TMCnet News
TOP NEWS: Primark Sales Sweeten ABF's Bitter Sugar Pill(Alliance News Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Wednesday.----------COMPANIES----------Associated British Foods PLC reported an increase in profit for the first half of the year, driven primarily by sales at its low-cost fashion retail chain Primark, which more than offset a substantial hit to its sugar business. The food, ingredients and retail group raised its interim dividend by 4% to 9.70 pence per share, as its increased its pretax profit to GBP434 million in the 24 weeks ended March 1, up from GBP411 million a year earlier. ABF continued to warn that weak sugar prices will "substantially" reduce its sugar profit for this year and that the strong pound will hit its overseas results in the second half of the year. However, it said that, with strong growth from Primark, and further store expansion planned for the remainder of the year, retail profits are expected to be well ahead.----------ARM Holdings PLC said that, assuming the semiconductor industry improves in the second half as it expects, it remained confident it would meet market expectations for dollar revenues in 2014. The semiconductor company posted pretax profit of GBP97.1 million in the first quarter to the end of March, up from GBP89.4 million a year before, as revenue rose to GBP186.7 million from GBP170.3 million in the previous year.----------Sports Direct International PLC said it delivered double digit growth in its gross profit and sales in the last nine weeks of its financial year, driven by strong retail growth both in its stores and online. Sports Direct, the UK's biggest sports goods retailer by revenue, said its gross profit for the nine weeks ended March 30 rose 12% to GBP147.0 million, up from GBP131.8 million the prior year, boosted by a 10% increase in group sales during the period to GBP360.0 million. The sales and gross profit of Sports Eybl & Sports Experts AG, and Sportland International Group AS, which were acquired in June and August last year, were excluded from the figures, it said.----------Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC said it has been awarded a USD39 million contract to support AE 1107C engines for V-22 aircraft operated by the US Marine Corps and Air Force. The company, which operates through two main business segments - Aerospace and Marine & Industrial Power Systems - said the MissionCare contract is an upgraded version of a previous agreement with the Marines and Air Force. ----------Drax Group PLC said that it has commenced legal proceedings against the UK government after it overturned a decision advising that two generating units at Drax Power Station - the "second" and "third" unit conversions - were eligible for investment contracts under a new contracts for difference scheme. Drax said it has been notified by the UK government that the second unit conversion at the Drax Power Station is no longer eligible for an investment contract, adding that support for conversion instead is available under the existing Renewables Obligation regime, where eligibility has been confirmed.----------Spirent Communications PLC reiterated its expectations of meeting high single-digit organic revenue growth for 2014, as it saw revenue rise in the quarter to end-March, boosted by revenues in its Service Assurance division that were delayed from 2013. The communications technology company posted a pretax profit of USD8.4 million, up from USD7.6 million a year before, as revenue rose to USD111.9 million from USD96.8 million. This was boosted by the USD12.0 million of delayed revenue. Acquisitions during the quarter contributed USD1.1 million, Spirent said.----------Reed Elsevier PLC reiterated its outlook for the full year, as it saw underlying revenue growth rates in its first quarter to end-March in line with the full year 2013. The information and publishing company said that it had continued to transform its business through organic investment, and had made selective small acquisitions, including Innovata LLC and Tracesmart Ltd. It sold online business to business marketplace Buyerzone LLC during the quarter. Reed Elsevier noted that it had completed GBP250 million of its planned GBP600 million of share buybacks in 2014. The remaining GBP350 million will be deployed by the end of the year, Reed Elsevier said.----------Kentz Corp Ltd said it has been awarded a five-year contract by Fluor Kuwait Co with an estimated value of USD125 million. The contract will see Kentz supply multi-discipline technical and supervisory personnel on a reimbursable basis to meet Fluor's supplementary manpower requirements on Fluor's Consultancy Services in Project Management and Related Activities contract for Kuwait Oil Company, said the firm. ----------Iofina PLC said it has reduced its production forecasts for the year to "materially below current market expectations" due to its principal operator's planned fracking schedule for the next three months. Iofina, which specialises in the exploration and production of iodine and iodine specialty chemical derivatives, saw its shares fall by over 50% in early trading, after the firm said it has reduced its production expectations for the current year to around 400 metric tonnes of crystallised iodine after gaining insight into its principle operator's planned fracking schedule for the coming three months. Iofina said current indications suggest that the fracking programme will continue through to the end of 2014 at levels similar to those projected for the next three months.