Melrose finishes 2018 ahead of its own forecasts, Spirax-Sarco sees decent full-year growth

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 34 points lower on Thursday, having closed up 0.17% at 7,196.00 on Wednesday.

Stocks to watch

Melrose Industries said its results for 2018 are ahead of the board's previous expectations eight months after acquiring GKN. On a reported basis for the calendar year the FTSE 100 group generated £8.6bn of revenues, but swung to a loss before tax of £550m and earnings per share of 12p after the acquisition was completed last April. But on an annualised adjusted basis, as if GKN has been there for a full year, revenues of £12.25bn produced an adjusted operating profit of £1.1bn and adjusted diluted earnings per share up 36% to 13.3p.

Spirax-Sarco Engineering posted a jump in 2018 profit and revenue thanks to strong organic growth and contributions from acquisitions. Adjusted pre-tax profit rose 11% to £254.6m on revenue £1.15bn, up 15% on the year.

National Grid has entered into an agreement to acquire Geronimo Energy - a clean energy developer based in Minneapolis - it announced on Thursday. The FTSE 100 energy infrastructure firm said it agreed to pay $100m, with potential further payments subject to the successful development of the project pipeline. Additionally, National Grid said it was progressing an agreement to acquire a 51% share in 378 MW of solar and wind generation projects developed by Geronimo for $125m.

Newspaper round-up

Theresa May’s Cabinet is resigned to her Brexit deal being defeated by up to 100 votes next week after talks in Brussels collapsed without progress on Wednesday. Downing Street is already making plans for a third “meaningful vote” on the deal on the assumption that Tuesday’s vote is lost, and Mrs May is considering making a major speech on Friday to plead for support from MPs. - Telegraph

France is to become the first European country to implement a levy on internet giants that use sophisticated fiscal strategies to avoid taxes. Under the scheme announced by Bruno Le Maire, the economy minister, companies such as Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple will be required to pay a tax equivalent to 3% of their digital sales in France. - The Times

A third of British billionaires have moved to tax havens after an exodus over the past decade, a Times investigation has found. They are among 6,800 Britons controlling 12,000 UK firms from low-tax jurisdictions. The Exchequer is denied billions a year but many of the bosses still reap the benefits of British assets. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks finished as they started on Wednesday - in the red - as investors continued to keep an eye on any trade developments between the US and China.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.52% at 25,673.46, the S&P 500 lost 0.65% to 2,771.45, and the Nasdaq 100 was 0.62% lower at 7,112.47.

At the open, the Dow lost 15 points after Bloomberg reported that Donald Trump was pressuring US negotiators to make a deal with China soon in the hopes of prompting a market rally.

“The US-China trade issue remains a core driver of market sentiment, with hopes of a breakthrough this month driving the bullish sentiment throughout US stocks in particular,” said Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at IG.

“However, with this current lull in US-China trade talks, we are starting to see some doubt creep in as we look for new drivers.”