IAG sweetens Aer Lingus takeover offer
London open
City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open eight points higher than Monday’s close of 6,852.40.
Stocks to watch
After two previous rejections, IAG has sweetened its offer for Aer Lingus to €2.55 per share, valuing the Irish carrier at €1.36bn. “The board of Aer Lingus has indicated to IAG that the financial terms of the proposal are at a level at which it would be willing to recommend to Aer Lingus shareholders,” IAG said in a statement. Ryanair and the Irish government, which hold stakes of 29.8% and 25.1% in Aer Lingus, respectively, would also need to vote in favour of the deal.
Aerospace firm Meggitt will supply the cabin surveillance system for Embraer's E-Jets E2 in a deal worth $19m. The system is based on one developed by Securaplane to fulfil the latest aircraft security requirement.
In the press
SSE has become the fifth big energy supplier to cut household bills after the slump in wholesale costs, wrote The Times. The 4.1% cut in gas prices, equivalent to £28 off an annual gas bill, will not take effect until April 30, however, when most households have turned off their central heating. The paper added that one consumer group described the price cut as “probably the slowest in history”.
Starbucks has been urged to live up to its promise to pay more taxes after boasting about the turnaround of its UK business and an 82% rise in global profits, The Times reported. The Seattle-based coffee chain said that its net profit hit $983.1 million in the 13 weeks to December 28. The paper also said that the amount of tax handed to the UK government in 2014 has not been disclosed.
Britain’s construction companies will need an extra 224,000 workers over the coming five years as growth returns to the industry across the whole country for the first time since the financial crisis, said The Telegraph. The prediction comes in the Construction Industry Training Board’s (CITB) annual survey of the sector’s health, which also forecasts annual year-on-year growth of 2.9% out to 2019, according to the paper.
US close
US stocks fluctuated on Monday, as investors digested the possible ramifications of the general election result in Greece, while Wall Street remained open despite one of the worst blizzards over the last few years.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.03% at 17,678.70 points, while the S&P 500 ended the first session of the week up 0.26% at 2,057.09 and the Nasdaq gained 0.29% to 4,771.76.
In New York, residents were told to stay at home as a blizzard forecasters call “life-threatening” could see as much as three feet of snow fall in some areas from New York to Boston. However, the New York Stock Exchange operated on a normal schedule on Monday and is expected to do so on Tuesday as well.
As widely expected, anti-austerity party Syriza won the Greek general election on Sunday and, as it fell three seats short of achieving an overall majority, agreed a coalition with right-wing Independent Greeks. Both parties aim to renegotiate the nation’s international bailout.