ITV hikes dividend, proposes special payout
London open
City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open three points higher than Tuesday’s close of 6,889.13.
Stocks to watch
Following its strongest advertising outperformance in five years, ITV is confident of growth from all parts of the business this year and the broadcaster and producer has rewarded investors by lifting the annual dividend 34% and proposed a 6.25p special payout. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and exceptional items beat market expectations, rising 18% to £730m on external revenue up 8% to £2.59bn.
Mexican precious metals producer Fresnillo said it delivered a “reasonable performance” in 2014 in the face of lower silver and gold prices, as pre-tax profits dropped 40% to $251.1m. Revenues decline 12.5% to $1.41bn as record annual production of silver was offset by an 18.4% fall in the average realised silver price to $18.6 per ounce.
Great Portland Estates has pre-let a new retail store to fast-fashion brand New Look Retailers. Completion of the development is expected in April 2017 when New Look will take on a 20-year lease.
In the press
The central bank in India has cut rates for the second time in two months, lowering its main interest rate by 25 basis points to 7.5% due to faster-than-expected disinflation and recent budgetary reforms, wrote the Financial Times.
A failure to spend at least 2% of national income on defence spending will slash up to £6bn from the defence budget each year, according to The Times.
Average household incomes have rebounded to pre-recession levels as the economic recovery takes hold, The Telegraph said.
US close
US stocks finished in the red on Tuesday as benchmark indices pulled back from record highs and auto shares were dampened by weak sales figures.
Monthly sales of cars and light trucks slowed to a 10-month low in February, according to figures from Autodata.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.47% to 18,203.37 while the S&P 500 fell 0.45% to 2,107.78, retreating from all-time highs of 18,288.63 and 2,117.39 reached on Monday respectively.
Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.56% to 4,979.90 after settling above 5,000 the previous session for the first time since the height of the dot-come bubble in 2000.