Coats Group ekes out full-year sales growth, Playtech warns on earnings
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 32 points higher on Friday, having closed down 0.33% at 7,238.55 on Thursday.
Stocks to watch
Industrial thread maker Coats Group said on Friday that sales grew 1% in the year to October led by growth in both its apparel and footwear and performance materials units. For the four months from July, group sales were flat on a constant currency basis, reflecting slightly lower activity in both apparel and footwear and performance materials and against the strong growth of 4% in the comparative period in 2018. On a reported basis, group sales in the period were down 1% year-on-year, an improvement on the 3% decline in the first half, due to a softening of foreign exchange headwinds.
Playtech warned that its full year adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization are now expected to fall below prior expectations after its TradeTech division faced highly challenging trading conditions during September and October. The gambling software developer added that its core B2B gambling and Snaitech segments have continued to exceed management expectations, while trading in Asia has remained stable.
Online real estate agent Rightmove said it had appointed Andrew Fisher as non-executive chairman with effect from January 1, 2020. Fisher will succeed Scott Forbes, who retires at the end of the year after more than 14 years in the post. He was previously chief executive and chairman of music mobile application Shazam. He is currently a non-executive director of both Marks & Spencer and Moneysupermarket.com and was previously a non-executive director at Merlin Entertainments.
Land Securities announced on Friday that Mark Allan is to be appointed as its next chief executive officer. The FTSE 250 company said Allan is currently CEO of St Modwen Properties - a role he has held since 1 November 2016. Allan joined St Modwen from The Unite Group, where he was CEO from 2006 until May 2016.
Newspaper round-up
The Conservatives would force overseas homebuyers to pay extra stamp duty in an election pledge that effectively blames foreign purchasers for inflating property prices. The party has unveiled plans for a 3% stamp duty surcharge for non-UK tax residents which would apply to companies as well as individuals – and also to expats wanting to move back home. It said as many as one in eight new London homes were bought by non-residents in 2014-16. – Guardian
In many ways it was the little things that helped WeWork build its office rental business into the biggest private landlord in New York and London. WeWork “members” – as the company calls its tenants – gather to gossip around the fruit water coolers lined with fresh slices of pineapple or strawberries and kiwi on each floor. They hold meetings fueled by La Colombe coffee served up in endless supply of clean WeWork mugs, stamped with the logo “Do What You Love”. They network over IPAs at the always replenished beer taps. – Guardian
Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin has declared a “victory for common sense” after investors backed all of the pub chain’s motions at its annual meeting. The company’s founder and chairman has come under attack from influential proxy advisers, some of which called for shareholders to vote against a number of board appointments. - Telegraph
Peer-to-peer lending faces new scrutiny after administrators uncovered a catalogue of failures at Funding Secure, a platform that collapsed last month having issued more than £175 million worth of loans. Funding Secure has left thousands of investors facing significant losses. Insolvency practitioners have warned that there could be a significant delay in recovery action because of the parlous state of the company’s records, processes and legal structure. – The Times
Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, once gave a Terra Cielo Mare watch worth “thousands of dollars” to a top official at America’s largest car workers' union. “I declared the goods at less than fifty bucks,” Marchionne said in a hand-written note that accompanied the watch. “That should remove any potential conflict.” – The Times
US close
US stocks closed lower on Thursday as trade headlines continued to stream in.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.20% at 27,766.29, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.16% to 3,103.54 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.24% weaker at 8,506.21.
The Dow Industrials closed 54.80 points lower on Thursday following on from declines in the previous session as a result of uncertainty regarding the possibility of a trade deal between Washington and Beijing being reached mounted.
Federal Reserve officials agreed to not cut interest rates again unless economic conditions change significantly, according to minutes released overnight from their most recent meeting.
The minutes revealed that "most" Federal Open Market Committee members saw the moves as being sufficient enough to "support the outlook of moderate growth, a strong labour market, and inflation near the Committee's symmetric 2% objective".
With the FOMC minutes released, the market was mainly looking toward trade headlines for direction on Thursday, with the ongoing uncertainty as to whether or not a phase one deal can be reached seemingly suggesting that volatility will remain elevated.
A report from the Wall Street Journal indicated that China apparently had invited American negotiators to Beijing for a fresh round of trade talks during a phone call thought to have been made late last week. It was not clear if Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had accepted Chinese Vice Premier Liu He's invitation.
The report came shortly after US legislation on Hong Kong had threatened to derail trade discussions.