Archived article
Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.
The following is a summary of top news stories Friday.
----------
COMPANIES
----------
JPMorgan Chase has received a debt payment from the Central Bank of Russia, a source familiar with the matter told AFP, lessening concerns about an imminent Russian debt default. JPMorgan, a corresponding or intermediary bank, sent the funds to Citigroup, the agent in charge of paying bond holders, after checking with US authorities, according to the person, who did not specify the amount received. Both JPMorgan and Citigroup declined AFP's requests for comment. The Russian finance ministry had earlier Thursday announced a completed interest payment to foreign debt holders, amid worries the unprecedented sanctions Western nations imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine could affect debt payments.
----------
Deutsche Bank is setting aside another €100 million for possible loan defaults because of the Ukraine war and sanctions that have hit Russia. This should bring risk provisions in the first quarter to €250 million to €300 million, Chief Financial Officer James von Moltke said on Thursday at a conference. Last week, Deutsche Bank put its net credit exposure to Russia at around €600 million. This figure excludes guarantees and collateral. The bank's net exposure to Ukraine is €42 million.
----------
Enel said its annual revenue climbed by a third, as it reported higher electricity sales volumes. In the 2021, revenue increased 33% to €88.01 billion from €66.00 billion in 2020. ‘The positive change is attributable to all business lines, mainly due to the higher volumes of electricity produced and sold,’ the electricity, gas and renewables company said. The Rome-based company said its pretax profit inched up 0.7% to €5.50 billion from €5.46 billion. Enel lifted its annual payout by 6.1% to €0.38 per share, from €0.358.
----------
Anglo American said it has partnered with EDF Renewables to secure 100% renewable energy supply for its South Africa operations. The project follows rolling blackouts in South Africa as public utility Eskom struggles to keep the lights on, hurting the energy-intensive mining industry. EDF Renewables is a subsidiary of French utility EDF Group. The project is expected to be designed to meet Anglo American's operational electricity requirements in SA through the supply of 100% renewable electricity by 2030.
----------
Investec lifted its full-year earnings guidance as top-line growth continued to gain traction and impairment charges dropped significantly. The Anglo-South African financial services company expects its adjusted earnings per share to range between 51 pence and 55p for the financial year ending March 31, up sharply from 28.9p in the prior year. The group in November forecast an increase to between 48p and 53p. Thanks to net inflows of £2.0 billion and positive market conditions, Investec said its Wealth & Investment business boosted funds under management by 6.6% year-on-year to £61.9 billion for the 11 months ended February 28.
----------
Ted Baker has received interest from across the Atlantic, as a New York private equity firm confirmed it is considering a takeover offer for the London-based fashion retailer. Sycamore Partners Management confirmed it is in ‘the early stages’ of a possible cash offer. Noting Sycamore's release, Ted Baker responded: ‘The board is confident in the company's independent prospects and would evaluate any offer for the company against the strong shareholder value creation that it believes can be delivered as a standalone company.’ Ted Baker has a market capitalisation of about £218 million.
----------
JD Wetherspoon reported a narrowed interim loss, but the UK pub chain is yet to return to the business seen in pre-pandemic times. Revenue for the half-year that ended January 23 came in at £807.4 million, nearly double the £431.1 million posted a year before. However, sales remain below the £933.0 million achieved two years ago, a pre-pandemic period. Wetherspoon's pretax loss narrowed to £21.3 million from £46.2 million a year ago, but the bottom line remains far off the profit of £57.9 million registered two years ago. Like-for-like sales were down 12% on two years ago. But Wetherspoon highlighted improving trends, with sales in the three weeks to March 13 down just 2.6% on pre-pandemic levels.
----------
Plastic and fibre products maker Essentra said that it delivered a strong annual performance and that its strategic reviews of the Filters and Packaging divisions are progressing in line with expectations. For 2021, Essentra swung to a pretax profit of £33.2 million from a loss of £4.1 million in 2020 on revenue of £960 million, up 7% from £897 million. Essentra declared a total dividend of 6.0 pence, almost doubled from 3.3p in 2020. Looking ahead, Essentra said it has made a strong start to 2022 with all three divisions well-positioned for growth with strong order books. Last year, Essentra had set out its strategic ambition to become a pure play Components business, with its Filters and Packaging divisions likely to be sold off.
----------
Vonovia said it achieved its ‘most successful financial year’ in 2021 as it upped revenue and earnings. The Bochum, Germany-based reported real estate firm reported revenue of €5.18 billion in 2021, up 19% from €4.37 billion the previous year. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation totalled €2.27 billion, representing a 19% increase on the prior year's figure of €1.91 billion. Vonovia proposed a dividend of €1.66 per share in 2021, a €0.08 increase on the 2020 dividend.
