Johnson Matthey posts solid growth, Polymetal increases stake in Dolinnoye gold property,
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 29 points higher on Thursday, after closing down 0.09% at 7,519.95 on Wednesday.
Stocks to watch
Johnson Matthey posted solid growth in sales and profits for the year to 31 March, with revenue up 12% and profit before tax up 19%, helped by a big currency benefit. The chemicals group recommended a final dividend per share of 54.5p, that lifted the full year payout to 75p, a 5% annual increase that the company said reflected confidence in its medium term prospects.
Passenger transport operator FirstGroup published its preliminary results for the year to 31 March on Thursday, with revenue rising 8.3% to £5.65bn and operating profit up 12.7% at £339m. The FTSE 250 company’s profit before tax was 23% higher at £207m, while earnings per share improved 20.4% to 12.4p. Its debt pile shrunk during the year as well, with net debt reducing 8.5% to £1.29bn at year end.
Polymetal increased its stake in the Dolinnoye gold property, acquiring another 25% interest for $1.6m. The transaction is designed to further strengthen the company's Varvara hub concept. Located in the Aktogay district of Kazhakstan, the Dolinnoye deposit was expected to become another source of high-grade free-milling feedstock for the Varvara processing plant.
Newspaper round-up
The IT shutdown that led to chaos for British Airways was caused by an “uncontrolled return of power” following an outage that physically damaged servers at its data centre, the airline has said. About 75,000 passengers were affected as flights were cancelled following the incident on Saturday morning. The carrier was unable to resume a full schedule until Tuesday and many passengers are still without their luggage. – Guardian
The UK has slumped to the bottom of the league table of advanced economies after Canada registered stellar growth in the first three months of the year. Canada was the final member of the G7 to report its growth figures, which confirmed the UK as officially the joint worst performing member so far this year. The announcement marked a significant decline for the UK economy, which a year ago was outshining Germany, the US and Japan. In February it was announced that Germany had pipped the UK as the fastest-growing G7 nation during 2016 by 10 basis points. – Guardian
The Murdoch brothers have held secret talks with Ofcom in a bid to persuade the regulator to wave through 21st Century Fox’s planned £11.7bn takeover of Sky. It is understood that Sharon White, chief executive of Ofcom, has met James and Lachlan Murdoch in London in the last week to discuss the proposed deal. Rupert Murdoch, their father, was not present. Both sides have sought to keep the meeting out of the public eye amid swirling political controversy. – Telegraph
Takeaway technology firm Deliveroo is offering its drivers the option to be paid for each order they deliver, rather than per hour - a move which the company hopes will reinforce the riders’ status as self-employed contractors, rather than employees. Riders protested last year against a plan to impose a similar contract, and now the company is making it voluntary instead. – Telegraph
The Trump administration has given its strongest signal yet that it will restart free-trade talks with the European Union, with the US commerce secretary saying that such a move “makes sense”. Wilbur Ross said it was “no mistake” that America had withdrawn from the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal but not the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks with the EU. – The Times
The American paints and coatings group stalking Akzo Nobel, the owner of Dulux paints, must make a formal takeover offer by the end of today or walk away. PPG Industries, which has been rebuffed by Akzo Nobel three times, has failed to secure an extension to its June 1 deadline from the Dutch regulator. PPG had asked the regulator for an extension until June 14. – The Times
US close
Financial stocks pulled US markets lower at the close on Wednesday with the banking sector taking the biggest hit.
The S&P 500 fell 1.11 points to 2,411.80, while the Dow Jones finished 20.82 points lower at 21,008.65 and the Nasdaq was off 4.67 points at 6,198.52.
Banks were also lower after JP Morgan Chase finance chief Marianne Lake reportedly told investors that trading had declined by roughly 15% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs also fell, helping to drag the DJIA into negative territory.
On the economic front, the National Association of Realtors' index for pending home sales declined by 1.3% month-on-month in April.
That was considerably worse than economists' expectations for an increase of 1.0% and followed downwards revisions to data for the prior month.