Pound Seen as Vulnerable to Omicron Variant
Sterling may struggle to recoup its recent losses due to
concerns about the new Omicron variant of Covid-19, ING says. The
pound seems vulnerable to the Omicron news because the U.K. is more
likely to report new outbreaks due to its proficiency with gene
sequencing, FTSE equity benchmarks are heavily-weighted to miners
that get hit by weaker commodities on demand shocks and the variant
casts doubt on expectations that the Bank of England could raise
interest rates in December, ING analysts say. "We favor EUR/GBP to
trace out a 0.8400-0.8500 range for the time being." EUR/GBP falls
0.2% to 0.8462 after reaching a one-and-a-half-week high of 0.8597
on Friday, according to FactSet.
Companies News:
Dev Clever Sees FY 2021 Earnings 'Materially Ahead' of
Expectations
Dev Clever Holdings PLC said Monday that it expects to report
adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization materially ahead of management expectations for the
year ended Oct. 31.
---
Benchmark Holdings Loss Narrowed in FY 2021; Sees FY 2022
Performance in Line With Views
Benchmark Holdings PLC on Monday reported a narrowed loss for
fiscal 2021, and said that performance in the current year is in
line with expectations.
---
Arcontech Sees Performance Slip Below Market Views; Expects
Revenue Hit
Arcontech Group PLC said Monday that its performance has fallen
below market expectations and that it expects an annualized hit to
its revenue of 300,000 pounds ($400,170).
---
Ince Sees Slightly Higher 1H Revenue
Ince Group PLC said Monday that it expects to report slightly
higher first-half revenue, and that its performance was in line
with its expectations.
---
Circle Property 1H Pretax Profit Rose, Rental Income Fell
Circle Property PLC said Monday that it swung to a pretax profit
for the first half of fiscal 2022 on the back of disposals and
greatly reduced valuation losses, though rental income fell.
---
Hummingbird Shares Dive as Gold Mine in Mali Is Shut Due to
Security Issues
Shares in Hummingbird Resources PLC fell in early trading Monday
after it warned that its Yanfolila gold mine in Mali has been taken
offline due to security issues, and that as a result, full-year
production will be below the bottom end of the guidance range.
---
Osirium Technologies Sees 2021 Bookings, Revenue Below Market
Views
Osirium Technologies PLC said Monday that it expects bookings
and revenue for this year to be similar to last year and slightly
below current market expectations.
---
Webis Holdings to Report Swing to FY 2021 Pretax Profit
Webis Holdings PLC said Monday that it expects to report a swing
to pretax profit for fiscal 2021 on higher revenue.
---
Tatneft 3Q Profit Rose on Higher Production
Tatneft PJSC on Monday reported an improved profit for the third
quarter, as its oil-and-gas production increased from the previous
quarter.
---
Genuit Group Appoints Joe Vorih as CEO From Early Next Year
Genuit Group PLC said Monday that it has appointed Joe Vorih as
its new chief executive officer from early next year, replacing
Martin Payne who said in May that he would will step down during
the first half of 2022.
---
Santander Names Mike Regnier UK CEO
Banco Santander SA said Monday that it has appointed Mike
Regnier as chief executive officer of its U.K. business.
---
Victoria PLC to Acquire Balta's UK Rugs, Carpet Units for EUR138
Mln
Victoria PLC said Monday that it has agreed to acquire
Belgium-based flooring company Balta Group's U.K. carpets and rugs
divisions for around 138 million euros ($156.2 million).
---
San Leon Energy Investee Agrees Loan to Increase Stake in
Nigerian Oil-And-Gas Block
San Leon Energy PLC said Monday that its investee Eroton
Exploration and Production Company Ltd. has signed a non-binding
term sheet for a prospective $750 million lending facility to buy
an additional 18% interest in the OML 18 oil-and-gas block in
Nigeria.
---
International Personal Finance 3Q Profit Slips
International Personal Finance PLC said Monday that its pretax
profit slipped slightly in the third quarter of the year, but that
it swung to a profit in the year-to-date.
---
Simec Atlantis Energy Appoints Andrew Charters as CFO
Simec Atlantis Energy Ltd. said Monday that Andrew Charters has
been appointed to the board as an executive director and will
become the company's new chief financial officer.
Market Talk:
BT Surges After M&A, Takeover Reports
1008 GMT - BT Group shares top the FTSE 100 risers, up 8%
following reports about potential M&A and takeover interest in
the U.K. telecom. Private-equity firms and investment funds
including CVC, Apax, Brookfield and Macquarie are eyeing BT's
network arm, according to sources cited by the Mail on Sunday.
Meanwhile, another report claimed India's Reliance Industries Ltd.
could bid for the whole company. It comes after KKR & Co
approached Telecom Italia. French billionaire Patrick Drahi, the
founder of Altice, owns 12.1% of BT and Deutsche Telekom already
has a sizeable stake, AJ Bell says. "It will be interesting in this
context to see if this rumored move by Reliance flushes out other
parties," Bell investment director Russ Mould says.
---
BT Shares Rise After Reliance Industries Bid Report
0959 GMT - BT Group shares rise after a media report that Indian
conglomerate Reliance Industries may bid for control, AJ Bell says.
The report about the British telecommunications provider comes
after Reliance was recently outbid on a deal for control of a Dutch
unit of T-Mobile. French billionaire and Altice founder Patrik
Drahi has built up a position in BT and Deutsche Telekom also have
a sizeable stake, so a bidding war may be afoot, the brokerage
says. "Despite its substantial pension liabilities and debts and
iffy track record, it has a near-monopoly position in the U.K.'s
broadband network. And, for all its recent woes, BT has the
capacity to generate substantial cash flows," AJ Bell says. Shares
are up 8.8% at 167.55 pence.
---
Omicron Rattles Interest-Rate Expectations
0922 GMT - The discovery of the omicron Covid-19 mutation last
week has upended market pricing of future interest rates globally.
Fears that the new variant may derail the nascent economic recovery
as governments reimpose social restrictions and travel bans have
prompted investors to cut risk and piled back into safe assets,
including U.K. government bonds. The setback from the new virus
strain has increased the chance that Bank of England policymakers
may hold interest rates in December. "Market participants will now
have to be prepared for a substantially wider range of possible
outcomes," UniCredit analysts say. The BOE's policy decision is due
on Dec. 16. The 10-year gilt yield trades last at 0.846%, after
closing last Friday at 0.815%, the lowest level since Sept. 2021,
according to Tradeweb.
---
Equities Look More Attractive Than Bonds Despite Virus-Driven
Volatility, CS Says
0904 GMT - Markets will likely remain volatile until more is
known about the new variant of the coronavirus, but keeping
equities at a small overweight and bonds at an underweight is still
the right strategy, Michael Strobaek, global chief investment
officer at Credit Suisse, says. News of the spread of the variant
caused sharp risk-off moves on Friday, and there will likely be
further market reactions this week, he says. "Financial markets
will be inevitably affected by bouts of volatility into 2022...
When they affect risk assets and raise the equity risk premium, it
is an opportunity to take exposure to selected equities," he says.
Specific sectors favored by CS include logistics and
pharmaceuticals, which are considered more defensive by nature.
Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires; Write to Sarka
Halas at sarka.halas@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 29, 2021 06:00 ET (11:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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