DS Smith to offload plastics division, Melrose selling assets acquired in GKN deal
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 12 points lower on Wednesday, having closed up 0.69% at 7,183.43 on Tuesday.
Stocks to watch
DS Smith said on Wednesday that trading since 1 November has continued to be strong and in line with its expectations, as it announced the sale of its plastics division to Olympus Partners for an enterprise value of $585m (around £450m). The packaging company said the sale represents an important step in its continued progress as a leader in sustainable packaging and accelerates the programme of deleveraging, alongside organic cash flow.
Melrose Industries expects to bring in £200m after agreeing the sale of a pair of assets acquired as part of the GKN deal. The acquisitive turnaround specialist said it had agreed to sell Walterscheid Powertrain Group, previously known as GKN Off Highway Powertrain, and a 43.57% stake in Société Anonyme Belge de Constructions Aéronautiques.
Tritax Big Box reported an 8% uplift in its adjusted earnings per share on Wednesday, to 6.88p for the year, as its EPRA net asset value per share increased by 7.4% to 152.83p as at 31 December. The FTSE 250 real estate investment trust said its total return for the year, being the increase in EPRA net asset value plus dividends paid, was 12.1% for the year, compared to its target of at least 9% per annum over the medium term.
Legal & General lifted its total dividend 7% to 16.42p after reporting 10% growth in operating profit to £1.9bn for 2018. "Our strategy positions us well despite the broader environment, our current trading is strong and we expect this momentum to continue in 2019," said chief executive Nigel Wilson.
Newspaper round-up
More than eight million UK adults would struggle to cope in a cashless society, according to a major report which claims that the country’s “cash infrastructure” is in danger of collapsing. With Britons increasingly turning to digital payments, and bank branches and ATMs closing, the Access to Cash Review said companies and organisations providing “essential” services should be required to ensure that consumers can continue to pay by cash. – Guardian
More people will join the swelling ranks of the “ultra-rich” – with fortunes of more than $30m (£22.7m) – in the next five years than complete the London Marathon next month. Very wealthy individuals are increasing their fortunes at such a rate that about 42,700 will become ultra-high net worth individuals by 2023, according to a report by the property consultants Knight Frank. Slightly more than 40,000 runners are expected to finish the marathon. – Guardian
The number of ‘green collar’ jobs is set to triple by the end of the next decade under Government plans to boost the offshore wind industry. Ministers are expected later this week to announce a major partnership between Government and the burgeoning industry to build on the success of the mega-turbines dotting Britain’s coastline. – Telegraph
Goldman Sachs is relaxing the dress code for all its employees, a move once considered unimaginable for the Wall Street firm’s leagues of monk-shoed partners and bankers in bespoke suits. The new “firm wide flexible dress code” was announced in an internal memo, which said the shift was due to “the changing nature of workplaces generally in favour of a more casual environment”. – Telegraph
Leading carmakers are “on death row” as they await clarity on Britain’s departure from the European Union, their executives complained yesterday. Bosses attacked the political furore over Brexit as “not good enough”, warning that a no-deal departure would have dire consequences for generations to come. – The Times
US close
US stocks finished in the red on Tuesday, as investors continued to monitor developments in Sino-US trade relations and after China downgraded its economic growth targets for this year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session down 0.05% at 25,806.63, while the S&P 500 lost 0.11% to 2,789.65 and the Nasdaq Composite was off 0.02% to 7,576.36.
At the open, the Dow lost more than 40 points following news from Beijing overnight that it now expects the economy to grow at a pace of between 6% and 6.5% this year, down from about 6.5% growth in 2018.
That was seen as the result of the trade war with the US, high debt levels and financing bottlenecks for private enterprises.
The Caixin/Markit services purchasing managers' index fell to 51.1 in February from 53.6 the month before, dropping to its lowest level in four months and coming in well below the consensus forecast of 53.5.