Iran says some people arrested for their role in Ukrainian plane crash

Iran's judiciary has arrested some people for their role in the crash of a Ukrainian plane that Tehran said was accidentally hit by an Iranian missile, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said on Tuesday.

He did not give further details.

Opel to cut 4,100 jobs: report

–Peugeot SA’s (UG.FR) Opel is planning to cut up to 4,100 jobs, Bloomberg reports, citing an unnamed source.

–The German car brand will eliminate at least 2,100 positions by 2025 and could take measures to scrap 1,000 more jobs in two-year increments through 2029, the person told Bloomberg, adding that the car maker will brief employees on Tuesday.

–A spokesman for Peugeot declined to comment, Bloomberg says.

Full story: https://bloom.bg/383mffR

Taylor Wimpey reports record sales rate

Taylor Wimpey PLC (TW.LN) said Tuesday that trading in 2019 was in line with the board’s expectation, benefiting from a record sales rate and increased home completions in the year.

The U.K. home builder said that in the year ended Dec. 31, total home completions rose by 5% to 15,719 with the overall average selling price increasing to 269,000 pounds ($349,739). This compares with GBP264,000 in 2018.

The company said it ended the year with a record order book valued at GBP2.18 billion but it expects 2020 to be second-half weighted.

Meanwhile, over recent months the company has seen a softening in the cost pressures experienced in 2019, when build cost inflation came to 4.5%.

The company said it will report 2019 results in line with its expectations, with an operating profit margin of around 19.6%, down from 21.6% in 2018, with a return on net operating assets of around 31%, down from 33.4%.

Write to Adriano Marchese at [email protected]

Games Workshop H1 Profit Rises; Sales Up 19% – Quick Facts

Games Workshop Group plc (GAW.L) reported profit before tax of 58.6 million pounds for the six months to 1 December 2019 after recognising the impact of adopting IFRS 16 compared to 40.8 million pounds, previous year. Earnings per share was 144.6 pence compared to 100.7 pence. Operating profit before royalty income increased to 48.5 million pounds from 35.3 million pounds. On a constant currency basis, operating profit before royalty income increased by 11.6 million pounds to 46.9 million pounds.

For the first-half period, reported sales grew by 19% to 148.4 million pounds. On a constant currency basis, sales were up by 16% to 145.6 million pounds.

Kevin Rountree, CEO of Games Workshop, said: “Our business and the Warhammer Hobby continue to be in great shape. Sales for the month of December are in line with our expectations.”

The Board has declared a dividend of 45 pence per share, in line with the company’s policy of distributing surplus cash. This will be paid on 2 March 2020 for shareholders on the register at 24 January 2020.

Shares Of BlackRock Inc. (BLK) Hit 52-Week High

Shares of BlackRock Inc. (BLK) hit a new 52-week high of $523.45 on January 13, and closed Monday’s trading session at $523.11, up $10.93 or 2.13%. The stock has rallied 20% since its Q3 results announcement on Oct. 15, 2019.

BlackRock, on October 15, reported Q3 net income of $1.12 million or $7.15 per share versus $1.22 million or $7.54 per share last year.

Adjusted net income was $1.12 million or $7.15 per share compared to $1.21 million or $7.52 per share in the prior year period.

Revenue for the quarter increased to $6.96 billion from $6.44 billion generated a year ago, driven by higher base fees and technology services revenue, partially offset by lower performance fees.

Laurence D. Fink, Chairman and CEO, said, “BlackRock generated $84 billion of total net inflows in the third quarter, demonstrating strength in fixed income, cash and alternative strategies, as clients re-balanced, de-risked and sought uncorrelated sources of return in the face of significant
global market volatility.”

BlackRock is scheduled to report its fourth quarter 2019 earnings prior to the opening of the NYSE on Wednesday, January 15, 2020.

On Nov. 19, BlackRock’s board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $3.30 per share of common stock, payable December 23, 2019 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 6, 2019.

France, Britain, Germany to trigger Iran deal dispute mechanism

PARIS (REUTERS) – France, Britain and Germany will on Tuesday (Jan 14) inform the European Union that they are triggering a dispute mechanism in the Iran nuclear deal following renewed violations by Teheran of the 2015 accord, two European diplomats said.

The diplomats said the decision was aimed at saving the deal by discussing with Iran what it should do to reverse decisions it had made.

The aim was not to reimpose UN sanctions, the diplomats said.

Sri Lanka dollar bonds drop after S&P cuts outlook to negative

LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s sovereign dollar-denominated bonds came under pressure on Tuesday after ratings agency Standard & Poor’s cut the outlook on the country’s credit rating to negative, citing increased risks from a deteriorating fiscal position.

Longer-dated bonds bore the brunt of the falls with the 2030 issue slipping as much as 1.2 cents to trade at 100.445 cents in the dollar, according to Tradeweb data.

Standard & Poor’s affirmed the country’s credit rating at ‘B/B’.

Aviation officials from Iran, Ukraine, Canada hold meeting over crash: Iran state media

DUBAI (Reuters) – Aviation officials from Iran, Ukraine and Canada held a meeting in Tehran on Tuesday over the investigation of the crash of a Ukrainian airliner in Iran last week, Iranian state TV reported in an online post.

No additional details were given on what was discussed about the crash, which killed all 176 people aboard.