Aviva posts record profits, Premier Oil sees record free cash flow

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 33 points higher on Thursday, having closed up 1.45% at 6,815.59 on Wednesday.

Stocks to watch

Aviva posted record full year profits on Thursday as general insurance sales increased and said it could withstand the impact of the coronavirus. The insurer and investment firm reported a return on equity of 14.3% and 6% rise in operating profit to £3.2bn as the dividend was lifted by 3% to 30.9 pence per share.

Premier Oil reported an improvement in production in its full-year results on Thursday, to 78,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day, at the upper end of its guidance. The FTSE 250 company said its 2020 guidance was for between 70,000 and 75,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, before any contribution from its announced UK acquisitions. It said its profit after tax increased to $164m for the year ended 31 December, from $133m, while free cash flow reached a record of $327m from $251m in 2018.

Newspaper round-up

Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline, has collapsed into administration less than two months after the government announced a rescue deal. The impact of the coronavirus on flight bookings proved the last straw for the Exeter-based airline, which operates almost 40% of UK domestic flights, as the government stalled on a controversial £100m loan. - Guardian

The government regularly ignores its own outsourcing guidelines brought in to prevent a repeat of the Carillion collapse, according to a report by an influential Whitehall thinktank. Several government departments have not updated internal policies on outsourcing to match the “outsourcing playbook” published after Carillion’s failure, meaning private companies were still being awarded contracts that were too risky for them to handle, the Institute for Government (IfG) said. – Guardian

Embattled private hospital company NMC Health has been forced to apologise to staff who have still not been paid nine days after their salaries were due. NMC, whose shares have been suspended since 27 February amid confusion around the ownership of the business and the state of its debts, was supposed to pay staff in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) their February salaries last week. In a letter to employees, seen by The Daily Telegraph, acting chief executive Michael Davis apologised for the "payroll issue" and said the firm hoped to have a solution soon. – Telegraph

Andrew Bailey has said there is “no basis” for claims made in a High Court case in which the City regulator has been accused of covering up the true causes of a computer failure at Royal Bank of Scotland. The outgoing chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority is a defendant in a legal case in Northern Ireland in which it is claimed that RBS’s systems broke down in 2012 because of a botched attempt to “destroy evidence” related to the mis-selling of interest rate swaps to small and medium-sized businesses. – The Times

A public war of words has broken out between members of the Barclay family over the value of The Ritz hotel. In a rare public statement, Sir Frederick Barclay has warned that he will take legal action against Aidan Barclay, the son of his twin brother Sir David, and other members of the family if the hotel on Piccadilly in central London is sold for less than £1 billion. – The Times

US close

US stocks had rocketed by the close on Wednesday, as investors shrugged off a warning from the IMF and chose to focus on news that Super Tuesday voting had former Vice President Joe Biden picking up some key wins, cementing his place as one of the top candidates in the Democratic pool.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 4.53% at 27,090.86, the S&P 500 added 4.22% to 3,130.12, and the Nasdaq Composite was 3.85% firmer at 9,018.09.

At the open, the Dow had added 565.57 points as stocks recovered some of the losses recorded in the previous session, following an unscheduled rate cut from the Federal Reserve that for some observers said inadvertently strengthened fears of a coronavirus-stoked recession, although others said it was a case of catch-22.

“Volatility is going nowhere but the stock market sell-off appears to have stabilised, at least for now, with healthy gains being seen for the second time this week,” said Oanda's Craig Erlam.

“Once again, it's central banks to the rescue with the Fed opting for a little shock therapy with its unscheduled 50 basis point cut and others doing so in the more traditional manner.

“That's not going to solve any problems in the real world but it may sustain financial markets in the medium term and allow other policymakers to step up.”