NAV stronger at British Land, SSE earnings zap higher
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 20 points lower on Wednesday, after closing up 0.91% at 7,522.03 on Tuesday.
Stocks to watch
British Land reported a much stronger net asset value at its year end than the market was expecting and, despite the ongoing uncertainty around the economy, said it was confident of generating better returns in the year ahead. The FTSE 100 property developer recorded an EPRA NAV almost flat at 915p, with net assets at £9.5bn at its 31 March year end, down from £9.6bn over the year.
Energy company SSE posted its preliminary results for the year to 31 March on Wednesday, with the board lifting its recommended full-year dividend by 2.1% to 91.3p while adjusted earnings per share were up 5.2% at 125.7p. The FTSE 100 firm said its adjusted dividend cover was towards the top of its expected range at 1.38 times, while adjusted operating profit improved 2.7% to £1,874.0m. Adjusted profit before tax was 2.1% higher at £1,545.9m, and adjusted profit after tax was up 6.1% to £1,268.9m.
Newspaper round-up
Dominic Chappell, the former owner of BHS, could be pursued for millions of pounds owed to Philip Green’s business empire as well as to creditors of the now collapsed department store. Chappell’s Retail Acquisitions (RAL), which bought BHS for £1 in 2015, has been accused of extracting an estimated £17m from the retailer despite owning it for just 13 months before it went into administration in 2016. – Guardian
Tata Steel has taken a step towards helping secure the future of its UK operations – including the Port Talbot works in south Wales – by reaching an outline agreement over the restructuring of its pension scheme. Unions reacted cautiously to the announcement by the Indian-owned company that it would pump £550m into the British Steel pension scheme – one of the UK’s largest, with liabilities of £15bn and 130,000 members, including former employees from the days when it was part of a state-owned company. The scheme will also get a 33% stake in Tata’s UK business. – Guardian
Lloyds Banking Group has finally closed the darkest chapter in its history after the Government offloaded its remaining shareholding, removing the last vestiges of the lender’s £20.3bn bailout at the height of the financial crisis. The Treasury and the 252-year-old bank have announce that the taxpayer's residual 0.25pc stake was sold into the market today, returning Lloyds to full private ownership almost a decade after its 2008 rescue. – Telegraph
The wind developer behind the world’s largest working wind turbines has said the size of its giant offshore blades, currently in UK waters, will double again within seven years. Dong Energy will officially open the second phase of its giant Burbo Bank offshore wind farm off the coast of Merseyside coast later today by showcasing its 8MW turbines, the largest ever used. – Telegraph
Balfour Beatty faces a revolt at its annual shareholder meeting tomorrow as a leading corporate governance adviser recommends a vote against the top executives’ proposed pay deal. Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), the world’s biggest proxy voting agency, has recommended that investors in the FTSE 250 infrastructure and construction company — which has been involved in some of the UK’s biggest projects, such as Crossrail and the Thames Tideway Tunnel — reject the £3.76 million package for Leo Quinn, the chief executive. – The Times
The decision by Vanguard, the low-cost fund manager, to create its own fund supermarket to sell its goods, is likely to have a long-term impact on the investment industry similar to that of Aldi and Lidl on UK food retailing. Just as established players such as Sainsbury’s and Tesco had to engage in cost-cutting campaigns in an attempt to preserve market share, so the giants of the fund supermarket world will be wondering whether they need to lower their prices to stop customers deserting them for their cheaper rival. – The Times
US close
Retailers' shares were weighing on US stock benchmarks on Tuesday, while accusations that the president might have shared confidential information with visiting Russian diplomats took its toll on the dollar.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.01% at 20,979.75 and the S&P 500 lost 0.07% to 2,400.67, although the Nasdaq 100 managed a gain of 0.35% to settle at 5,724.44.
Overnight on Monday, the Washington Post reported Donald Trump had breached the trust of one of its allies, by revealing information regarding a possible Isis plot to target airliners using laptop computers.
On Monday evening, Trump received Russian foreign policy czar Sergei Lavrov and the country's ambassador in the US in the Oval Office.
The report was denied by national security adviser HR McMaster, who said no sources nor the methods used to gather the intelligence had been discussed.
Trump appeared to all but confirm the reports, however, leading to confusion as he told of his right to discuss any information with anyone if he so chooses.
Earlier on Tuesday, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell told a reporter he'd prefer "less drama" from the White House.
Economic data was somewhat mixed on Tuesday, with figures from the Federal Reserve showing that increased auto output and steady growth in mining sent US industrial production higher by 1.0% month-on-month in April, dwarfing forecasts for a rise of 0.4%.