Diploma pulls interim dividend, TI Fluid Systems to still pay final distribution

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The FTSE 100 is expected to open 18 points higher on Monday, having closed up 1.4% at 5,935.98 on Thursday.

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Diploma pulled its interim dividend and said April revenue had slumped by more than a quarter amid the coronavirus crisis. The company on Monday said underlying revenues fell 28% last month as it reported a 4% rise in interim pre-tax profits to £41.6m.

Primary Health Properties has acquired a portfolio of 20 purpose-built medical centres in England and Wales for £47.1m before costs, it announced on Monday. The FTSE 250 company said that as part of the transaction, it conditionally contracted to acquire another two medical centres for £6.9m, before costs. At the same time, the company confirmed that 98% of its UK rents for the second quarter had been collected, with £0.7m still outstanding - half of which was now subject to an agreed monthly payment plan.

TI Fluid Systems said it would pay its final dividend even after Covid-19 customer shutdowns caused revenue to fall 16% in the company's first quarter. Revenue for the three months to the end of March fell 15.6% to €717.3m (£626m) from a year earlier. Excluding currency movements, revenue fell 16%. TI Fluid said shareholders would receive 5.2p a share as a final dividend for the year to the end of December on 29 May subject to approval at its annual general meeting.

Newspaper round-up

A healthcare firm which employs the prominent Conservative politician Owen Paterson as a paid consultant has been awarded a £133m contract without any other firms being given the opportunity to bid for the work. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has given Randox the contract to produce testing kits to help respond to the coronavirus pandemic. It was awarded “without prior publication of a call for competition”, according to details of the contract seen by the Guardian. – Guardian

Virgin Money has reversed a decision to block some customers from making new purchases on their credit cards, saying that it has listened to feedback and decided it is not the right time to make the changes. The bank also apologised for any additional worry and inconvenience that may have been caused. – Guardian

Ministers are expected to extend the state bankrolling of wages until the end of September, albeit at a reduced rate of 60pc, while also topping up the pay packets of staff brought back to work on a part-time basis. Changes to the furlough scheme could be announced by Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, as soon as tomorrow. – Telegraph

Regulators have flown onto a direct collision course with airlines by threatening “any action” against operators that refuse to refund customers for flights cancelled because of coronavirus. The Civil Aviation Authority's beefed-up stance raises the spectre of legal claims against airlines that continue to withhold an estimated £7bn of customer money. - Telegraph

Sir John Vickers, the architect of the financial regime put in place after the 2008 crisis, has expressed concern about the Bank of England’s decision to abandon stress tests for insurers and said that Legal & General’s imminent dividend of more than £750 million should be blocked. Sir John, former chairman of the Independent Banking Commission, said: “If stress tests are on pause, then so too should be insurance company dividends, notably L&G’s, until the future is clearer.” – The Times

US close

Stocks on Wall Street closed in the green on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.91% to 24,331.32.

At the same time, the S&P 500 added 1.69% to 2,929.80, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.58% to 9,121.32.