ABF anticipating 'excellent progress', LSE says Deutsche Borse merger clearance 'unlikely'
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 15 points higher on Monday, after closing down 0.38% at 7,243.70 on Thursday.
Stocks to watch
Associated British Foods said it expects "excellent progress" in profits and earnings this year, with growth in all parts of the business in the first half and a further boost from exchange rates. With total retail sales from its Primark clothing retail arm expected to be 12% ahead for the half-year at constant currencies and 22% ahead at actual exchange rates, guidance for the full year has been maintained.
The London Stock Exchange Group said on Sunday that it did not think its proposed merger with Deutsche Börse will be approved by the European Commission, after competition regulators came up with "unexpected" demands last week. In a statement the exchange said: “Based on the Commission’s current position, LSEG believes that the Commission is unlikely to provide clearance for the merger."
Distribution and outsourcing company Bunzl received a boost from the post-Brexit vote slump in the pound as full year pre-tax profits jumped 12% to £362.9m. More than 85% of the group's revenues are generated outside the UK and the weak pound had a “significant positive translation impact on the group's reported results, increasing revenue, profits and earnings by approximately 10%”. Bunzl said. Operating profits rose by 12% to £409.7m, while revenues jumped 14% on a reported basis to £7.4bn.
Housebuilder Persimmon’s revenue and pre-tax profit for 2016 rose as it remained on track with its growth strategy while it aimed to further increase it capital return plan to shareholders. Chairman Nicholas Wrigley said that the FTSE 100 company has completed the first five years of its long term strategy to build a “stronger, larger business while maintaining capital discipline and robust free cash generation”, which has enabled Persimmon to return £1.07bn, or £3.50 per share of excess capital to shareholders since 2012.
Global medical technology company ConvaTec Group announced the launch of the me+ recovery programme for stoma patients, including a nurse education course which has been accredited by the Royal College of Nursing in the UK, on Monday. The FTSE 100 firm said the me+ recovery programme provided advice and support about the importance of movement and physical activity after stoma surgery. It said the evidence-based programme aimed to aid recovery, improve long term outcomes and potentially reduce the risk of parastomal hernia, with the programme and two-day nurse education course the first and only of their kind in stoma care.
Newspaper round-up
Labour peers say they are confident that the government will ultimately make concessions as the article 50 bill on leaving the EU passes through the House of Lords this week. Opposition whips will watch keenly how the government responds to the first debate at the committee stage of the bill on Monday, which will focus on the Good Friday agreement, to gauge whether the government appears open to concessions, one Lords source said. - The Guardian
Unilever shareholders are prepared to back a demerger of its food operations after the consumer group’s rejection of an unwanted £115 billion takeover approach from Kraft Heinz. Paul Polman, Unilever’s chief executive, attempted to pacify any disgruntled investors last week with a review into all options to accelerate the delivery of value. - The Times
Workers in the UK saw their wages fall by 1% a year in the period following the financial crisis, putting the country in 103rd place in a global ranking of pay growth compiled by the TUC. The trade union umbrella body said wages rose in many parts of the world between 2008 and 2015, but average pay in the UK fell once the impact of inflation was taken into account. - Guardian
The Government’s obsession with Brexit will harm the economy if it fails to address urgent issues such as the country’s “broken business rates system”, the head of the British Chambers of Commerce will warn this week. Adam Marshall, director general of the business group, will tell delegates at its annual conference tomorrow that policymakers risk hurting UK businesses if they neglect the need for high-quality infrastructure and support for new businesses. - Telegraph
Sir Ian Cheshire, the former chief executive of B&Q’s owner Kingfisher, is poised to become chairman of the UK division of Barclays Bank, the part of the lender being ring-fenced to protect taxpayers from any future banking crisis. The move has been cleared by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), the part of the Bank of England that oversees senior appointments. - The Times
US close
An end of day spurt of buying saw retailers' shares jump, sending the Dow Jones Industrials higher for an 11th straight session and contributing to a fifth straight weekly gain for the S&P 500 amid historically-low levels of volatility.
That matched the Dow Industrials' best streak since 1987.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session up by 0.05% or 11.44 points to 20,821.76, as the S&P 500 gained 0.15% or 3.53 points to 2,367.34 and the Nasdaq Composite tacked on 0.17% or 9,80 points to end the day at 5,845.31.
At the start of trading, the S&P 500 had threatened to break its run of higher weekly closes as investors grew more cautious about the exact calendar for tax cuts in the States and ahead of a key speech from Trump before Congress set for 28 February.
However, towards the close of trading a report from Axios surfaced that the White House disagreed with US House Republicans plans for a border tax.