudent monetary policy and will make timely adjustments to ensure that conditions in the domestic economy are "appropriate".
----------
Retail sales in Japan advanced 5.0% on year in April, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said - coming in at 11.562 trillion yen. That was shy of forecasts for an increase of 5.5% following the 9.7% contraction in March.
----------
Three Chinese coast guard ships on Thursday entered what Japan considers its territorial waters near a group of disputed islets in the East China Sea, Japanese media reported. The Japan Coast Guard spotted the three ships near the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands around 10 am (0100 GMT), Kyodo News agency reported. A Japanese patrol ship urged the Chinese ships not to approach Japan's waters, but they responded by saying the Chinese laws should be observed, Kyodo reported, citing Japanese coast guard officials.
----------
Talks on a far-reaching nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers might run past the self-imposed deadline on June 30, a senior Iranian negotiator said in Vienna. "What's important for us is a good agreement, even if it should take longer than the imposed deadline," Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian state media after arriving for a new round of talks.
----------
Iraqi forces recaptured towns from Islamic State fighters near militant-held Ramadi on Wednesday, a day after the government started an offensive to drive the jihadist militia out of Anbar province, a security official said. The official, a member of the Anbar police command, said security forces backed by Shiite militias and local tribes had regained control of Tash and Hamira south of Ramadi, cutting off Islamic State supply lines in the area. He spoke on condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, a pro-government Shiite militia, known as the Popular Mobilization, announced it had advanced into the area of Nabai near Ramadi, forcing the extremists to retreat.
----------
Pressure mounted on football's ruling body FIFA as police detained seven football officials in Zurich on US bribery charges, while Swiss prosecutors seized FIFA documents in a separate probe over the 2018 and 2022 World Cup decisions. The separate but coordinated investigations came to light shortly before the expected re-election of FIFA president Joseph Blatter, who seeks a fifth term on Friday. Eleven FIFA members were provisionally suspended. While Blatter is not a suspect in either case, the scandals during his reign since 1998 led to renewed calls for him to step down. European body UEFA said it was "deeply shocked" by the arrests and called for the FIFA Congress and election to be delayed.
----------
By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
11 Jan 2016 12:03
