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UK stocks open 0.6% lower as pound strengthens
StockMarketWire.com
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UK stocks opened lower on Wednesday as a strengthening pound weighed on exporters and investors continued to fret about global inflation risks, offsetting optimism about vaccine rollouts.
At 0818, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 39.55 points, or 0.6%, at 6,586.39.
High-street bank Lloyds rose 1.2% to 39.7p, even as it reported a 72% drop annual profit to £1.23 billion as bad debts ballooned during the Covid-19 crisis.
Lloyds resumed its dividend, declaring a final payout of 0.57p per share that was nevertheless down from the previous years final dividend of 1.12p.
Challenger lender Metro Bank slumped 7.2% to 139.15p as it posted a deeper annual loss after it, too, racked up more credit impairments due to the pandemic.
Metro Banks pre-tax losses for the year through December amounted to £311.4 million, compared to year-on-year losses of £130.8 million.
Consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser gained 0.9% to £60.24, having swung to a full-year profit as sales rose and impairment charges fell, though its underlying earnings were hurt by weaker margins.
The company also announced that it agreed to sell its Scholl foot-care brand to Yellow Wood Partners and would acquire the Biofreeze topical pain relief brand from Performance Health, for undisclosed sums.
Reckitt Benckiser kept its annual divided steady at 174.6p per share and, for 2021, forecast modest like-for-like sales growth of flat to 2%.
Plastics manufacturer Synthomer reversed 0.3% to 463.8p on revealing that it was not in talks about a possible takeover bid for the company, in response to press speculation about a deal.
CVC Capital Partners was exploring a possible bid for Synthomer, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Telecom group Vodafone fell 0.7% to 129.02p after it announced that it intended to float is Vantage Towers infrastructure business in Germany before the end of March.
Vodafone already had revealed plans to spin the business off and confirmed it would list it on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, targeting 'a meaningful minority free float.
Life insurer Aviva shed 1.4% to 369.5p following news that it agreed to sell its entire 40% shareholding in a Turkey joint venture to Ageas Insurance for £122 million.
Wind farm investor Greencoat UK Wind added 0.3% to 131.4p after it acquired stakes in two Scottish wind farms, for a combined £99.5 million.
Photonic components & systems maker Gooch & Housego rallied 4.9% to £12.898, having seen improved levels of demand across the industrial laser sector, led by Asia.
As at 31 January, Gooch & Housego's order book stood at £95.0 million, up 1% year-on-year.
Disease test-kit supplier Omega Diagnostics firmed 2.0% to 87.75p as it welcomed the publication of data that showed Covid-19 tests were effective when used in conjunction with the Pfizer-BioNTeach vaccine.
The UK Rapid Test Consortium, of which Omega was a partner, had presented data on the performance of the AbC-19TM rapid antibody test in demonstrating immune response following vaccination. Story provided by StockMarketWire.com
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