London pre-open: Stocks set for small gains following Monday's losses
Stocks in London were set for a positive start to Tuesday, after suffering its heaviest single-day losses in more than four years on Monday, as the Covid-19 strain of coronavirus continued to spread outside of China.
The FTSE 100 was expected to open 46 points higher at 7,202 points.
In equities, Tesco said it had sold its 20% share in the Chinese Gain Land joint venture to its partner China Resources Holdings (CRH) for £275m.
The supermarket chain on Tuesday said the sale would help its “further simplify and focus the business on its core operations” and the cash used for general corporate purposes.
The transaction will be completed on February 28 and there were no conditions to closing or regulatory approvals required, it added.
Retail property developer Hammerson held its dividend, reported an 8.5% fall in earnings per share and wrote down the value of its assets.
Full year adjusted earnings per share came in at 28p against 30.6. The company reported a widened basic loss per share of 102.1p compared with a loss of 34.1p in 2018.
Hammerson held the full year dividend at 25.9p but said it would rebase the 2020 payout to a sustainable level, removing the direct link between earnings generated and dividend paid.
AstraZeneca has agreed to sublicense its global rights to ‘Movantik’, or naloxegol, excluding Europe, Canada and Israel, to RedHill Biopharma, it announced on Tuesday.
The FTSE 100 pharmaceuticals giant described Movantik as a peripherally acting mu-opioid receptor antagonist, indicated for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation.
It said RedHill would make an upfront payment of $52.5m to AstraZeneca on closing, and a further non-contingent payment of $15m in 2021.