7.53am: Wood Group shares to be suspended
John Wood Group PLC (LSE:LON:WG.) said a review has identified a number of concerns about its accounts and practices, including “material weaknesses and failures” in financial culture, which will require it to delay results to make “material” adjustments to prior year accounts.
Failings included “inappropriate management pressure”, including management overriding financial reporting to maintain previously reported positions, including through unsupported dispensations, over-optimism and lack of evidence in respect of accounting judgements.
With instances being identified where information was inappropriately withheld and some unreliable information was provided to auditors, the review has called for “material” adjustments to prior year profit & loss and balance sheets in 2022, 2023 and the first half of 2024, with adjusted EBITDA and EBIT also likely to be restated.
7.34am: Aston Martin (LON:AML) to sell F1 stake
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC (LSE:AML) is set to raise over £125 million through a proposed investment by executive chairman Lawrence Stroll’s Yew Tree consortium and by selling the company’s minority investment in the Aston Martin Aramco (TADAWUL:2222) Formula One team.
Raising £52.5 million, Yew Tree has agreed to subscribe to new ordinary shares at 70p per share, representing a 7% premium to the closing price at the end of last week.
The consortium has also indicated an interest in increasing its stake to 35%, subject to shareholder approval, and will seek a waiver and shareholder approval to avoid the mandatory offer required when shareholdings exceed 30%.
Aston Martin said it plans to sell its minority stake in the Formula One team, which it expects to exceed the current book value of £74 million.
7.17am: FTSE 100 set to plunge
The FTSE 100 is heading for a sizeable fall on Monday as investors adopt a risk-avoidance strategy ahead of Donald Trump’s big tariff day, as proven by gold simultaneously surging to new highs.
In the futures market, London’s blue-chip index is pointing to a 53-point plunge at the open, after a week that saw a small gain overall within a fairly tight range as traders refused to put too much risk on the table either way.
Last week also finished with a fairly large sell-off on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 declining almost 2%, the Nasdaq dropping 2.7% and the Dow Jones falling 1.7%, while the VIX ’fear gauge’ rose 16% to just under 22.
Asian markets are all in the red this morning, with Japan’s Nikkei plunging 3.9% and the Chinese tech-dominated Hang Seng falling 1.8%.
Tariff talk dominates the market’s thoughts as Trump’s “liberation day” approaches, says market analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya at Swissquote Bank.
“Risk appetite is nowhere to be found, the US dollar is weak, gold continues to extend gains into uncharted territories and oil bulls remain unreactive to the news that Trump is ’pissed off’ with Putin for unveiling plans for the next Ukrainian leadership.”
Gold has climbed above $3,120 per ounce this morning, up from around $97,000 a week ago and $84,000 at the start of the year.
Oil is down this morning despite Trump narked at Putin for suggesting ways to install new leadership in Ukraine by sidelining President Zelensky – a situation that he said could lead to “secondary tariffs” on Russian oil.
Announcements due on Monday 31 March
SSP Group reports interims with some analysts hauling the travel food and beverage operator’s progress but worried about cashflows…read more
Interims: James Halstead PLC, SSP Group PLC, YouGov (LON:YOU) PLC, Victoria Plumbing PLC
Finals: Alfa Financial Software (ETR:SOWGn) Holdings, Artisanal Spirits Company, Inspired PLC (LON:INSEI), Itaconix (LON:ITXI), Petershill Partners, Portmeirion, RTW Biotech Opportunities
AGMs: CapAI Plc, Hutchmed (China) Ltd, IDOX plc, Lexington Gold Ltd, Mediazest, Pri0r1ty Intelligence Group Plc, Agriterra Ltd, Montanaro UK Smaller Cos Investment Trust plc, Zenova Group plc, River Global plc
Economic announcements: Nationwide House Prices (UK), Mortgage Approvals (UK), Consumer Credit (UK), Import Price Index (GER), Retail Sales (GER), Consumer Price Index (GER), Chicago PMI (US)
Read more on Proactive Investors UK