----------
Bechtle said it increased its annual profit and revenue despite an ongoing supply bottleneck in the chip industry, resulting in major project delays throughout the year. The Neckarsulm, Germany-based IT services provider reported earnings before tax of €320.5 million in 2021, an increase of 18% on the previous year's figure of €270.7 million. Revenue totalled €6.25 billion. This represented a 7.3% increase on the €5.82 billion achieved in 2020.
----------
MARKETS
----------
Oil prices were rising again on Friday, while equities were mostly lower, as the war in Ukraine drags on, placing strain on energy supplies. Doubts were raised over the prospects for peace talks. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Russia was not making serious efforts in negotiations with Ukraine to end the three-week war. ‘On the one hand, we commend Ukraine for being at the table despite being under bombardment every minute of the day,’ Blinken said. ‘At the same time, I have not seen any meaningful efforts by Russia to bring this war that it is perpetrating to a conclusion through diplomacy.’ French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told newspaper Le Parisien, ‘unfortunately we're still facing the same Russian logic making maximalist demands, wanting Ukraine to surrender and intensifying siege warfare.’
----------
CAC 40: down 0.6% at 6,574.68
DAX 40: down 0.6% at 14,307.03
FTSE 100: down 0.3% at 7,360.59
----------
Hang Seng: closed down 0.4% at 21,412.40
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.7% at 26,827.43
S&P/ASX 200: closed up 0.6% at 7,294.40
----------
DJIA: called down 0.5%
S&P 500: called down 0.6%
Nasdaq Composite: called down 0.6%
----------
EUR: down at $1.1063 ($1.1113)
GBP: down at $1.3140 ($1.3155)
USD: up at JP¥118.82 (JP¥118.44)
Gold: down at $1,933.65 per ounce ($1,942.97)
Oil (Brent): up at $107.60 a barrel ($106.62)
(currency and commodities changes since previous London equities close)
----------
ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
----------
The International Energy Agency urged governments to implement immediate measures to cut global oil consumption within months following supply fears stemming from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The 10 proposals put forward in a report, including increasing working from home and reducing speed limits, could cut oil consumption among advanced economies ‘by 2.7 million barrels a day within the next four months’, the IEA said. With the threat that supplies of Russian oil could be cut even more, ‘there is a real risk that markets tighten further and oil prices escalate significantly in the coming months’ as the world enters its peak demand season, the IEA said. Increases in supply of the crucial commodity ‘would not be able to ease the current strains’ after the ‘disappointing outcome’ of a recent meeting of OPEC+, the Saudi- and Russian-led alliance of oil-producing nations, the report concluded.
----------
The Bank of Japan kept interest rates unchanged but warned of uncertainty in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. At March's meeting, the BoJ decided by an 8-1 majority vote to keep a negative interest rate of 0.1%. The BoJ noted that global financial and capital markets have been volatile and prices of commodities such as crude oil have risen significantly in recent weeks following Russia's war in Ukraine, and said future developments ‘warrant attention’. This surge in commodity prices is expected to see domestic annual inflation, excluding fresh food products, ‘increase clearly in positive territory’. Data on Friday showed Japan's core consumer prices rose 0.6% in February from a year earlier.
----------
Japan has imposed fresh sanctions on Russia, freezing the accounts of additional Russian nationals and organizations, the Kyodo news agency reported Friday citing the government, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These included the head of the Russian military intelligence service GRU and arms supplier Rosoboronexport. Japan has now imposed sanctions on 95 Russian individuals and groups in the wake of Russia's attack on Ukraine. The assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the country's central bank and Belarus ruler Alexander Lukashenko were also frozen.
----------
Rescue workers searched desperately for any survivors buried beneath the rubble of Mariupol's bombed-out theatre Friday, as Russia's forces pounded residential areas across Ukraine, stoking allegations of war crimes. Twenty-four hours after Mariupol's once-gleaming whitewashed theatre was hollowed out by a Russian strike, the number of dead, injured or trapped is still unclear. In a call later Friday US President Joe Biden is set to warn his counterpart Xi Jinping that Beijing will face ‘costs’ for ‘any actions it takes to support Russia's aggression’, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In the wake of the theatre attack, Blinken also said it was ‘difficult to conclude’ that Vladimir Putin's regime had not engaged in war crimes by targeting civilians.
----------
The US House of Representatives voted to suspend Russia's ‘most favoured nation’ trade status, tightening the Western chokehold on Moscow's economy over its deadly invasion of Ukraine. The Senate is expected quickly to rubber-stamp the legislation which also applies to Russian ally Belarus allowing President Joe Biden to raise tariffs on imports from both nations. ‘For weeks members of the Senate, the House and the White House have been working together to draft a strong and effective bill that will increase the pain on Putin's Russia and that our European allies will accept,’ Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the floor.
----------
Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.