Keller Group on track for record year, Alphawave poaches Avantus CFO
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open six points higher on Monday, having closed down 1.3% on Friday at 7,402.14.
Stocks to watch
Keller Group said in a trading update on Monday that it was on track for a record year, with expectations of full-year underlying operating profit now ahead of market forecasts. The geotechnical engineer said that while North America performed well with more robust pricing and operational improvements, Europe faced challenges due to a competitive pricing environment, impacting profitability. In the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Africa region, Keller Australia was strong, but some projects were delayed, requiring resource redeployment. The company said its cash generation was considerably ahead of last year, leading to a lower net debt-to-EBITDA leverage ratio within its target range.
Addiction treatment drug maker Indivior said it has agreed to pay $385m to resolve the final lawsuit claims against it in the long-running Suboxone anti-trust case. The company, which makes anti-opioid treatments, said it would also take a $228m charge in the third quarter, which will be excluded from adjusted earnings. “This charge represents the additional amount above the current remaining provision of $157m for the antitrust multi-district litigation, which reflects the previously announced settlement agreements with the States and End Payors,” Indivior said on Monday. A trial that was scheduled to start on October 30 has been cancelled, it added.
Semiconductor group Alphawave IP has poached Avantus' chief financial officer as its new CFO, after its previous finance chief resigned abruptly five months ago. Alphawave IP, which trades as Alphawave Semi, is appointing Rahul Mathur to the board as of 30 October. Mathur has served as CFO of clean energy company Avantus since 2021 and senior vice president of finance of semiconductor group Rambus from 2016 to 2021.
Newspaper round-up
The influential Tory donors behind the JCB digger empire could be hit with a bill for more than £500m to settle a long running investigation by HM Revenue and Customs, the Guardian can reveal. The investigation into Anthony Bamford, a Tory peer, and his brother Mark, the director of a subsidiary of the Conservative party, is understood to span a complex network of offshore tax havens and companies. – Guardian
Thousands of fines for breaches of London’s ultra-low emissions zone (Ulez) rules may have been sent unlawfully to drivers of EU-registered vehicles, Belgian authorities claim. The Belgian ministry for transport has ordered an investigation into alleged criminal breaches of data rules after motorists received penalty charge notices from a collections agent acting for Transport for London (TfL). – Guardian
A Government promise to improve mobile coverage in rural areas has been dealt a major setback after network operators warned they will not meet a key deadline. Vodafone, Three and Virgin Media O2 have asked the Government for a delay of up to two years to complete the first stage of the Shared Rural Network (SRN). – Telegraph
Big banks have been accused of giving small businesses “an incredibly poor deal” by offering them less interest on their cash than bigger companies. In a letter to the Treasury Select Committee, Richard Davies, chief executive of Allica Bank, claimed small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) should be receiving an extra £7.5bn of interest per year on their deposits. – Telegraph
A parliamentary group that promotes sustainable and ethical business practices is funded by companies that have paid billions of pounds in fines and compensation for fraud, tax and environmental failings. The all-party parliamentary group on environmental, social and governance has received hundreds of thousands of pounds from funders, including KPMG, the accounting group, BAE Systems, the defence manufacturer and Bayer, the drugs multinational. – The Times
US close
US stocks fell for a fourth straight day on Friday as a surge in bond yields and nervousness surrounding the ongoing conflict in the Middle East dampened the mood on Wall Street.
The Dow finished 0.9% lower; the Nasdaq dropped 1.5% while the S&P 500 fell 1.3%.
The S&P 500 has now lost 3.4% of its value over the past four days alone, completely wiping out past gains made throughout October.
In a speech on Thursday, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell didn't go as far as saying that another rate hike was on the cards, but said he didn't think monetary policy wasn't "too tight right now".
In prepared remarks, Powell said the recent easing of inflation was a positive sign, but economic indicators in September were "somewhat less encouraging" and that policymakers were "united in our commitment to bringing inflation down sustainably to 2%".