Smiths to sell John Crane, Ocado wins second overseas deal
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to fall around 16 points on Monday.
Stocks to watch
Smiths Group has agreed to sell its John Crane's Bearings business to private Austrian company Miba AG for an enterprise value of $35m. Smiths said the divestment is part of the ongoing corporate programme to concentrate the portfolio on scalable market leading positions in the company's chosen markets, and the proceeds will be reinvested in "attractive growth opportunities".
Ocado has signed its second major international customer less than two months after the first, with a contract to build a customer fulfilment centre for Canada's second largest supermarket group. Winning a contract with $24bn-sales-a-year Sobeys should create "significant long term value" for the FTSE 250 online grocery specialist, although it will be earnings-neutral in the current year.
NMC Health has completed two acquisitions and the completion of new contracts to operate and manage two Egyptian hospitals for Emirates Group. The first acquisition is of a 70% stake in CosmeSurge, a provider of cosmetic surgery and aesthetic medicine, with the second being an 80% stake in Riyadh-based Al Salam Medical Group.
Newspaper round-up
Bosses at Dignity sold millions of pounds of shares before the funeral provider issued a profit warning that halved the company’s value. About £14 million of shares were sold in 16 transactions between March 2016 and September 2017, according to an analysis of management dealings. – The Times
Labour has warned that the crown representatives who are supposed to police public sector suppliers such as the failed construction company Carillion face potential conflicts of interest, as its own research showed that several hold external directorships and one is a Tory donor. A dossier produced by the party showed that the former admiral Sir Robert Walmsley, who is responsible to the taxpayer for monitoring the outsourcing multinational Serco, also sits on the board as senior independent director of two defence contractors, Ultra Electronics and Cohort plc. – Guardian
The UK’s economic growth potential held firm in the first year following the Brexit vote and could climb the global rankings in the years ahead, thanks in part to backing for emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). The accountant KPMG’s annual survey of global growth potential has ranked Britain 13th on its growth potential indicator, ahead of Germany which dropped two places to 14th place and France which failed to make the top 20 league table. – Telegraph
US close
Wall Street's main market gauges finished higher, with investors apparently brushing off concerns about a possible government shutdown ahead of a key Senate vote.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was higher by 0.21% or 53.91 points to 26,071.72, alongside a gain of 0.44% or 12.27 points in the S&P 500 to 2,810.30 and an advance of 0.55% or 40.33 points for the Nasdaq Composite to 7,336.38.
Overnight, the House of Representatives had voted 230-197 to pass a one-month spending bill, but worries were that it could yet be derailed if there was enough opposition in the Senate.