Anglo American production rises in fourth quarter, PPHE reports firmer room revenue
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open two points lower on Thursday, having closed down 0.51% at 7,571.92 on Wednesday.
Stocks to watch
Anglo American said fourth quarter production across all operations rose 4% driven by a ramp-up of operations at its Minas-Rio iron ore mine in Brazil. The company added that increased production of metallurgical coal in Australia was offset by the drought in Chile impacting water availability at the Los Bronces copper mine, as well as anticipated lower diamond production from De Beers.
Student accommodation owner, manager and developer, the Unite Group, has received resolution to grant planning permission for its 416-bed student accommodation development in Bristol city centre, including the conversion of the former Georgian hospital into 62 rented residential homes. The FTSE 250 company said the site occupies a prime location in Bristol city centre, and would provide student accommodation when delivered for the start of the 2021-2022 academic year. Unite said it was in “advanced discussions” with the University of Bristol for a long-term nomination agreement on the scheme.
Hotel and resort owner, developer and operator PPHE Hotel Group updated the market on its trading for 2019 on Thursday, reporting a 6.3% improvement in like-for-like group room revenue to £249m. The FTSE 250 company saud reported group room revenue for the year ended 31 December increased 5.9% to £250m. Its like-for-like revenue per available room (RevPAR) was 5.1% higher at £103.7, which the board said was driven by like-for-like occupancy growth of 130 basis points to 80.7%, and like-for-like average room rate growth of 3.4% to £128.5.
Newspaper round-up
Millions of Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland customers will be charged overdraft interest rates of up to 49.9% from April and those with a poor credit history are likely to pay the most. Lloyds Banking Group – which owns all three brands and has 22 million current account customers – is the biggest bank so far to overhaul its overdraft costs in response to a ban on excessive fees demanded last year by the City regulator. – Guardian
The planting of 100m trees a year in the UK to tackle the climate emergency could be paid for by new carbon levies on oil companies and airlines, the government’s official climate adviser has proposed. The Committee on Climate Change also recommends banning the burning of grouse moors and the sale of peat compost to protect the nation’s bogs, which can store huge amounts of carbon. Voluntary measures have failed, it said. – Guardian
City regulators pledged to crack down on poor governance at fund managers on Wednesday amid concerns about the industry in the wake of the Neil Woodford scandal. A letter to chief executives at asset managers from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) listed what the regulator sees as the “key risks of harm that asset managers pose to their customers or the markets in which they operate”.- Telegraph
The Big Four accounting firms are in talks with the audit regulator about a self-imposed break-up in an attempt to get ahead of any enforcement action taken by the government. Guidelines for the separation of audit and consulting operations at firms including PWC, Deloitte, EY and KPMG are being drawn up by the Financial Reporting Council. – The Times
The world’s biggest guitar maker may count Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards as fans of its products, but price-fixing by the European division of Fender has struck the wrong note with the competition watchdog. The Competition and Markets Authority has fined Fender Europe £4.5 million after concluding that it had pressured online retailers to sell its guitars at or above a minimum price between 2013 and 2018, thereby stymying customers shopping around for the best deal. It is a record penalty for such behaviour. – The Times
US close
US stocks turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday as corporate releases continued to stream in and focus remained on the spread of a deadly virus in China.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.03% at 29,186.27, while the S&P 500 was 0.03% firmer at 3,321.80 and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.14% stronger at 9,383.77.
The Dow closed 9.77 points higher, following on from the previous session which also ended in the red as traders returned from the Martin Luther King Jr holiday to concerns over a new deadly virus outbreak - with one confirmed case in the US.
China unveiled measures to stem the flow of the deadly Wuhan coronavirus on Wednesday, tempering the fears of a global pandemic that hit sentiment and sent markets tumbling in the previous session.
While US public health officials confirmed that the first US case had been diagnosed in Washington State, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said overnight that the male patient posed "little risk" to the general public.
On the trade front, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the phase two deal with China has no deadlines and rejected the idea that it would create a digital "Berlin Wall".