AstraZeneca says vaccine 'highly effective', Sirius Real Estate lifts dividend
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The FTSE 100 is expected to open 38 points higher on Monday, having closed up 0.27% on Friday at 6,351.45.
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German business park specialist Sirius Real Estate lifted its dividend as reported a fall in half-year profits. The company said pre-tax profits fell to €62.2m (£55.5m) compared to €79.7m in the same period last year. The interim dividend was increased 2.8% to 1.82 cents. Sirius added that it collected 97.3% of cash owed during the period.
AstraZeneca said its Covid-19 vaccine was highly effective in preventing the virus and that it would move quickly to get approval for use. An interim analysis of clinical trials of AZD122 in the UK and Brazil showed the vaccine had an average efficacy of 70% with protection occurring 14 days or more after two doses. One of the dosing regimens was about 90% effective, putting it on a par with other vaccines. There were no serious safety incidents related to the vaccine and AZD122 was well tolerated, AstraZeneca said.
Greencoat UK Wind has agreed to acquire a 49% stake in the Humber Gateway offshore wind farm from RWE, it announced on Monday, in partnership with a number of pension funds investing through a fund also managed by Greencoat Capital. The FTSE 250 company said it would acquire a net 38% stake in the wind farm for £500m, including cash and working capital, while the pension funds would acquire 11% for £148m, with the total cash consideration payable to RWE at completion being £648m. RWE would continue to hold the remaining 51%.
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Rishi Sunak has rejected accusations that his planned public sector pay freeze amounts to a return of austerity and insisted that spending plans to be announced on Wednesday will result in more money for health, education and the police. With trade unions demanding that the chancellor do a last-minute U-turn over his clearly signalled intention to clamp down on the state’s wage bill and refusing to rule out strikes, Sunak said there would be significant increases in spending on public services next year. - Guardian
The economic turmoil caused by the Covid-19 pandemic pushed third-quarter shareholder payouts to their lowest level since 2016, according to the latest snapshot, with the UK recording the biggest falls. Janus Henderson is now warning that dividends for the whole of 2020 are likely to drop at least 15.7%, which would “eradicate” more than three years of dividend growth and cost investors $224bn (£170bn) in lost income this year. - Guardian
The effective renationalisation of the railways has been accelerated after ministers put the industry’s future in the hands of Network Rail and a group of government officials, leaving private sector train operators by the wayside. Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, has asked Andrew Haines, the Network Rail chief, to spearhead a 30-year strategy for the railway called the “The Whole Industry Strategic Plan” (WISP), according to leaked internal documents seen by the Telegraph. - Telegraph
Thousands of small investors who put almost £47 million into unregulated minibonds sold by Blackmore have been warned to expect nothing back after the collapse of the property developer. The disclosure by administrators at Duff & Phelps will add to the furore surrounding Blackmore, which failed in April with only £906 of cash in its bank account. - The Times
One of Britain’s leading restaurateurs has urged the government to abandon blanket Covid-19 restrictions or face “an atomic bomb” of unemployment in January. Richard Caring, who owns chains including Bill’s and The Ivy Collection, said rules that had been “put in place without a great deal of thought” had turned out to be “a killer” for the hospitality industry. - The Times
US close
Stocks on Wall Street finished weaker on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing down 0.75% at 29,263.48.
At the same time, the S&P 500 was off 0.68% at 3,557.54, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.42% weaker at 11,854.97.