DS Smith profits swell in first half, AstraZeneca offloads ciclesonide rights for $350m

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 64 points lower on Thursday, having closed down 1.44% at 6,821.84 on Wednesday.

Stocks to watch

Specialist insurer Beazley on Thursday said its early estimate of the cost of claims from the recent California wildfires is $40m (£31m), net of reinsurance. The company said investment markets continue to be volatile and its year to date investment return to 30 November 2018 was 0.5% ($27m).

Packaging company DS Smith grew profits 28% in the first half of the year as acquisitions and solid organic growth combined with an increased return on sales margin. The FTSE 100 group also said it was exploring the potential sale of its plastics division.

AstraZeneca has completed an agreement with Covis Pharma to sell its rights to the medicines Alvesco (ciclesonide), used for the treatment of persistent asthma, and Omnaris and Zetonna (ciclesonide), used for the treatment of nasal symptoms associated with rhinitis. The FTSE 100 pharmaceuticals giant said the rights covered markets outside the US, and the US royalties for the medicines. Under the terms of the agreement, AstraZeneca received a payment of $350m from Covis Pharma.

Newspaper round-up

Canada has arrested Huawei’s global chief financial officer in Vancouver, where she is facing extradition to the US in a move likely to exacerbate tensions between the US and China. Meng Wanzhou, one of the vice-chairs on the Chinese technology company’s board and the daughter of the company founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested on 1 December and a court hearing has been set for Friday, according to Canada’s department of justice. The arrest is reportedly related to violations of US sanctions. – Guardian

Facebook staff in 2012 discussed selling access to user data to major advertisers, before ultimately deciding to restrict such access two years later, according to a tranche of internal emails released by the UK parliament. The internal emails were obtained by the House of Commons digital, culture, media and sport (DCMS) committee last month after they had been disclosed, under seal, by Facebook as part of a lawsuit against it by the American software developer, Six4Three. – Guardian

KPMG has rounded off a year of "unprecedented scrutiny" following the collapse of Carillion by unveiling a surge in UK profits and partner pay. The Big Four auditor, which earlier this year was accused of being “complicit” in client Carillion's “questionable” accounting practices, posted a 53pc jump in pre-tax profits for the year to September 30. – Telegraph

Britain’s most important trading artery to the EU could be clogged up for years by restrictive planning rules under a no-deal Brexit, the Chancellor has warned. Dover would require significant new physical infrastructure if the UK left the EU without a deal and instead moved to a World Trade Organisation model of trade with the continent, Philip Hammond said. This includes new lorry parks, buildings and equipment for staff checking new paperwork. – Telegraph

Capita has invited 70,000 employees to apply to join its board as non-executive directors, becoming the first FTSE company since the 1980s to appoint workers to its board. The two successful employees, who must have worked for Capita for at least two years, will be paid an additional £64,500 on top of their existing salary. They will take on full boardroom non-executive duties as well as keeping their day job. – The Times

US close

Markets in the US were closed on Wednesday for the funeral of former president George H.W. Bush.

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 3.1% at 25,027.27, the S&P 500 was off 3.24% at 2,700.06, and the Nasdaq 100 was 3.78% softer at 6,795.21.