Future sees profits almost triple, AstraZeneca gets EC approval for Qtrilmet
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 28 points higher on Friday, having closed down 0.8% at 7,296.76 on Thursday.
Stocks to watch
PPHE Hotel Group on Friday said it was making some changes to its board after a shareholder revolt at May's annual meeting against two board members. The company said deputy chairman Kevin McAuliffe was stepping down from his posts on the audit and remuneration committees as he was “ no longer deemed to be an independent director”, but would stay on in his main role overseeing corporate governance. It added that Nigel Jones would retire from the board before the 2020 annual general meeting. Major independent shareholders had told the company they were concerned about the independence of the duo given they had served on the board for more than nine years. “In anticipation of Mr Jones's retirement, the company is currently looking for an additional independent non-executive director to join the board,” the company said.
Future reported that its full year profits almost tripled, rising by 189% to £12.7m on the back of a 70% leap in revenue. The publisher said the surge in turnover was largely due to the performance of its higher margin media division, which saw its online audience grow by 44%, or 31% in terms of its like-for-like portfolio
AstraZeneca announced on Friday that the European Commission has approved ‘Qtrilmet’ - metformin hydrochloride, saxagliptin and dapagliflozin - modified-release tablets to improve glycaemic control in adults with type-2 diabetes. The FTSE 100 pharmaceuticals giant said the approval was based on data from five phase 3 trials, which evaluated combinations of ‘Forxiga’ - dapagliflozin - and Onglyza on a background of metformin in patients with inadequately controlled type-2 diabetes. It said the primary endpoint in those trials was mean change from baseline in average blood glucose levels at week 24 or 52.
Newspaper round-up
Boris Johnson has announced another election package costing hundreds of millions of pounds for neglected towns, some of which will be spent in marginal constituencies. Concentrating on rundown high streets, the closures of pubs and post offices and the restoration of rail links, the prime minister has claimed that the measures will build upon the £3.6bn towns fund first announced in July. - Guardian
Radical Labour plans to pay workers as much as £500 each in dividends, by forcing every large company in Britain to give staff a 10% stake, should be scaled back to focus on profits generated in the UK market, a key architect of the policy has said. In response to criticisms of the landmark proposal by the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, the leftwing Common Wealth thinktank said changing the policy to focus on profits made in Britain, rather than globally, would help to address concerns that firms would relocate to avoid the rules. - Guardian
Some of the world’s biggest consumer companies have revealed the cost of doing business in Hong Kong, which is beset by anti-government protests, after Burberry led a series of warnings. The fashion retailer said yesterday that it had taken a £14m writedown on the value of its shops in the territory and that it was negotiating with landlords about rent reductions over fears that the escalating levels of unrest will not end soon. - The Times
Germany has escaped recession but remains mired in industrial slump, leaving the country acutely vulnerable to China’s intractable woes and any further slowdown in global trade. While Germany’s manufacturing sector has begun to stabilize after two years of contraction, this may not be enough to stop the gloom spreading to services and consumers over coming months. - The Telegraph
Concern about sexual harassment in the workplace is still regarded by some City firms as “political correctness gone mad” because of an “unhealthy culture” that persists in boardrooms, a senior regulator has warned. Jonathan Davidson, the Financial Conduct Authority’s director of supervision, said senior managers who held such views were not “fit and proper” and could face sanctions. - The Times
US close
Stocks on Wall Street finished mixed but little changed on Thursday, as market participants continued to focus on trade developments between the world's two largest economies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session down just 0.006% at 27,781.96, the S&P 500 was up 0.08% at 3,096.63, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.04% to close at 8,479.02.
At the open, the Dow was just 3.81 points higher after closing higher in the previous session, as investors digested Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell's testimony to the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress, in which he noted that significant risks to the economic outlook remained.
Trade was still very much at the top of the agenda too, with talks between Washington and Beijing said to have hit a brick wall over the exact size and schedule for Chinese agricultural purchases, alongside a report on Wednesday that China was resisting requests from the US to curb tech transfers and for enforcement mechanisms.
Donald Trump said China had agreed to purchase up to $50bn-worth of soybeans, pork and other agricultural products from the US per year.
However, China was said to be wary of putting a numerical commitment in the text of an agreement, according to the Wall Street Journal.