BT to create arms-length Openreach division, Amec wins two contracts in Brunei and Kuwait
London open
The FTSE 100 was expected to open 20 points higher on Friday, after closing down 0.27% at 7,314.96 on Thursday.
Stocks to watch
Under pressure from the telecoms regulator, BT Group agreed to legally separate its Openreach infrastructure arm, it announced on Friday. The new Openreach would have roughly 32,000 staff transferred from BT, plus its own management, independent board and own logo, but still be within the BT group.
Amec Foster Wheeler on Friday said it it had won separate contracts in Brunei and Kuwait for undisclosed values. The first contract is for five years with Brunei Shell Petroleum for the rejuvenation of assets in Brunei. There are two one-year options to extend, and includes Brunei Shell Petroleum's oil and gas assets in the South China Sea. The second contract is for six years with Petrochemical Industries Company, a subsidiary of the Kuwait Petroleum Company (KPC), for the integration project between its Olefins III, Aromatics II and ZOR Refinery in the State of Kuwait.
Property developer Segro bought the remaining 50% stake in the Airport Property Partnership joint venture it did not already own from Aviva Group Entities for £365m, it said on Friday. The acquisition is to take advantage of the government’s recent decision to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport as the company expects expansion in the medium to long-term for space around the airport.
Bookmaker and gambling operator William Hill announced the appointment of Philip Bowcock as chief executive officer on Friday, with immediate effect. The FTSE 250 company had appointed Bowcock as its interim CEO in July 2016, having previously been chief financial officer of the company. “Since his appointment as interim CEO last July, Philip has driven the business forward at real pace and we have seen important progress across our online, retail and international businesses over that time,” commented William Hill chairman Gareth Davis.
Newspaper round-up
Theresa May said she will delay legislating to implement a controversial national insurance rise for self-employed workers until the autumn, after a public rebellion by senior Conservatives, including a government minister. The measure was a centrepiece of Philip Hammond’s first budget, which had appeared to be unravelling on Thursday, as a series of MPs voiced concern about the policy. - Guardian
Government measures to ease the burden of business rates are “small beer” and will do nothing to prevent future bill shocks, according to a leading think-tank. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the £435m relief package announced in the Budget would affect a small share of businesses, even though the targeted reduction in bills for the hardest hit was “welcome” due to the seven year period since the previous revaluation. - Telegraph
Theresa May should think back to Margaret Thatcher’s fight for a UK rebate from Brussels as she battles a multibillion pound Brexit divorce bill from the EU, Boris Johnson has suggested. The foreign secretary – referring to the actions of the former Conservative prime minister – appeared to apply pressure on May to stand firm against EU demands for cash, amid reports saying the UK could be asked to hand over up to £50bn as an exit fee. - Guardian
Workers in Britain are on course to suffer an unprecedented 15 years of lost earnings growth and have been warned to prepare for a third successive parliament of austerity by a leading thinktank. Analysing Philip Hammond’s spring budget, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said that after suffering a lost decade of earnings growth, households were now about to be hit by big welfare cuts. - Guardian
Crucial High Speed 2 design and planning could be delayed for months after it was confirmed that the recent appointment of an American consultancy to a key project management role has come under legal challenge. Leading British engineering firm Mace, the underbidder on the lucrative job to deliver the second phase of the £55 billion scheme, said that it is still in talks with HS2 Ltd, the Department for Transport agency running the project, over CH2M’s appointment. - The Times
US close
US stocks finished just above the line on Thursday with low oil prices dragging energy stocks down on the back of higher-than-expected US oil inventory data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 0.01% at 20,858.19, the S&P 500 was up 0.08% at 2,364.87 and the Nasdaq 100 was 0.08% firmer at 5,363.98.
On news that inventories increased by 8.2 million barrels from the previous week to 528.4m on Wednesday, oil stocks fell on fears of oversupply and sparked a sell-off.
West Texas Intermediate was last down 1.31% to $49.63 a barrel, while Brent crude was 1.12% weaker at $52.52.
Oil companies Transocean and Halliburton were down 3.31% and 0.78%, respectively.
Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital said that OPEC warned that the move to cut production could spur US shale producers and that compliance with the cut to output was always a concern.
He said all eyes are on OPEC for its meeting in May on whether the consortium can agree further cuts or if producers desperate for cash pump more to offset falling revenues.