----------BHP Billiton Ltd announced that it officially opened its new Jimblebar iron ore mine 40 kilometres east of Newman in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. ----------Oil giant BP PLC Tuesday said it has agreed to sell interests in four BP-operated oilfields on the North Slope of Alaska to Hilcorp, a privately-held independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. The sale agreement includes all of BP's interests in the Endicott and Northstar oilfields and a 50% interest in the Liberty and the Milne Point fields. The sale also includes the company's interests in the oil and gas pipelines associated with these fields. BP said it remains committed to its plans for increased investment at Prudhoe Bay. ----------Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC was Tuesday fined HKD6.0 million by Hong Kong regulators as a result of internal control failures relating to detecting and preventing unauthorised trading by its emerging-markets rates business in Hong Kong. The fine by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission follows an investigation into the systems and controls of the UK bank's emerging markets rates desk in 2011 after unauthorised trading by one of its traders was discovered.----------MARKETS----------UK stock indices are down despite positive retailing figures from stand out gainer ABF. ----------FTSE 100: down 0.1% at 6673.12FTSE 250: down 0.4% at 16020.35AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.1% at 822.54----------The pound dropped against the dollar following the BoE's decision to maintain the base rate at its current level. The euro is up after positive Eurozone manufacturing PMI data.----------GBP-USD: down at USD1.6798EUR-USD: up at USD1.3839GOLD: up at USD1285.65 per ounceOIL (Brent): down at USD109.35 a barrel(changes since end of previous GMT day)----------ECONOMICS AND GENERAL----------Policymakers of the Bank of England unanimously decided to maintain the key bank rate at a historic low of 0.50% and monetary stimulus at GBP 375 billion, the minutes of meeting held on April 9 showed. "With unemployment remaining above the 7% threshold, the Committee's August 2013 policy guidance therefore remained in place and no member thought it appropriate to tighten, or to loosen, the stance of monetary policy at the current juncture," the minutes said.----------Growth in the Eurozone private sector economy accelerated at its fastest pace in almost three years in April, survey data from Markit Economics showed. The composite output index rose unexpectedly to 54.0 in April from 53.1 in March. The latest reading was the highest since May 2011. Economists had forecast the score to fall marginally to 53. The PMI has now been above the 50.0 no-change level for ten consecutive months, signaling a continuous expansion of business activity since last July.----------An index monitoring manufacturing activity in China posted a score of 48.3 in April, the latest survey from HSBC and Markit Economics revealed. That was in line with forecasts and up from 48.0 in March - although the index remains below the boom-or-bust score of 50 that separates expansion in a sector from contraction.----------Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said inflation may exceed the official estimate in the fiscal year ended March. Consumer price inflation was slightly higher in fiscal 2013 that the central bank's projection of 0.7%, he told a parliamentary session on Wednesday. The economy is still on track toward achieving stable 2% inflation. ----------Failure to find debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines jet has prompted searchers in the Indian Ocean to rethink their tactics, news reports said. Unless an underwater search comes up with evidence of wreckage from flight MH370 in "the next few days" there will be a pause for a reassessment of the likelihood of finding a trace of the Boeing 777, The Sydney Morning Herald reported, quoting sources close to the investigation.----------US President Barack Obama on Tuesday toured the area devastated by a mudslide a month ago in Washington state. Obama took a helicopter ride over the town of Oso, which was buried when the side of a 1.5 kilometre, rain-drenched mountain gave way on March 22, killing at least 41 people.----------The death toll in the sinking of a South Korean ferry reached 128 Wednesday, the coast guard said, while the first distress call from the ship came from a passenger's mobile phone, CNN reported. Navy, coast guard and civilian divers were working to recover bodies from cabins on decks three and four and from a cafeteria on deck three of the Sewol, the Yonhap News Agency reported.---------- Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. |