Johnson Matthey profits pummelled, AstraZeneca licenses gout drug

London open

The FTSE 100 is predicted to fall 12 points on Thursday, extending the losses from the previous session that left the index at 6,191.93.

Stocks to watch

A £141m impairment and restructuring charge hit pre-tax profits at Johnson Matthey, which fell to £386.3m from £495m in a “difficult macroeconomic environment”. Pre-tax profits also include the benefit of the £130m profit on the sale of Research Chemicals. Basic earnings per share were 166.2p and the board is recommending a 5% increase in the total dividend for the year.

Pharmaceutical heavyweight AstraZeneca has licensed out to Germany's Grünenthal the exclusive rights to its gout treatment Zurampic (lesinurad) in Europe and Latin America for up to $230m in sales and other related milestones over the lifetime of the contract. The FTSE 100 firm received approval from the European Medicines Agency in February for Zurampic, for the adjunctive treatment of hyperuricemia, or excess of uric acid in the blood, in adult patients with uncontrolled gout.

GlaxoSmithKline has, after discussions with the US regulator, brought forward the new drug application for its daily closed triple therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). GSK and its partner in the drug, Innoviva, now expect to make the US regulatory submission before the end of 2016, rather than in the first half of 2018, as previously expected.

Newspaper round-up

The differences between Opec members were already on show as delegates arrived before Thursday’s meeting. The price of Brent crude slipped 93 cents to $48.96 a barrel. Despite the divergence in public comments from Opec delegates, Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies were seeking a co-ordinated response to stabilise the market. - The Times

The father and son property tycoons who helped Dominic Chappell to fund his doomed acquisition of BHS have been called to appear before the two House of Commons select committees investigating its collapse. Guy and Alex Dellal, the son and grandson of legendary property magnate 'Black Jack' Dellal, who run Allied Commercial Exports, loaned Mr Chappell's Retail Acquisitions vehicle £35m in order to help buy BHS. - Telegraph

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is investing $3.5bn in Uber, marking the largest single investment ever made in a private company. The deal solidifies Uber’s place as the most-funded start-up in the world and brings its war chest to more than $11bn, at a time when the company is aggressively expanding in nearly 70 countries worldwide. – Financial Times

US close

US stocks inched higher on Wednesday as oil prices yo-yoed and the Federal Reserve's 'Beige Book' noted tight labor markets and growing price pressure.

Other factors that percolated through traders decision-making were the trimming of US national growth forecasts by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and better than expected data about the manufacturing sector.

By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average clawed back early losses to creep 2.47 points higher to end at 17,789.67, likewise the S&P 500 added 2.37 points to 2,099.33 and the Nasdaq put on 4.2 points to finish at 4,952.25.