Glencore gives dividend hint, Astra sells antibiotics business
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The FTSE 100 index is expected to fall 28 points as it opens on Wednesday morning.
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AstraZeneca has agreed to sell its antibiotics business to US giant Pfizer for staged payments amounting to £1.4bn plus recurring, double-digit royalties on future sales. The FTSE 100 group said the sale would reinforces its focus on developing medicines in its three main therapy areas, while realising value from what it said was a strong portfolio of established and late-stage antibiotics through Pfizer's commercialisation and development abilities.
Glencore reported a 13% drop in operating profits at the half-year stage in terms of adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation, while net income was off 66% to $300m. Capital expenditures were more than halved to $1.57bn and management expressed confidence the firm could achieve even lower than previously indicated net funding and net debt levels by the end of this year, while also holding out the prospect of a return to dividend payments in 2016.
Advertising giant WPP posted a rise in interim revenue but a drop in pre-tax profit as writedowns took their toll. Profit before tax was down 40.1% to £425m, or 45.5% lower at constant currency, mostly reflecting net exceptional writedowns of £122m. This was principally on the investment in comScore, in comparison to net exceptional gains of £203m. Meanwhile, reported revenue was up 11.9% to £6.5n.
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The immediate fallout from Brexit yielded the biggest outflow of funds from investment managers for at least three years in July as UK investors preferred to put their cash into safe havens. Figures from Morningstar showed investors pulled nearly £5bn out of UK investment funds that month because of fears about the vote to quit the EU, though signs more recently that the market has returned to a degree of equilibrium. - The Times
The prime minister of Flanders has proposed a radical North Sea Union linking Britain to a cluster of regional states to cushion the Brexit shock, a sign that European leaders are starting to look for creative ways to heal the referendum rift. Geert Bourgeois, leader of Belgium’s dominant region, said there is a growing consensus in EU capitals that it would be fatal mistake to try to “punish” Britain. - The Daily Telegraph
ShareSoc, the UK Individual Shareholders Society, has advised its members to vote against house builder Berkeley's remuneration package at the company's forthcoming AGM. It argued that total payouts from a long term incentive plan from 2011 are likely to come to £400m, which ShareSoc described as "excessive". - The Daily Telegraph
US close
US stocks climbed on Tuesday as traders hailed earnings from Best Buy and Toll Brothers, and upbeat data on new home sales.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.10% to 18,547.30 points, the S&P 500 increased 0.20% to 2,186.90 points and the Nasdaq grew 0.30% to 5,260.08 points.
At the same time, oil prices rebounded from earlier lows after Reuters reported that Iran may be soon willing to negotiate on action to stabilise the market.