Metro Bank in talks to sell mortgage portfolio, Anglo American sees headline earnings leap
By Josh White
Date: Monday 22 Jul 2019
(Sharecast News) - London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open seven points higher on Monday, having closed up 0.21% at 7.508.70 on Friday.
Stocks to watch
Embattled high street lender Metro Bank on Monday confirmed it was in talks to sell a mortgage portfolio. "There can be no certainty at this stage that an agreement will be reached. A further announcement will be made if and when appropriate," the bank said in a statement. Media reports over the weekend said Metro was in talks on a £500m deal to offload a mortgage portfolio back to a US hedge fund Cerberus Capital Management, from which it has bought more than £1bn of assets in recent years.
Anglo American Platinum reported a 120% leap in interim headline earnings to ZAR7.4bn after the South Africa-based company's sales revenues jumped by 28% to ZAR42.9bn due to higher metals prices. Total production of platinum group metals edged 2% lower to 2.1m ounces after power outages and strike action hampered growth but the FTSE 100-listed miner still maintained full year guidelines of 4.2m to 4.5m ounces.
First half pre-tax profits at information company Ascential rose to £30.5m from £23.1m as revenue increased 25% to £236m. The company said it was trading in line with expectations for the full year, adding that it was confident of delivering its medium-term target to achieve double-digit growth.
Newspaper round-up
Banks are closing branches in deprived communities in England four times faster than in wealthy areas. High street banks have collectively closed 990 branches in the most deprived areas of the country since 2010, compared with 230 in the richest local authorities. - Guardian
Rail passengers have been urged to claim compensation for every delay they suffer after missing out on an estimated £100m in payouts last year. Transport Focus, the UK industry watchdog, said passengers should send a message to train operators that reliability must keep improving by claiming their full entitlement. - Guardian
Centrica is preparing to pare back its dividend for the second time in four years as the British Gas owner plots the sale of some oil and gas interests in a bid to revive its finances. The FTSE 100 firm could cut to its payout to investors as well as offload some of all of its 69pc stake in oil and gas producer Spirit Energy in a bid to cut its £2.7bn debt mountain. - Telegraph
A brewing debt ceiling crisis in the US could plunge the world's biggest economy into recession, economists have warned as Donald Trump and Congress go to war over surging borrowing. The US government is expected to run out of money as soon as September unless the Trump administration and the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives strike a deal to lift the limit on federal borrowing. - Telegraph
The Financial Conduct Authority knew Lendy had been mis-selling loans when it granted the peer-to-peer lender regulatory approval before its collapse. The City regulator asked Lendy to compensate customers over loans that ordinary investors were misled about before granting the platform full authorisation a year ago, The Times can reveal. - The Times
British listed companies are set to lift dividends this year to a record £107 billion but the underlying picture is much weaker than the headline numbers suggest, according to a study. Exceptionally large special dividends and the slide in the pound have flattered the numbers and led to a 14.5 per cent rise in total payouts to £37.8 billion in the second quarter, according to Link Group's quarterly study of dividends. - The Times
US close
US stocks closed lower on Friday, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posting their worst week since May.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.25% at 27,154.20, while the S&P 500 was trading 0.62% lower at 2,976.61 and the Nasdaq Composite closed out the session 0.74% weaker at 8,146.49.
While the Dow Jones closed 68.77 points weaker after Iran announced it had captured a British oil tanker, stocks initially started trading higher after recouping some losses in the previous session when they got a boost from comments made by New York Fed President John Williams, who said the central bank needed to "act quickly" with the economy slowing. He added that it was "better to take preventative measures than wait for disaster to unfold".
However, later on Thursday, a spokesperson for the New York Fed took steps to curb investors' expectations, telling CNBC that he was drawing from academic research rather than outlining potential policy actions at the Federal Open Market Committee's next meeting.
Donald Trump, a long-time critic of the Fed, offered up his two cents on Williams' speech on Friday, telling the central bank to end its "crazy" tightening moves.
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