BG production up but profit down, Just Eat announces acquisitions

London’s FTSE 100 is seen starting seven points higher than Thursday’s close at 5,905.

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BG Group was doing all it could in 2015 to offset commodity price falls, it revealed in its final results on Friday, with revenue and earnings down significantly on the prior year.

The FTSE 100 company - soon to be part of Shell - saw E&P production rise 16% during the year to 31 December, to 704 kilobarrels of oil equivalent per day.

BG Group also saw 282 LNG cargoes delivered, an increase of 58%.

The lower commodity prices did have an impact on BG's financial results, as expected, with Upstream EBITDA down 35% to $4.17bn (£2.86bn), and LNG EBITDA down 46% to $1.46bn.

Business performance earnings were $1.7bn and the company's earnings per share for the year came in at 49.7c - both down 58%. Total earnings were $2.33bn, and total earnings per share were 68.2c.

BG Group managed to rein in its spending in 2015, with capex down 32% to $6.39bn, and cost and efficiency savings of $300m achieved.

Just Eat has ordered four online takeaway food businesses in Spain, Italy, Brazil and Mexico for a total of €125m (£94.7m).

The FTSE 250 company announced on Friday that it bought Spain’s La Nevera Roja and Italy’s PizzaBo (hellofood Italy) from Rocket Internet, while it purchased hellofood Brazil and hellofood Mexico from foodpanda.

The acquisition of the Spanish company should be completed by the second quarter of the year pending regulatory approval, while the other three acquisitions were completed today.

In the press

The White House is proposing a bold $10 per barrel tax on oil in a move that immediately sparked a backlash from an energy industry buckling under the pressure of low prices. The proposal was contained in a budget plan that the Republican-led Congress will ensure is never enacted, but it is likely to force the Democratic candidates for president to sharpen their positions on energy. – Financial Times

George Osborne’s claim that the government secured a major corporation tax dealwith Google appear to be unravelling after it emerged that a quarter of the £130m recovered by HM Revenue & Customs related to the US company’s share options scheme. Filings by Google’s UK subsidiary show that £33m of the funds paid to the Treasury followed a wrangle over share options handed to staff, which the US business had argued were exempt from UK tax. – Guardian

Hasbro has held talks with Mattel about a merger that would create one of the largest toy makers in the world, according to reports. Hasbro approached its rival at the end of last year, it is claimed, with a view to creating a single company with control over global brands such as Barbie, Hot Wheels and My Little Pony. – Telegraph

Oil-producing nations face years of pain as prices remain lower for longer, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned.

Christine Lagarde said the Fund stood ready to help struggling countries such as Azerbaijan and Nigeria cope with a renewed drop in oil prices, amid reports that the African nation has sought support from the World Bank. – Telegraph

US close

After a choppy session, US stocks finished on the front foot for the second day, with traders weighing unpredictable oil prices, worse-than-expected initial jobless claims, durable goods and factory orders but a sharply retreating dollar.

Also, while London finished on a high, the European Union cut its economic growth forecasts for 2016 due to the emerging market slowdown.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.49% to 16,416.58, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite nudged 0.15% and 0.12% higher respectively.