FTSE 100 Closes Down 0.2% Despite Aveva Surge

The FTSE 100 Index closed Wednesday down 0.2%, marking its third day in negative territory, as investors await the Fed's Jackson Hole conference amid expectations of a hawkish stance, while gas price increases weaken the apetite for risk positions, CMC Markets UK chief market analyst Michael Hewson says. "We could see signaling towards more aggressive rate action from not only the Federal Reserve, but the Bank of England, and the ECB as they try and play catchup to contain the inflation genie," Hewson adds. Aveva lead the gains with a jump of 27% after Schneider Electric showed interest in a takeover. Among the top fallers, energy group Centrica fell 2.7%, followed by Prudential, down 2.5%.

Companies News: 

Rio Tinto Raises Bid for Turquoise Hill 18% to $3.1 Bln

Rio Tinto PLC on Wednesday raised its takeover proposal for Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. by 18%, valuing the Canadian-listed company at US$3.1 billion.

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Finnair Appoints Kristian Pullola CFO; Mika Stirkkinen to Step Down

Finnair Oyj said Wednesday that Kristian Pullola has been appointed chief financial officer, effective from Oct. 1, and current CFO Mika Stirkkinen will leave the company on Oct. 31.

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Aveva Shares Leap on Schneider Electric Takeover Interest

Shares of Aveva Group PLC rose 35% on Wednesday after Schneider Electric SE said it was considering a possible offer for the U.K. engineering and industrial-software, but hasn't made any approach as yet.

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Alien Metals Shares Rise on Option to Increase Hamersley Project Interest

Shares of Alien Metals Ltd. rose 9.5% on Wednesday after the company said that it has agreed to an 18-month option to buy an extra 39% interest in the Hamersley iron-ore project in Australia.

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Jaywing Names Finance Director Christopher Hughes as CFO

Jaywing PLC said Wednesday that it has appointed Finance Director Christopher Hughes as its chief financial officer, effective Sept. 1.

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Clean Power Hydrogen Sees 2022 Revenue Below Expectations on Electrolyzer Delays

Clean Power Hydrogen PLC said Wednesday that revenue for 2022 will be lower than expected as the sales income from its membrane-free electrolyzer, or MFE, units will now be realized in 2023 due to delays.

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R&Q Insurance Calls Special Meeting for Sept. 13 as Requested by Shareholder

R&Q Insurance Holdings Ltd. said Wednesday that it has called a special general meeting for Sept. 13 as requested by shareholder Phoenix Asset Management Partners Ltd., but advised shareholders to vote against a resolution to remove Chairman William Spiegel.

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Cleantech Lithium Signs MoU with Sunresin to Develop Projects; Shares Rise

Cleantech Lithium PLC shares rose in early trading Wednesday after it said it signed a memorandum of understanding with Sunresin New Materials Co. to further develop its projects.

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Coro Energy Grants Sale Option for Italian Natural Gas Portfolio

Coro Energy PLC said Wednesday that has given Italy's Zodiac Energy PLC the option to purchase its Italian natural gas asset portfolio for up to 7.5 million euros ($7.5 million).

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Arrow Exploration 1H Reserves Rose Following Drill Campaign

Arrow Exploration Corp. said Wednesday that its first-half proven reserves rose 17%, and that proven plus probable reserves increased by 6% on positive drilling results.

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Time Out Agrees to Short-Term Loan of Up to GBP8 Mln to Provide Liquidity

Time Out Group PLC said Wednesday that it has agreed a short-term, unsecured line-of-credit of up to 8.0 million pounds ($9.5 million) with Oakley Capital Investments Ltd., to provide liquidity and collateral while it finalizes long-term refinancing.

 
Market Talk: 

Hays Investors Tipped to Eye Outlook, Costs, Returns

1351 GMT - Hays's outlook, costs and shareholder returns are likely to be in focus in the U.K. recruitment agency's full-year results Thursday Aug. 25. Following a strong fourth quarter, investors will probably want to know how management expects rising economic uncertainty to affect future trading, Hargreaves Lansdown says. "Costs will be in the spotlight too, as Hays continues to increase headcount," Hargreaves's Charlie Williams writes. "Management has said productivity is still strong, but it remains to be seen what impact these costs have had on operating margins, if any." Having increased net cash to GBP295 million from GBP237m at the start of the year, investors will also eye any update on shareholder-return plans, Williams adds. ([e-mail])

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Schneider Electric Bid For Aveva Would Make Sense

