The FTSE 100 opens lower this morning amid ongoing trade war tensions and falling oil prices after OPEC’s decision to increase output.
The slide in the price of crude puts index heavyweights BP (BP.) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) on the back foot. BP falls 1.3% to 569p and Shell is down 0.4% to £26.95.
On a quiet day for corporate news a profit warning and capital raise at estate agent Countrywide (CWD) makes it the biggest faller on the FTSE All-Share. The shares are down 23% to 60.2p as it says first half earnings will be down £20m year-on-year and announces plans to reduce debt levels by at least 50% through equity finance.
Insurer Old Mutual (OML) says the offer price for the de-merger of its Quilter wealth management business was 140p per share, raising around £231.1m. Its shares are flat at 210.9p
Industrial buyout firm Melrose (MRO) says its recent acquisition of defense and automotive focused engineering group GKN has been cleared by the the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. The shares are down 0.8% to 220.1p.
Oil firm Soco International (SIA) agrees to sell its Congo unit to Coastal Energy Congo for up to $10m, plus a royalty on future oil and condensate production.
Assets held by Soco Congo included a 40.39% operated interest in each of the Lidongo, Viodo, Lideka and Loubana exploitation permits within the former Marine XI Block, located in shallow water offshore Congo. Soco advances 3.4% to 98.6p.
Brownfield land developer and housebuilder Inland Homes (INL) gains 2.9% to 70p as it completes the sale of phase two of its prime waterside Sherborne Wharf project in Birmingham, to Crest Nicholson (CRST), for £4.34m.
Crest Nicholson has acquired a one acre site, with detailed planning for the development of 87 residential units, Inland Homes confirms. This comes after the previous sale of phase one of the project to Crest Nicholson in December 2017, involving 146 consented units. Inland Homes also secures a pre-let to Premier Inn for a 46,000 sq ft, 107-room hotel development in Bournemouth.
Elsewhere, Next Energy Solar Fund (NESF) acquires 10 operating solar plants in the UK for £52.9m. The projects, which had all been constructed and connected to the grid, have a total installed capacity of 46.6MW.
