Fresnillo reports fall in gold and silver production, Sanne sees 'structural growth' in demand for services
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 12 points higher on Wednesday, having closed up 0.93% at 7,480.69 on Tuesday.
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Miner Fresnillo reported a year-on-year fall in gold and silver production on the back of expected lower grades from its operations. The company forecast 2020 Silver production of 51m – 56m ounces, including Silverstream. and gold production in the range of 815 to 900 koz. Quarter-on-quarter production rose as Fresnillo began to see the impact of its performance improvement plan, which included intensive infill drilling to “improve the certainty of the geological model, dilution control and raising development rates”.
Alternative asset and corporate services provider Sanne Group said it continued to benefit from structural growth in demand for services to alternative asset managers in its full-year trading update on Wednesday. The FTSE 250 company said it expected to report full-year revenue growth of around 16% for the year ended 31 December, primarily driven by strong double digit growth rates in the EMEA, Asia Pacific and Mauritius, and North America segments. It said its Channel Islands book delivered a “broadly flat” result, following the previously announced headwinds in the private client and corporate businesses.
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The BBC is expected to announce hundreds of redundancies today, as staff brace themselves for heavy cuts to high-profile news programmes and an increasingly centralised system for producing the corporation’s journalism. In an email to staff, Fran Unsworth, head of news, said she will use an all-staff meeting to explain how the corporation will put the BBC News mission statement of being “distinctive, trusted, engaging everyone, every day” into action. – Guardian
Far from providing flexible jobs for complex modern lives, gig economy companies, such as Uber and Deliveroo, increasingly trap workers in a precarious existence where they need to devote ever-more time to the platform in order to remain financially stable, a new report argues. Based on research and collaboration with a group of gig workers, the report by digital thinktank Doteveryone argues that the spiral can be reversed by government action – or by the platforms themselves adopting changes, which could be implemented rapidly.- Guardian
Apple has recorded its biggest ever quarterly profit as America’s largest listed company defied forecasts that iPhone sales would fall. Revenues from the iPhone rose by 8pc in the final three months of 2019 to $56bn (£43bn), Apple said. Combined with growing sales of accessories such as the Apple Watch and AirPod earphones, as well as digital services such as the App Store and Apple Music, revenues climbed to $91.8bn, a record for the company. – Telegraph
Companies have grown more confident about taking on workers since the election because the lingering political uncertainty of last year has cleared, a survey of recruiters has found. Sentiment about the economy and hiring improved in December after the Conservatives’ victory, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation. – The Times
US close
US stocks recorded gains by the close on Tuesday, as stocks attempted to undo some of the damage done during the previous session.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.66% at 28,722.85, the S&P 500 added 1.01% to 3,276.24, and the Nasdaq Composite was ahead 1.43% at 9,269.68.
At the open, the Dow was 185.76 points higher after recording its worst day in four months in the previous session, as confirmed worldwide cases of the Wuhan coronavirus hit 2,862 and continued to rise.
Market participants remained concerned regarding the potential impact of the coronavirus on the global economy of late, with shares of travel companies and consumer goods firms with Chinese dealings taking some of the biggest hits on the Street.
Chinese authorities said on Tuesday that the outbreak has now killed 106 people and infected a further 4,515.