AstraZeneca posts positive Lynparza trial results, Morgan to sell rotary transfer business to Moog

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The FTSE 100 was expected to open four points higher on Friday, after closing down 0.34% at 7,277.92 on Thursday.

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AstraZeneca reported positive results from its Phase III OLYMPIAD trial of its breast cancer treatment Lynparza (olaparib). Patients treated with Lynparza showed a statistically-significant and clinically-meaningful improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) compared with those who received chemotherapy (capecitabine, vinorelbine or eribulin). Sean Bohen, executive vice president, global medicines development and chief medical officer at AstraZeneca, said: "These results are positive news for patients with BRCA-mutated metastatic breast cancer, a disease with a high unmet need, and are the first positive Phase III data for a PARP inhibitor beyond ovarian cancer. This is highly encouraging for the development of our broad portfolio which aims to treat multiple cancers by targeting DNA damage response pathways."

Manufacturer Morgan Advanced Materials is to sell its Europe-based rotary transfer systems business to Moog, a US manufacturer of motion and fluid control systems, for about €40m on a cash and debt free basis. The sale is in line with the FTSE 250 company's strategy to simplify its portfolio and focus on global technology businesses of scale, while the rotary business for Moog will complement its European presence in the motion control manufacturing market.

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels posted its final results for the 2016 calendar year on Friday, with group revenue per available room (RevPAR) increasing by 6.6% to £76.71. Total revenue in reported currency for 2016 grew by £79m or 9.3% to £926m, although in constant currency, revenue was flat indicating that exchange translation contributed £79m to total reported revenue. Hotel revenue in constant currency declined by 2.3% to £814m in 2016 as a result of lower contributions from the group's hotels in New York and Singapore.

Essentra posted better than expected full-2016 fiscal year earnings per share while keeping its dividend flat, with the latter as expected. EPS came in at 36.3p (consensus: 35.6p) with the annual dividend steady at 20.7p. During the year, the supplier of plastic and fibre products made three profit warnings, driven by tough conditions in its Health & Personal Care Packaging unit and short-term issues at its Filtre Products arm. At constant FX, total adjusted opertaing profits declined 29% to 132m pounds on a 9% drop in total revenues on a like-for-like basis. Net debt inched higher from 374.0m pounds to 379.0m pounds. The disposal of Porous Technologies was on track to complete in the first quarter of 2017, which analysts sid helped the company to maintain its payout.

Newspaper round-up

Business Secretary Greg Clark is travelling to Paris this evening for urgent talks with Peugeot executives and the French government about the future of thousands of Vauxhall employees in Britain. General Motors - the parent company of Vauxhall and Opel - is in negotiations about a sale of the marques to PSA Groupe, the French owner of Peugeot. - Telegraph

The scandal-hit bank that loaned hundreds of millions of dollars to Donald Trump has conducted a close internal examination of the US president’s personal account to gauge whether there are any suspicious connections to Russia, the Guardian has learned. - The Guardian

Spending on alcohol and cigarettes has almost halved in 15 years as Britain becomes a more clean-living nation. The amount spent by families on alcoholic drinks, tobacco and recreational drugs fell to its lowest level since modern records began, costing the typical household £11.40 a week last year compared with nearly £20 in 2001-02, according to the Office for National Statistics. - The Times

Argos is to stump up more than £3m in back pay and fines after an investigation revealed that thousands of workers at the catalogue retailer had been paid less than the minimum wage. One day after Debenhams was “named and shamed” by the government for underpaying staff, Argos said it had discovered that 37,000 workers had been underpaid over four years. - The Times

Nearly three-quarters of small companies in London say business rates are the most important issue they face, piling further pressure on the government over the controversial tax. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) warned that London was in “serious danger of losing its vital support system of micro and small businesses”. The average micro business, which employs fewer than 10 people, will have to pay £17,000 to cover business rates from April, it added. - The Guardian

US close

Some steam escaped from the S&P 500 and Nasdaq on Thursday after their seven-day winning spree, though the Dow was lifted by a handful of tech stocks while the dollar fell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched back from early losses to rise 7.9 points to extend its record to 20,619.77 at the close, while the S&P 500 dipped 2 points to 2,347.22 and the Nasdaq lost 4.5 points to end at 5,814.9.

Meanwhile, oil prices were somewhat mixed, with a choppy West Texas Intermediate up 0.6% to $53.44 per barrel and Brent crude flat at $55.75.

In currency markets, the greenback was having a tough time, down 0.2% against the pound at 1.2489, 0.7% versus the euro at 1.0675 and 0.8% weaker against the yen at 113.26.

With Thursday's US economic data being mostly positive, the US dollar's was difficult to pinpoint, said analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets.

However he suggested it stemmed from Federal Reserve vice chair Stanley Fischer’s comments to Bloomberg in the morning that the FOMC was moving closer to the central bank’s target rate for inflation, and as such the time was getting closer to the optimum level for another hike.

"While these comments were broadly in line with Janet Yellen’s they still don’t chime with the prospect of a move in March, and that may well be behind today’s US dollar weakness.

"That may change if [personal consumption expenditure], the Fed’s preferred inflation measure hits 2%, it is currently at 1.7%."