Hints of summer slowdown at Whitbread, fresh funds still arriving steadily at St James's Place
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The FTSE 100 is expected to open nine points lower on Tuesday, having closed up 0.02% at 7,524.45 on Monday.
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First half results from Whitbread showed evidence of a bit of a summer slowdown, with revenues at its Premier Inn hotels and Costa Coffee arms both softening but tight cost control percolating through to a solid profit performance. Group revenue for the six months to 31 August rose 7.4% on the previous year to £1.67bn, with underlying profit before tax up 6.7% to £328m and the dividend lifted 5% to 31.4p.
St James's Place continues to attract fresh funds at a steady and better-than-expected pace. For the three months to 30 September, the asset manager posted £2.36bn of net inflows of new funds under management, compared to £1.66bn in the same period one year ago. Group funds under management meanwhile jumped from £71.4bn in 2016 to £85.7bn over the course of the third quarter. Year-to-date, net inflows were 41% higher to £6.7bn and group FuM up by 14%.
International service company Serco Group announced on Tuesday that it has reached agreement to acquire BTP Systems - a provider of satellite communication and radar engineering technical services to the US defence industry. The FTSE 250 firm said the business was to be acquired on a cash-free, debt-free basis for $20m, with the consideration to be satisfied using Serco's existing debt facilities. At the same time, Serco also announced it has signed heads of terms to acquire a portfolio of selected UK health facilities management contracts from Carillion, also on a cash-free, debt-free basis, once certain conditions are fulfilled. Assuming that all the contracts end up transferred to Serco, the total consideration payable would be £50.1m.
After 26 years with the business - 14 of which as chairman - Andrew Goodsell has notified the board of Saga that he intends to retire from the company during 2018, it announced on Tuesday. The senior independent director, Orna NiChionna, would now initiate a process to appoint his successor as chairman with immediate effect, the board explained. Once a candidate is identified, it was envisaged that there would be an “appropriate period” of handover, which Goodsell indicated he would ideally like to complete by the end of May 2018, it explained.
Newspaper round-up
Sir Hector Sants, a former chief City regulator, is due to give evidence to the high court in private in relation to a case brought by Lloyds Banking Group shareholders over the information they were provided at the time of the HBOS takeover in 2008. The former chief executive of the Financial Services Authority made an application in July to allow him to give evidence in private. This can now be reported after an application to the high court made by five media organisations, including the Guardian, to establish what the judge had described as the “special arrangements” that have been put in place for him to give evidence. – Guardian
The Phones 4U billionaire John Caudwell has accused his former business partner and protege of being an “amazing liar” who presided over a “reign of terror” at the wealth management firm they co-founded before their close relationship soured. Caudwell told the high court on Monday that he had “loved” his former business partner Nathalie Dauriac but had lost faith in her after allegedly discovering that she falsified £33,000 worth of expenses claims, including a personal trip to Málaga and gifts for her family. - Guardian
A former HSBC currency trader has been found guilty of defrauding Cairn Energy over a $3.5bn (£2.7bn) client order, following a month-long trial in New York. A jury today found Mark Johnson guilty on nine out of ten fraud and conspiracy charges, all of which related to a currency trade in 2011 in which Cairn asked HSBC to convert proceeds from a sale from dollars into pounds. - Telegraph
The European Commission has widened its antitrust probe into German car makers, raiding the headquarters of Daimler, Volkswagen and Audi today. The investigation follows allegations made in July that several manufacturers had colluded to fix the price of certain technologies for decades. – Telegraph
It may have started out as a humble workwear boot, but these days style-conscious consumers in South Korea and Japan are driving sales of Dr Martens. In the year to the end of March, the bootmaker reported a 25 per cent jump in revenues to £290.6 million, up 12 per cent, with Asia up 43 per cent at £66.4 million. The company, which was acquired by Permira in 2013 for £300 million, said that Asia accounted for 23 per cent of sales, while underlying earnings in the region leapt by 105 per cent to £13.5 million over the year. – The Times
Saudi Arabia’s plan to offer shares for sale in its national oil company remains on track, according to the oil giant’s chief executive, as he brushed away reports yesterday that the stock market listing could be delayed or shelved. Saudi Aramco will become the biggest listed business in the world if its flotation goes ahead. It would be five times larger than Exxon Mobil, more than twice the size of Apple and eight times bigger than Royal Dutch Shell, Britain’s biggest stock market company. – The Times
US close
Markets in the US finished in the red on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.23% at 23,273.96, the S&P 500 falling 0.4% to 2,564.98 and the Nasdaq 100 closing 0.67% lower at 6,067.83.