SSE sells Clyde wind farm stake; NMC posts jump in profit

London’s FTSE 100 is seen starting six points higher than Friday’s close at 6,145.

Stocks to watch

Energy firm SSE said it has signed agreements for the sale of 49.9% of its operational 349.6MW Clyde Wind Farm to Greencoat UK Wind and GMPF & LPFA Infrastructure LLP for a headline £355m.

When the 172.8MW extension to Clyde is commissioned (currently under construction, completion expected in June 2017) the equity stake jointly owned by UKW and GLIL will be diluted to 30% with SSE retaining 70%. This shareholding implies a combined valuation of the two wind farms of £2.27m per MW.

In addition to completing the construction of the extension, SSE said it would provide long term management services for the day to day operations of all 522.4MW as well as long term route to market PPAs.

In March 2014 SSE announced a programme to raise £1bn from the sale of non-core assets and businesses and the sale of existing or in-development onshore wind farms. Monday's announcement takes the total proceeds achieved to date in excess of that target and will release capital to support future investment, it added.

UAE healthcare provider NMC Health has reported a 46.7% jump in underlying full year profits of $150.3m on the back of a 36.8% rise in revenue to $880.9m.

"We expect a good year for the UAE economy in 2016 supported by a reasonable GDP growth of around 3% despite the lower oil prices, based on forecasts by leading rating agencies," the company said.

"However, for the local healthcare sector the key accelerating driver of growth will be the on-going adoption of mandatory healthcare insurance in Dubai and the expected increase in covered patient rising from 1m to 3m according to Dubai Healthcare Authority (DHA).

Murray International Trust reported on a year of depressed returns on Monday, with net asset value total return of -7.8% in 2015, down from 3% a year earlier. Share price total return was -15.2% in the calendar year, compared with 1.7%, and benchmark total return was 2.6%, down from 7.5%.

The FTSE 250 investment trust revealed a revenue return per share of 45.7p, up from 40.8p in 2014, and recommended a final dividend of 15p, taking the total dividend per share to 46.5p - a lift from 45p in the prior year.

In the press

George Osborne will this week try to plug the hole in the public finances with £4bn of new spending cuts and a series of raids on corporate Britain, as he tries to avoid a Budget fight with Eurosceptic Tory MPs. Mr Osborne admitted on Friday that the economy was £18bn smaller than originally thought; his eighth Budget on Wednesday will seek “soft targets” to replenish the exchequer without risking a rebellion from Tory MPs. – Financial Times

An increase in fuel duty would hold back Britain’s economic recovery by penalising consumers and industry, motoring groups have said. George Osborne is expected to raise the duty — currently 57.95p a litre on petrol and diesel — in line with inflation. It would be the first increase since 2011 and would add 0.75p to the cost. – Financial Times

German exchange Deutsche Boerse could increase its offer to buy London Stock Exchange this week, potentially hiking its bid for the British institution as soon as today. The rising price of shares in the LSE Group combined with interest from rival US exchange group Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is set to push Deutsche Boerse to dig deeper in its efforts to acquire the LSE, which the market currently values at just over £10bn. – Telegraph

More than a quarter of the wealth created in Britain over the past 15 years has ended up in the pockets of the richest 1% of people, according to Oxfam. In a report that singled out “wealthy British tax-dodgers” for withholding funds that could be used to fight poverty, the charity called for a crackdown on tax havens. - Guardian

US close

A broad advance on Wall Street pushed the S&P 500 past the psychological 2,000-point mark, as markets on both sides of the Atlantic registered gains in the wake of the European Central Bank's policy stimulus barrage on the previous day.

The Dow Jones Industrials racked up gains of 1.28%, taking it to 17,213.31 points, alongside a 1.85% rise in the Nasdaq Composite to 4,748.47 and a 1.64% advance for the S&P 500 to 2,022.19, with the latter paring its year-to-date loss to 1.1%.

From a sector standpoint, the advance was paced by the following industrial groups: Consumer electronics (5.68%), Coal (5.50%), Real estate (4.22%) and Exploration and production (4.20%).