1223 GMT - Shares in Aveva Group surge 33% after French industrial group Schneider Electric confirmed speculation that it was considering a possible bid for the U.K. industrial-software firm, though it hasn't yet approached it. Schneider, which already owns a 59% stake in Aveva, said it believed merging Aveva with its own software business would strengthen Aveva and enable it to expand faster. "Given the circa-50% share-price decline of Aveva over the past 12 months, the deal makes sense in our view, especially as most top managers of Aveva are from Schneider," Jefferies analysts say in a note. ([e-mail])

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Whitbread Commits to London as Others Fear Recession

1136 GMT - Unlike many companies taking measures out of fear that a recession will hurt their business, Whitbread is doing the opposite and committing GBP200 million to a new hotel development in central London, AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould says. The hotel-and-restaurant company's purchase of 5 Strand--which was previously sold to an Indian property developer who intended to create a luxury 200-bedroom hotel-- will give it the chance to build accommodation in a prime tourist area using its 'hub by Premier Inn' concept which features compact rooms, Mould says. "Now it's going to be Whitbread's latest project in squishing in as many rooms in as possible," Mould says. Shares are down 0.5% at 2,523 pence. ([e-mail])

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Lookers' Forecast-Topping Results Show Strength of Recovery

1128 GMT - Lookers has reported a jump in 1H revenue leading to a market forecast-beating underlying pretax profit of GBP47.2 million, Interactive Investor says. The motor-and-aftersales service group's strong set of forecast-topping results show it is outperforming despite pressures from semiconductor shortages, supply chain bottlenecks, the war in Ukraine and inflation, and speaks to the company's effectiveness at leveraging efficiencies across the business, Interactive Investor head of investment Victoria Scholar says in a research note. "Although the share price has retreated from its peak in March, the stock has still recovered extremely well from the 2020 trough rallying by more than 650% off the lows when national lockdowns destroyed the business during the pandemic," the investment platform says. Shares are up 8.1% at 81.1 pence. ([e-mail])

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BOE Seen Hiking Interest Rates More Aggressively as Inflation Accelerates

1059 GMT - The Bank of England is expected to step up its interest rate hiking cycle due to high inflation, economists at TD Securities say. U.K. inflation is expected to peak at almost 15% in January 2023 from the current 10.1% at a time when the economy will likely fall into recession, they say. "The BOE will face tension on both sides, but we believe more front-loaded hikes and sooner cuts will be its most likely strategy," TD Securities says. The Canadian investment bank expects the BOE to increase rates by 50 basis points at both its September and November meetings, and by 25 basis points in December, before an eight-month pause that would be followed by a series of cuts from August 2023. ([e-mail])

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Whitbread's Central London Acquisition a Small Positive for the Stock

1029 GMT - Whitbread's acquisition of another "hub" hotel should support its growth in London, Citi analyst Leo Carrington says. The hotel-and-restaurant company currently has 14 hub hotels with strong returns in high profile central locations, and although this new site departs from its traditional model, it has limited direct competition and should be a small positive for the stock, Carrington says. "We see relatively little branded competition within a 10-minute walking distance from the site," he says. Citi rates the stock buy and has a 3,910 pence target price. ([e-mail])

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BATM Set for Revenue Growth as Cyber Division Gains Traction

0954 GMT - BATM's 1H results showed a fall in both pretax profit and revenue driven by a strong pandemic comparative, but revenues from its core emerging diagnostics are growing strongly, Shore Capital analysts Robin Speakman and Brian White say in a research note. The technology company's cyber division is also gaining traction, with the first sales of its 'Edgility' software solution booked in 1H, they add. "The key performance data for BATM at present remains on news flow, in our opinion, in relation to the commercialization of the group's disruptive technologies," they add. ([e-mail])

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Sterling's Failure to Gain on Rate-Rise Bets Is a Worrying Sign

0937 GMT - Sterling's failure to benefit from markets pricing in additional monetary policy tightening by the Bank of England is a worrying signal for the currency, says Validus Risk Management. Markets raised their U.K. interest-rate expectations after higher-than-expected inflation data last Wednesday and stronger-than-forecast retail sales figures on Friday but sterling still fell, says Marc Cogliatti, principal of global capital markets at Validus, in a note. "A breakdown in U.K. rates / currency performance is more akin to what we might expect to see in emerging markets," he says. "Even with nominal rates set to go higher, significantly higher inflation means that real rates are still heading lower." GBP/USD falls 0.2% to 1.1810 but EUR/GBP is flat at 0.8427. ([e-mail])

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Lookers 1H Profit Tops Hopes but Car-Supply Doubts Weigh

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08-24-22 1157ET