IHG reports good third quarter, Acacia Mining revenue falls 40%

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 37 points higher on Friday, having closed down 0.26% at 7,523.04 on Thursday.

Stocks to watch

InterContinental Hotels Group reported a third quarter of “good” performance on Friday, with revenue per available room up 2.3%, and up 2.2% in the year-to-date through the third quarter. The FTSE 100 hotel operator said 11,000 rooms were opened during the period, which increased the net system size 4.1% year-on-year to 786,000 rooms, while it signed a new 20,000 rooms in 137 hotels, taking its development pipeline to 235,000 rooms.

A day after a likely solution was agreed to its dispute with the Tanzanian government, Acacia Mining reported revenue down 40% for the third quarter and a much diminished cash balance. Having already pre-announced its 191,203oz of production for the quarter, the FTSE 250 company revealed cash costs for the quarter of $616 per oz and all-in sustaining costs of $939 per oz, respectively 3% higher and 6% lower than the same quarter last year. At the end of September, Acacia had cash on hand of $95m and net cash of $24m.

Serco said on Friday that its chief operating officer, Ed Casey, is heading back home to the US to take up a role with another company. Casey will leave the group on 31 December . Chief executive Rupert Soames said: "Whilst we are very sad that Ed is leaving, we completely understand that after four years of weekly commuting across the Atlantic, he would like to have a job closer to home. I would like to place on record our sincere gratitude for all he has done for Serco over the last 12 years, and in particular helping to lead the company through the critical early years of the transformation of our business."

Newspaper round-up

One of the most ambitious IT projects ever undertaken in financial services, to provide individuals with an online “pensions dashboard” covering all the schemes they may have, has been given the go ahead by the government. The Department for Work and Pensions is aiming to bring all the 64m different pension pots in Britain under one roof so that individuals can see all their entitlements in one place. – Guardian

The acquisition of HBOS was a “unique opportunity” for Lloyds Banking Group and regarded by its directors as in shareholders’ best interests, the high court has been told. Helen Davies, QC for Lloyds, opened the bank’s defence on Thursday by telling the court that a £600m claim for compensation by disgruntled investors was based on “myths and misconceptions” and that the deal was undertaken after advice from a list of advisers which ran to 50 pages. – Guardian

A senior boss from the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has said he would rather "smash Royal Mail to bits" than back down over a dispute over pensions. Terry Pullinger, who is deputy general secretary of the CWU, made the comments on Thursday during a rally for postal workers in central London. - Telegraph

You will soon be able to buy a house with Marks & Spencer, after the retail giant’s banking arm announced plans to launch a mortgage range. The company better known for selling groceries and underwear will roll out its first mortgage products early next year, subject to regulatory approval. - Telegraph

The Barclay brothers are expected to collect a dividend of up to £200 million from Shop Direct as part of a refinancing of the digital retailer. Sir David and Sir Frederick have launched a £700 million bond issue after scrapping a £3 billion auction of the company behind shopping websites such as very.co.uk, veryexclusive.co.uk and littlewoods.com. – The Times

The Bank of England threatened to stop Lloyds using its cheap funding scheme if Lloyds did not make its own loan to stricken rival HBOS, according to court documents. Andrew Bailey, the Bank’s executive director of banking in 2008, said that Lloyds would only be able to use its Special Liquidity Scheme if it lent HBOS £7.5 billion, the papers filed at the High Court showed. – The Times

US close

Wall Street's main averages finished mixed but little changed on Thursday, as traders booked some profits on the 30th anniversary of the 1987 Black Monday US stock market crash.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.02% at 23,163.04 and the S&P 500 was ahead 0.03% at 2,562.10, while the Nasdaq 100 lost 0.36% to settle at 6,092.62.

On the economic front, initial jobless claims fell by 22,000 over the week ending on 14 October to reach 222,000 - a new cycle low and the least since 1973.

“Once the hurricane distortions fade, we expect the trend in payroll growth to revert to a sustained 200K-plus, which will push the unemployment rate very close to 3.5% by this time next year,” noted Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's manufacturing sector gauge rose to 27.9 in October from a reading of 23.8 for September, which economists said reflected strength in factory activity outside of those regions impacted by recent hurricanes.

Lastly, the Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators dipped 0.% month-on-month, against a consensus forecast for 0.1%.

On the corporate front, Philip Morris International was in the red by 3.87% after its quarterly earnings and sales missed expectations, but Travelers Companies was in the black by 2.45% after better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue.