XP Power FY profits slump, GSK lodges marketing authorisation application for daprodustat

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was being called to open 19.2 points lower ahead of the bell on Tuesday after the index saw out the previous session 0.42% weaker at 7,458.25.

Stocks to watch

Critical power control solutions manufacturer XP Power saw reported profits slump in 2021 despite improved order intake and a modest uptick in revenues.

XP Power said full-year operating profits had fallen 21% to £29.7m and pre-tax profits had sunk 20% to £28.4m as a 210 basis point decrease in gross margins to 45.1% offset a 33% improvement in order intake £343.4m and 3% revenue growth to £240.3m. Diluted earnings per share fell 29% to 113.8p.

GlaxoSmithKline said the European Medicines Agency has accepted a marketing authorisation application for its daprodustat treatment of chronic kidney disease.

The marketing authorisation application includes positive data from GSK's ASCEND Phase III clinical trial programme, which included five pivotal studies assessing the efficacy and safety of daprodustat for the treatment of anaemia across the course of chronic kidney disease.

Abrdn's annual profit rose as the asset manager posted higher full-year revenue for the first time since the it was formed from a merger in 2017.

Adjusted operating profit for the year to the end of December rose 47% to £323.0m as revenue increased to £1.52bn from £1.43bn, while pre-tax profit under IFRS accounting rules rose to £1.12bn from £838m. Net outflows tumbled to £3.2bn compared with £12.3bn a year earlier and Abrdn kept its annual dividend unchanged at 14.6p a share.

Newspaper round-up

Rishi Sunak is facing renewed pressure from business leaders to delay a planned £12.0bn rise in national insurance, amid warnings over soaring costs for companies and households as the Russian invasion of Ukraine drives up inflation. The manufacturing trade body Make UK, which represents 20,000 firms of all sizes across the country, said the tax hike planned for April should be pushed back until the UK economy is in a stronger position. It warned the government that pressing ahead would risk firms slamming the brakes on recruitment and putting the economic recovery from Covid at risk. - Guardian

More than 51,000 people joined the ranks of the "ultra-wealthy" last year as the fortunes of the already very rich benefited from rising global stock markets and increased property prices during the pandemic. The number of ultra-high net worth individuals – those with assets of more than $30.0m (£22.4m) – rose by a record 9.3% last year to 610,569, according to a report by the property consultants Knight Frank. - Guardian

Britain is joining forces with European allies to help wean Germany off Russian gas, in moves that would pave the way for sanctions against the Kremlin's powerful energy industry. Officials in Whitehall are laying the groundwork for discussions with Berlin and other European importers about a significant increase in deliveries of liquified natural gas at ports across the Continent, with the aim of meeting demand next winter if supplies from Russia are cut off. - Telegraph

Commuters will be hit with the biggest increase in rail fares for nearly a decade despite a steep fall in the number of train services being run. National Rail fares will rise by 3.8%, the steepest increase since January 2013, in a fresh blow to families facing spiralling energy bills, soaring inflation and steepling mortgage costs. - Telegraph

Net losses at Klarna ballooned fivefold last year as the instalment credit business shouldered heavy expansion costs and a rise in customer defaults. However, despite the losses of SWKR 7.09bn (£558.0m), the Swedish group, which has expanded aggressively with its "buy now, pay later" offering, said that it had won 46.0m new customers in 45 countries, boosting its total customer numbers to 147.0m. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks turned in a mixed performance on Monday as Russian and Ukraine officials arrived at the border to discuss potentially calling a stop to hostilities between the two sides.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.49% at 33,892.60, while the S&P 500 was 0.24% weaker at 4,373.94 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.41% firmer at 13,751.40.