Lloyds and Sabadell agree terms over TSB takeover

According to City experts, the FTSE 100 index is expected to open 4 points lower than Thursday's

Stocks to watch

Lloyds Bank and Sabadell have agreed terms to allow the Spanish bank to proceed with its takeover of TSB. Sabadell has agreed to acquire a 9.99% interest in TSB from Lloyds, with the FTSE 100 bank has entered into an irrevocable undertaking to accept the 340p-per-share cash offer for its entire remaining 40.01% stake.

Shell has sold off a portion of its upstream assets in Nigeria for $737m cash to local operator Eroton Exploration & Production. The Anglo Dutch oil giant, which last year said it lost nearly $1bn from the rampant oil theft and sabotage in Nigeria, offloaded its 30% interest in oil mining lease 18 and related facilities in the Eastern Niger Delta.

Exploration outfit Tullow Oil has been granted access to increased financing to support its activities on more secure terms from lenders. Lenders’ commitments under its six-monthly Reserve Based Lend (RBL) have been increased by $200m, while lenders have committed an additional $250m under the company’s corporate credit facility, to reach $1bn. The covenants on both sources of financing were amended to address the risk of potential breaches in case of oil price volatility.

Bookmaker Ladbrokes has appointed a new chief executive, promoting the managing director of its digital arm, Jim Mullen. He will take over from Richard Glynn 1 April 2015. Prior to working at Ladbrokes, Mullen was COO of online operations at William Hill.

In the press

French cement company Lafarge SA agreed on new terms with its $44bn merger with Swiss competitor Holcim late on Thursday, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras has agreed to speed up the process of economic reform but was unable to secure short-term financing for Greece during his meeting with Germany and France, reported the Financial Times.

Ryanair has been forced to admit it won’t be considering trans-atlantic flights three days after a spokesman claimed flights would be available for €10, wrote The Telegraph.

US close

US stocks mostly retreated on Thursday, a day after the Federal Reserve's tinkered stance on interest rates prompted strong gains.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 117 points down and the S&P 500 shed 10 points. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq edged 9 points higher, after briefly trading adobe the 5,000 mark late in the afternoon.

As expected, the Fed had dropped the word "patient" from its pledge about raising rates, but signalled a slower than expected increase in interest rates.

"The forward path in interest rates is going to be slower than previously expected. The market celebrated that yesterday, and now it's wondering what comes next," said Kevin Caron, market strategist at Stifel Nicolaus.