Lloyds, Schroders in Wealth Partnership Talks;Total, Saudi in Development Deal

Sarla Buch
08 Oct, 2018
New York City

Acacia Mining jumped after the gold miner reported strong production and lifted fiscal forecast. Schroders confirmed that it is in talk with Lloyds Banking to work together in wealth sector.

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – Acacia Mining jumped after the gold miner reported strong production and lifted fiscal forecast. Schroders confirmed that it is in talk with Lloyds Banking to work together in wealth sector.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index slumped 61.64 or 0.8% to 7,256.90 and in Frankfurt the DAX index declined 111.77 or 0.9% to 12,000.13.

In Paris, CAC 40 index dropped 51.94 or 1% to 5,307.42.

Acacia Mining Plc jumped 3.9% to 149.80 pence after the U.K.-based gold miner said in the nine-month period ending in September gold production increased to 391,000 ounces.

In the third-quarter, Acacia said gold production declined 29% to 136,640 ounces from a year ago period and sold about 135,875 ounces in the quarter.

The gold producer lifted fiscal 2018 production forecast to about 500,000 ounces from the earlier estimate of 435,000 to 475,000 ounces.

Schroders Plc slipped 0.9% to 2,974 pence after the U.K.-based asset manager confirmed it is in talk with Lloyds Banking Group Plc to work together and Lloyds will merge its £13 billion or $17 billion wealth management business into a new joint venture.

""Schroders confirms that it is in discussions with Lloyds Banking Group plc with a view to working closely together in parts of the wealth sector,"" said spokeswoman of Schroders Beth Saint.

Legal & General Group Plc gained 0.3% to 259.20 pence after the U.K.-based financial services provider today confirmed it had completed £2.4 billion acquisition of telecommunications equipment maker Nortel Networks UK Pension Plan which covering approx 15,500 pensioner members and about 7,200 deferred members.

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE slipped 1.3% to €282.40 ahead of scheduled earnings release by France-based luxury goods maker on October 9.

Total SA dropped 1.6% to €54.24 after France-based oil and gas producer today signed a joint development agreement with Saudi Aramco for the front-end engineering and design of a petrochemical complex in Jubail with an estimated investment of about $9 billion.

Separately on October 7, Total signed two agreements with Algeria controlled energy groups Sonatrach and Alnaft to jointly develop the Erg Issouane gas field located at TFT Sud permit with an investment of about $400 million.