HSBC to reinstate dividends, SSE selling share in gas network operator
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 43 points higher on Monday, having closed down 0.65% at 7,032.30 on Friday.
Stocks to watch
HSBC on Monday said it would reinstate dividends after first-half profits more than doubled as an ongoing restructuring and pivot to Asia continues to pay off. Reported profit before tax rose $6.5bn to $10.8bn. The bank said it will pay an interim dividend of 7 cents a share after UK regulators last year ordered banks to suspend payouts amid the coronavirus pandemic.
SSE has agreed to sell its entire 33.3% stake in gas distribution operator Scotia Gas Networks (SGN) to a consortium comprising existing SGN shareholder Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board and Brookfield Super-Core Infrastructure Partners, it announced on Monday, for £1.23bn in cash. The FTSE 100 company initially acquired a 50% equity share in SGN in 2005 for a total of £505m, before selling a 16.7% stake to a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) in 2016, which the consortium is also buying. SGN includes Scotland Gas Networks and Southern Gas Networks, two of the eight regulated gas distribution networks in Britain, as well as SGN Natural Gas, which provides gas to the west of Northern Ireland.
Newspaper round-up
Employers are offering signing-on fees of up to £10,000 to tempt “gold dust” applicants as more than 1.1m jobs in the UK remain unfilled, with the pingdemic worsening a shortage of workers caused by Brexit and a lack of skills. Care home operator HC One is offering a £10,000 “welcome bonus” on two jobs for registered night nurses, both in Scotland, as private health care providers battle with a shortage of workers partly caused by EU citizens returning home. - Guardian
Hollywood’s Sunset Studios, which produced La La Land, Zoolander and the first in the X-Men franchise, has become the latest US movie production house to adopt the leafy Hertfordshire countryside as its main base outside the US. Backed by £700m from two major US investment firms, the TV and film studio complex will create more than 4,500 jobson a 37-hectare (91-acre) greenfield site in Broxbourne, close to the arc of rival studio complexes north-west of London known as Britain’s Hollywood. - Guardian
Rishi Sunak is considering a temporary suspension of the Conservatives’ "triple lock" election manifesto commitment on state pensions that would save billions by linking this year’s rise to inflation instead. The lock commits the Chancellor to lift payouts to match the highest out of average earnings, inflation or 2.5pc. However, the impact of the furlough scheme last year is likely to leave wages more than 8pc higher than last year, adding more than £7bn to the state pensions every year if fulfilled. - Telegraph
A third of new jobs in industries including marketing, software and IT are offering remote working, as bosses bow to staff demands for more flexible terms. A number of traditionally office-bound sectors have seen an increase of 20pc in remote vacancies after Covid sparked a homeworking revolution. - Telegraph
Businesses are stepping up recruitment plans and increasing wages as the recovery gathers strength but optimism in the private sector has peaked, according to a corporate survey by Lloyds Banking Group. Its monthly business barometer found that hiring intentions climbed for a sixth consecutive month to the highest level since November 2018. More than a quarter of respondents, 27 per cent, expect pay growth of 2 per cent, up from 24 per cent last month and back in line with pre-pandemic readings. - The Times
US close
Stocks on Wall Street finished in negative territory on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.42% at 34,935.47.
The S&P 500 lost 0.54% to 4,395.26, and the Nasdaq Composite was off 0.71% to 14,672.68.