UK Likely to Scale Back Stimulus Despite Improving Public
Finances
0748 GMT - The U.K. government is likely to scale back fiscal
stimulus in autumn, despite official data showing public finances
have improved, says Capital Economics. "August's public finance
figures provided more evidence that the government's financial
position isn't as bad as the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)
predicted back in March," says senior U.K. economist Ruth Gregory.
The GBP20.5bn of public sector net borrowing (excluding banking
groups) in August was once again lower than the OBR's forecast of
GBP21.6bn, though it was higher than the a forecast in a WSJ pool
of GBP14.0 billion. U.K.'s Treasury chief expected to signal the
end of pandemic-era stimulus at his Budget on Oct. 27, when he
presents the government's fiscal plans. (lorena.ruibal@wsj.com)
Companies News:
Travis Perkins to Return GBP179 Mln to Shareholders via Buyback,
Special Dividend
Travis Perkins PLC is launching a 100 million pound ($136.6
million) share buyback and a GBP79 million special dividend, after
the sale of its Plumbing & Heating distribution business, it
said Tuesday.
---
Kingfisher's 1H Adjusted Pretax Profit Came in Ahead of Market
Views
Kingfisher PLC on Tuesday reported a significant rise in pretax
profit and adjusted pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2022
and said that its outlook for the full year has improved.
---
Stagecoach Is in Merger Talks With National Express Group
U.K. transportation group Stagecoach Group PLC said Tuesday that
it is in talks for an all-share takeover by peer National Express
Group PLC that will give its shareholders about 25% of the combined
group if the deal proceeds.
---
Compass Group Says 4Q Underlying Revenue to Be 86% of FY
2019's
Compass Group PLC said Tuesday that it expects fourth-quarter
underlying revenue on a constant currency basis to improve to 86%
of 2019 revenue, and for it to be slightly ahead of the previous
guidance range of 80% to 85%.
---
Blackstone's BioMed to Invest $1.2 Bln in New UK Labs
U.S. real-estate investment company BioMed Realty said Tuesday
that it plans to significantly increase its laboratory space in the
U.K. after acquiring two sites in the city of Cambridge.
---
PensionBee Group 1H Pretax Loss Widened
PensionBee Group PLC on Tuesday reported a significantly widened
pretax loss for the first half of 2021 and said that its
performance for the period was in line with management
expectations.
---
Dignity Swung to 1H Profit on Financial Remeasurements
Dignity PLC on Tuesday reported a profit for the first half of
the fiscal year, but its underlying earnings declined as deaths
fell on year.
---
Knights Group Says Strong Performance Continues into FY 2022
Knights Group Holdings PLC said Tuesday that its performance
continues to be strong and in line with expectations following the
end of fiscal year 2021 on April 30.
---
Aegon to Appeal Hungarian Court Decision to Block Acquisition by
Vienna Insurance Group
Aegon NV said Tuesday that it will appeal a decision made by the
Budapest Metropolitan Court to block the acquisition of its
Hungarian business by Vienna Insurance Group AG.
---
Caerus Mineral Resources to Raise GBP1.5 Mln to Fund Project
Development
Caerus Mineral Resources PLC said Tuesday that it is raising 1.5
million pounds ($2 million) via a share placing and subscription
and will use the money to fund project development.
Market Talk:
First Green Gilt Syndication Likely Today
0726 GMT - The U.K. is likely to issue its first ever green gilt
via syndication today, subject to market and demand conditions.
"This marks the first of two planned green gilt syndications in
fiscal year 2021/22, in the form of a new 0.875% green gilt
maturing on 31 July 2033 - giving it a maturity of 11.86yrs and
modified duration of 11.24," says RBC Capital Markets. The bank
expects the U.K. to raise between GBP10-GBP15bn today, given
Treasury chief Rishi Sunak said that this will be the largest green
sovereign launch on record, analysts at the bank say. Italy issued
the largest green sovereign bond deal so far after issuing an
EUR8.5bn BTP maturing in 2045. (lorena.ruibal@wsj.com)
Permian Assets Sale Could Lead Shell to Boost 2022 Buybacks
0703 GMT - Shell has committed $7 billion of the proceeds from
the sale of its Permian basin assets to additional shareholder
distributions and, given the current share price, RBC Capital
Markets expects the bias to be for share buybacks. As a result, the
bank's 2022 buyback estimate of $6 billion could easily double, it
says. The company hasn't commented on whether the distributions
would be via special dividend or additional buyback. Still, RBC
expects the announcement to be taken positively by the market, and
to support the shares in the near term. RBC has an outperform
rating on the Anglo-Dutch energy giant.
(jaime.llinares@wsj.com)
Compass Group Could Come out Swinging After Pandemic
0703 GMT - Contract caterer Compass Group could have suffered as
clients shut their offices and took their canteens with them, but
it now looks set to come out of the pandemic swinging, Daniel Lane
at Freetrade says. Compass's reduced spending has allowed it to
avoid growing a large pile of debt, but as companies will operate a
hybrid workforce for a while still--meaning they only need half the
service they used to pay for--the question as to how it will get
back to its target 7% margins remains, Lane says. "It'll need a
steady hand to maintain that balance of efficiency and new business
to bring in firms starting to realize they need to be just as lean
as their contractors," Lane says.
(anthony.orunagoriainoff@dowjones.com)
Shell's Permian Sale to Please Investors
0656 GMT - The market will take Shell's sale of its Permian
basin assets positively, given the relatively attractive price tag
and the higher-than-expected allocation of proceeds to incremental
shareholder returns, which should support shares in the near-term,
RBC Capital Markets says. The company is divesting 5% of its 2021
production estimate, or 4% of its asset base, for 6% of its market
capitalization, RBC estimates. "It has been our long held view that
Shell had a sub-scale position in the Permian relative to its U.S.
peers, and given its poor track record in the asset class, it would
make sense to divest to another operator," the Canadian bank says.
(jaime.llinares@wsj.com)
Contact: London NewsPlus; paul.larkins@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 21, 2021 04:12 ET (08:12 GMT)
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