NatWest posts better-than-expected profits, AstraZeneca sells rights to 'Atacand'

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 36 points lower on Friday, having closed down 0.02% on Thursday, at 5,581.75.

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UK taxpayer-owned bank NatWest on Friday reported better-than-expected third quarter profits and made lower bad debt provisions relating to the coronavirus pandemic. The bank posted a £355m pre-tax profit for the three months to September 30, compared to estimates of £75m. Bad loan provisions came in at £254m, compared to the £628m forecast. The bank said full-year impairments would be at the lower end of a £3.5bn - £4.5bn range previously given.

AstraZeneca said it was selling the commercial rights to its heart failure and hypertension drug Atacand and Atacand Plus in around 70 countries globally to Cheplapharm Arzneimittel for $400m. The deal is expected to complete in the final quarter of 2020, AstraZeneca said on Friday, adding that $250m of the purchase price would be payable on completion and the rest in the first half of 2021.

Promotional products company 4imprint reported further progress since its half-year results on Friday, with average weekly order intake running at just above 60% of the prior-year level over the last four weeks. The FTSE 250 company said average order values had continued to run higher than historical comparatives, resulting in average weekly revenue over the same four week period of around 65% of prior year.

Newspaper round-up

The government will close the furlough scheme this weekend, with redundancies rising at the fastest rate on record and the second wave of Covid-19 pushing Britain’s economy to the brink of a double-dip recession, according to a Guardian analysis. As the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, prepares to end the multibillion-pound coronavirus job retention scheme and launch a less generous replacement programme, early warning indicators show business activity faltering as local lockdowns take effect. The number of people losing their jobs is rising much faster than during the 2008 financial crisis, while the economic fightback from the March lockdown is gradually fading. - Guardian

Amazon reported blowout third-quarter results on Thursday as a pandemic sales boost helped the company triple its profits amid a 37% increase in earnings. The company’s revenues of $96.15bn were better than analysts expected and its net income increased to $6.3bn in the third quarter, compared with net income of $2.1bn in third quarter 2019. Its cloud-services unit, Amazon Web Services, reported net sales of $11.6bn for the quarter, up 29% year over year.- Guardian

A second lockdown could destroy what remains of Britain's battered high street, struggling retail, hospitality and travel bosses have warned. Businesses urged the Government not to follow France and Germany back into nationwide restrictions and mass closures, saying hundreds of millions of pounds have now been spent on making premises Covid-secure and keeping customers safe.- Telegraph

Five out of six major public sector audits by Grant Thornton were not up to scratch last year, according to a leaked review by the accounting regulator seen by the Telegraph. The firm was singled out by the Financial Reporting Council watchdog (FRC) after it probed 15 major audits of health authorities, and councils carried out by the industry's seven biggest players - and found 60pc of these fell short of the standard expected. - Telegraph

One of Britain’s biggest employers has committed to retaining all of its office space even as a rise in coronavirus cases makes staff prepare for months of working from home. PwC, the accountant, which employs 22,000 people in Britain, said that it had no intention of downsizing its offices, which it believes offer workers the opportunity to collaborate, learn and innovate in ways they cannot achieve from home. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks finished in the green on Thursday, as major indices attempted to claw back some of what had been lost over the last two days of heavy losses.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.52% at 26,659.11, the S&P 500 added 1.19% to 3,310.11, and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.64% firmer at 11,185.59.

The Dow Jones closed 139.16 points higher on Thursday, barely making a dent in the more than 900 point loss recorded in the previous session.

Thursday's main focus was an advance reading of the US' third-quarter gross domestic product which revealed that US GDP bounced back from the collapse in activity witnessed over the preceding three months during the quarter.

According to the Department of Commerce, GDP shot back at an annualised pace of 33.1% following the second quarter's 31.4% plunge.