LONDON MARKET PRE-OPEN: Wetherspoons And Restaurant Group Profit Down

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher Friday after the Commons voted to delay Brexit at the end of a busy week of parliamentary votes on the issue that left investors little wiser of the final shape of the UK's relationship with the EU.In company news, hospitality chains JD Wetherspoon and Restaurant Group both reported a fall in profit. Homebuilder Berkeley Group reiterated its updated profit guidance. National Grid responded to UK regulators' price controls for the gas and electricity sector. IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 16.17 points higher at 7,201.6 on Friday. The FTSE 100 index closed up 26.24 points, or 0.4%, at 7,185.43 on Thursday.Sterling was quoted at USD1.3241 early Friday, down from USD1.3277 at the London equities close on Thursday. Sterling hit a nine-month high of USD1.3381 after members of Parliament on Wednesday voted to rule out a no-deal Brexit.London Capital Group's Jasper Lawler said of Thursday's follow-up vote to delay the UK's EU departure: "Ministers voted 412 - 202 in favour of delaying Brexit. How long for will now depend on what happens in Parliament next week. Theresa May will bring her Brexit deal back to Parliament for a third time. Another defeat and she will request a long extension, around two years. Should she win, then just a short technical extension. Her strategy here being that the fear of a long extension potentially resulting in Brexit not happening should bring Eurosceptics to rally behind her deal. A case of this deal or no Brexit."Parliament voted Thursday to delay Brexit beyond the scheduled date of March 29 in dramatic parliamentary scenes which saw the Conservative Party split down the middle.More than half of Tory MPs - including seven Cabinet ministers, at least 33 other ministers and whips, and five party vice-chairs - voted against UK Prime Minister Theresa May's motion to put back the date when Britain leaves the EU.Downing Street sources denied that May had lost control of her Cabinet or her party, insisting that the results were a "natural consequence" of the prime minister's decision to offer a free vote on an issue where many hold strong views.The vote to delay Brexit came after May's Withdrawal Agreement was rejected for the second time on Tuesday and MPs voted the following day to rule out no-deal.In Europe, leaders are considering whether to agree to UK calls for Brexit to be delayed. But any delay will require the agreement of the other 27 EU members, with talks about any conditions for an extension set to begin before leaders gather at a summit next week.In UK company news, FTSE 100-listed homebuilder Berkeley Group said its trading environment in the period from November 1 to February 28 was "consistent" with that experienced in the past two years.Berkeley reiterated its updated pretax profit guidance issued with its interim results in December, where the company lifted its expected profit by about 8%. The homebuilder said its net cash at April 30 is expected to be about GBP859.7 million, the same as the level seen at the end of its interim period.National Grid responded to Ofgem's sector consultation RIIO-T2, saying it is a "step in the right direction" but warned the proposals set out "will not bring about the change consumers need".The company said: "In our response we outline the importance of a framework that fairly reflects the risk-return balance for consumers and investors alike. Specifically, we show that rectifying the individual errors in the current proposal, taking a balanced view of the full suite of evidence and removing the unjustified 50 basis points outperformance adjustment results in an allowed return on equity of 5.5%."FTSE 250 pub operator JD Wetherspoon reported a decrease in interim pretax profit, down 19% to GBP50.3 million. Wetherspoon's saw a 7.1% rise in revenue to GBP889.6 million in the 26 weeks to January 27.The company blamed the decrease in profit on increased costs. Like-for-like sales in the period were up 5.9%.Wetherspoons maintained its interim dividend at 4.0 pence.Restaurant Group said its annual pretax profit slipped to GBP13.9 million from GBP28.2 million but noted its recent acquisition Wagamama is outperforming in the sector.Chief Executive Anfy McCue said the Restaurant Group made "significant progress" in 2018.The company's total sales were up 1.0% to GBP686.0 million in the 52 weeks to December 30 but like-for-like sales were down 2.0% in the same period. In the ten weeks to March 10, Restaurant Group's like-for-like sales are up 2.8%, in line with management expectations.In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending up marginally, the S&P 500 down 0.1%, and Nasdaq Composite losing 0.2%."Trading on Wall Street was lacklustre, with the S&P moving between small gains and losses before moving lower into the close. News that a meeting between President Trump and China's President Jinping Xi was being pushed back into April served to dampen demand for riskier assets. The postponement of the meeting raised questions over how ready the two sides are to put an end to the ongoing trade dispute and sign a trade deal," commented Lawler.In Asia on Friday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.8%. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended up 1.0%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.8%.The Bank of Japan decided on Friday to maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy to overcome stubborn deflation and prop up the world's third-largest economy."Japan's economy is expanding moderately, with a virtuous cycle from income to spending operating, although exports and production have been affected by the slowdown in overseas economies," the central bank said in a statement issued after a two-day monetary policy meeting.Japan's exports to China, its biggest trade partner, plunged 17% year-on-year in January, contributing to a trade deficit of JPY1.4 trillion, about USD12.6 billion, the Finance Ministry said in late February.In China, amid ongoing trade talks with the US, the country promised to improve conditions for foreign firms and pass "heavyweight" reforms to shore up its economy, Premier Li Keqiang said Friday at the end of the annual parliamentary session.China will treat foreign and domestic firms "as equals", Li said hours after the parliament voted to approve a foreign investment law intended to appease international criticism of China's trade practices and market barriers.On the China-US relationship, Li said it will continue to "forge ahead" despite the "twists and turns" brought by a months-long trade war.The economic events calendar on Friday has Eurozone consumer price index at 1000 GMT and US industrial production at 1315 GMT.