DCC full-year profits rise, Vodafone returns to profit
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 19 points lower on Tuesday, having closed down 0.18% at 7,710.98 on Monday.
Stocks to watch
International marketing and support services group DCC said full year pre-tax profits rose 26.6% to £316.4m as revenues increased 16.3% to £14.2bn. The company spent £670m on acquisitions during the year which DCC said would provide further opportunities for both organic and acquisitive growth for the group The final dividend has been lifted 10.0% to 82.09p a share for a total of 122.98p a share.
Landsec announced the appointment of Cressida Hogg as its non-executive chairman on Tuesday, with effect from completion of the company’s annual general meeting on 12 July. The FTSE 100 firm said Hogg was succeeding Dame Alison Carnwath, who would retire from the board on that date, having joined in 2004 and become chairman in 2008. It had announced Dame Alison's intention to retire on 2 March. Hogg joined the Landsec board in January 2014, and had been appointed as chairman following a thorough selection process which included external candidates.
Vodafone returned to profit in the year to March and guided to further growth ahead despite revenue being held back by increased competition in Italy and Spain. Full year numbers came in just ahead of City forecasts, with revenue falling 2.2% year-on-year to €46.6bn but beating the average estimate of €46.2bn, while adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased 11.8% to €14.7bn and pipped the €14.5bn consensus.
Newspaper round-up
Officials charged with managing the taxpayer’s stake in Royal Bank of Scotland have begun contacting City brokers to gauge interest in a potential share sale, only days after the lender agreed a provisional deal with American prosecutors over the sale of toxic mortgage-backed bonds. UK Government Investments began calling investment banks last week after RBS announced a $4.9 billion settlement on Thursday that cleared what is widely regarded in the City to have been the last hurdle to the state restarting the sale of its 71 per cent holding. - The Times
Theresa May has admitted to Conservative MPs that Brexit negotiations are at an impasse because neither of her current options for a customs deal with the EU will work. The Prime Minister invited all 214 of her backbenchers to Downing Street to explain why she has had to go back to the drawing board in an attempt to find a replacement for the customs union. - Telegraph
Theresa May confronted Jacob Rees-Mogg at a meeting with Tory MPs designed to break the deadlock over Britain’s future customs arrangements with the EU. The pair clashed yesterday over the impact of rival plans on the Irish border, in what witnesses described as the prime minister “sending a tough signal” to hardline Brexiteers that she was not prepared to jeopardise the Union. - The Times
Chris Grayling is expected to make a decision “within days” to end the existing East Coast rail franchise operated by Stagecoach and Virgin Trains. The transport secretary was said to be preparing to either renationalise the London to Edinburgh line or negotiate a “not-for-profit” arrangement with Stagecoach and Virgin Trains before the end of the week. - Guardian
Transport giant FirstGroup is facing a mounting activist campaign to put itself up for sale in the wake of a failed takeover bid from American private equity firm Apollo. The attack comes in a four-page letter from top shareholder West Face Capital that was sent to chairman Wolfhart Hauser on Friday, the latest assault on a major UK company from an activist investor. - Telegraph
Investors must back ‘green’ companies or risk huge losses from climate change, the Bank of England has warned. Efforts to stop global temperatures from climbing to dangerous levels require substantial changes to the structure of the economy, rendering older technologies worthless and rewarding companies that are more environmentally friendly. - Telegraph
US close
US trading finished the first trading day of the week in positive territory on Monday, as worries about a trade war between the US and China eased, suggesting that stocks' recent gains were set to continue.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 0.27% higher at 24,899.41, the S&P 500 was ahead 0.09% at 2,730.13, and the Nasdaq 100 ended the session up 0.17% at 6,984.37.
Traders continued to mull over developments in trade talks between the US and China, after Donald Trump said over the weekend that he would help Chinese telecom giant ZTE return to business after it suspended operations in April.
That suspension was a direct result of US Department of Commerce ban on American firms selling components to the company after it admitted to making illegal shipments to Iran and North Korea.
“Worries over the risk of a breakdown in negotiations between the US and Chinese are clearly fading after Trump showed a willingness to help out Chinese tech firm ZTE after they suspended operations off the back of US sanctions last month,” said Joshua Mahony, a market analyst at IG.
“With Trump clearly holding the cards amid potential concessions over steel and aluminium imports alongside ZTE, there is strong grounds for further talks to result in a positive outcome for global trade.”
Oil prices were in focus as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said it had "all the tools" needed to balance the market following the US decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.