BHP reaches Samarco settlement, Schroders CEO steps down
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open rather timidly, rising by only one point on Tnursday morning, after losing ground on the previous day.
Stocks to watch
BHP Billiton's part-owned Brazilian mining venture Samarco has agreed a $6bn program with the local authorities to fund repairs and compensate victims after the bursting of a tailings dam last November. Samarco, in which BHP and Vale each own a 50% stake, will need to fund a newly set up foundation over a 15-year term, beginning with $1.1bn of payment over this and the next two years.
CRH saw full-year sales rise by 25% last year to €23.64bn, which drove a 33% increase in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation to €2.2bn. The latter was ahead of the company's own guidance provided in November. The building supplies manufacturer and DIY store operator kept its full-year dividend payout unchanged at 62.5 cents.
Schroders reported some strong profit rises in the 2015 calendar year on Thursday, with profit before tax and exception items up 8% to £609.7m, from £565.2m. At the same time, Schroders' board announced that Michael Dobson, chief executive since 2001, will step down from the role and be succeeded by investment head Peter Harrison on 4 April. The FTSE 100 asset management firm had a total of £315bn assets under management on 31 December, up from £300bn a year earlier as net inflows almost halved during the year to £13bn.
Newspaper round-up
The energy regulator Ofgem is to be handed sweeping new powers to manage the country’s electricity supplies, switch off factories and request emergency back-up generation, under energy market reforms being considered by Whitehall. Documents seen by The Times show ministers are considering three main options designed to strip National Grid of its role as the UK’s power system operator, a role that grants it huge supervisory influence. - The Times
Rolls-Royce could face a shareholder rebellion at its annual meeting in May after it caved into pressure from an American activist demanding a place on the board. In a move that has taken aback leading institutional investors such as M&G and Standard Life, Rolls has appointed a representative of ValueAct Capital, the San Francisco-based activist investment group, as a director.- The Times
Aubrey McClendon, the founder and former chief executive of Chesapeake Energy, has died in a car crash just a day after he was indicted on charges of bid-rigging. The Oklahoma City Policy Department said in a tweet that Mr McClendon, 56, died in a crash on Wednesday morning.
US close
US stocks ended the day up on Wednesday, thanks in part to a rise in energy equities following a jump in oil prices.
The session followed the previous day's large rally, with the S&P 500 adding a further 0.41% to close at 1,986.36. The energy sector showed the strongest gains on the index, up 2.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.2% higher at 16,898.70, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.29% to 5,703.42.
A view that the Federal Reserve was unlikely to raise interest rates with any haste this year was fuelled by the release of the central bank's Beige Book, which painted a sombre picture of the US economy.
"Today's moves are very small, and it's not surprising to see markets take a breather after a big rally, like the 300 point gain in the Dow yesterday," said Tower Bridge Advisors president Maris Ogg. "The fact that the economy is still growing, however slowly, is good news, and since markets are not anticipating a rate hike soon, they are taking good news as good news."