Petrofac awarded large contract in India, Polymetal revenue lifted by strong gold production
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 33 points higher on Monday, having closed up 0.3% at 7,224.51 on Friday.
Stocks to watch
Petrofac has been awarded a lump-sum 27-month engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract by Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BCPL) valued at around $135m. Located at BPCL's Kochi refinery in Kerala, India, the scope of work encompasses engineering, procurement, construction, pre-commissioning and assistance with commissioning. The contract is for the addition of a new Motor Spirit (MS) block of refining units, which will increase the current output of the facility to meet India's Bharat-Stage VI automotive fuel quality.
AstraZeneca has pushed back the expected completion of the Phase III 'Mystic' clinical trial of its Imfinzi immunotherapy treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. Analysis of overall survival rates of the drug by Astra's MedImmune biologics arm will not be complete until the second half of 2018, having previously anticipated this would be done in the first half.
Polymetal International released its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December on Monday, reporting a 15% increase in revenue year-on-year to $1.82bn. The FTSE 250 company said that was primarily driven by gold equivalent production growth of 13%. Gold sales were 1,090 Koz, up 24% year-on-year, while silver sales were down 14% to 26.5 Moz, which the board said was in line with production volume dynamics. Its average realised gold and silver prices remained largely unchanged from 2016 at $1,247 per ounce and $16.1 per ounce, respectively.
Newspaper round-up
House prices in parts of London that were once at the epicentre of the UK property boom have fallen as much as 15% over the past year in fresh evidence of the impact of the EU referendum. Figures from Your Move, one of the UK’s biggest estate agency chains, reveal that the average home in Wandsworth – which includes much of Clapham, Balham and Putney – fell by more than £100,000 in value over the last 12 months. – Guardian
A chorus of downbeat reports on the health of the British economy published on Monday presents a sharp contrast to the chancellor Philip Hammond’s spring statement message that there is “light at the end of the tunnel”. Credit card company Visa said spending on cards fell again in February, dropping 1.1%, and that the first quarter of 2018 was on track to be the “worst on record”. It said spending by consumers had fallen in nine out the past 10 months. – Guardian
Product innovation firm CPP, which was hit by a misselling scandal in 2012, is set to re-enter the UK market in the next few months after buying a significant minority stake in KYND, a start-up offering cyber security services to small businesses. The firm has also appointed a new managing director Michael Whitfield. Mr Whitfield was previously acting executive chairman at specialist EU insurer Building Block. – Telegraph
The Government flagship housing policy, Help to buy needs to be dramatically reformed in order to stop housebuilders from using it to boost their profits irrespective of how many homes they build, according Northern firm Avant Homes. The scheme, which is intended support would-be first time buyers in their efforts to get on the housing ladder, must be dramatically changed in order to encourage a “social conscience” among housebuilders, the housebuilder said. – Telegraph
Nearly 400 retailers, including big high street chains, could struggle to meet higher interest payments this year, a City financial analyst has warned. A study by Company Watch of 1,600 retailers with assets of at least £5 million has identified 392 in its “warning area”, suggesting that they are about 25 times more likely to suffer financial distress than their peers. Among them are New Look, Mothercare, Poundland, Debenhams, AO World, DFS and Conviviality. – The Times
London transport officials have banned a French advert urging British businesses to “vote with their feet” and move to France as the UK quits the European Union. A poster campaign encouraging entrepreneurs to “leave post-Brexit fears behind” was blocked because it could be controversial. The Normandy Development Agency had hoped to target London by taking out adverts across the city’s Tube and bus network. In an effort to persuade commuting entrepreneurs to cross the English Channel, the ads featured a fictional newspaper called The Normandy Times, which advises: “You will find the process as smooth as their Camembert . . . or their oysters for that matter.” – The Times
US close
Wall Street finished firmly in the green on Friday, after the latest non-farm payrolls report showed that the US added more jobs in February than it had in the last 18 months, even as wage growth ebbed, calming worries that rate-setters on the Potomac need to speed-up their pace of tightening.
By the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 1.77% or 440.53 points to 25,335.74, with the S&P 500 adding 1.74% or 47.60 points to 2,788.57 and the Nasdaq Composite pushing ahead 1.79% or 132.86 points to 7,560.51.
For the week, the S&P 500 added 95.32 points.
Strikingly, at one point early in the session the Philadelphia Stock Exchange's Semiconductor Index was jumping by over four percentage points, although it ended up by a more 'modest' 2.08% to 1,431.16.
According to the Journal, Intel Corp. has pondered the possibility of a bid for Broadcom if it succeeds in its hostile takeover of rival Qualcomm.