London’s FTSE 100 takes another tumble on Friday, off 39 points at 7,379.2 as reports of an imminent breakthrough on Brexit helped lift sterling ahead of the key US non-farm payrolls release out later today.
Consumer goods colossus Unilever (ULVR) weakens 1% to £40.38 39.8p as the board capitulates to shareholder pressure and scraps the plan to shift its headquarters to the Netherlands. Drawing the ire of key UK investors, the controversial move would have seen the Dove, Marmite and PG Tips maker kicked out of the FTSE 100, forcing investors to sell their shares with no premium.
Humbled chairman Marijn Dekkers says his charge ‘has built a long track record of consistent and competitive performance’ and adds ‘the board continues to believe that simplifying our dual-headed structure would, over time, provide opportunities to further accelerate value creation and serve the best long-term interests of Unilever. The board will now consider its next steps and will continue to engage with our shareholders.'
Property stocks are rallying on the news John Whittaker, the billionaire owner of Peel Group, is working on a multi-billion pound deal to take Intu Properties (INTU) private, just months after the shopping centre owner’s proposed £3.4bn merger with Hammerson (HMSO) failed.
Intu Properties surges 26% higher to 186.6p on hopes the move could trigger an auction for the lately-unloved business, while Hammerson is marked up 7.4% to 460p and both British Land (BLND) and Land Securities (LAND) catch a bid on the positive read-across.
Used car dealer Motorpoint (MOTR) accelerates 3.7% higher to 210.5p on a solid half year trading update, highlighting sales growth of around 9% revenue growth and a maintained operating margin. Broker Numis Securities leaves its full year pre-tax profit forecast unchanged at £23.7m (2018: £20.8m) and moves its recommendation back from ‘add’ to ‘buy’ following a recent share price pullback.
Egypt-focused precious metals miner Centamin (CEY) cheapens 7% to 101.2p after cutting its annual production target and reporting a 25% slump in third quarter total gold production, caused by delays in planned operational improvements.
First Derivatives (FDP:AIM) falls a further 80p to £34.20 following an attack by short-sellers, who’ve raised concerns over the data analytics tools supplier’s growth, profits and accounting. Liberum Capital rides to the rescue with a note headed ‘Short attack overdone’ and ‘buy’ rating. ‘While some accounting policies could be more transparent, we believe many of the claims that arose over the past hours are unfounded and speculative,’ says the broker.
‘In our view, First Derivatives’ strategy of disciplined growth provides a path for consolidating the Kx technology as a global leader in big data applications and our investment case remains unaffected by such claims.'
Architect and interior designer Aukett Swanke (AUK:AIM) crashes 21.5% lower to 1.75p on news second half trading continued to be slow and the micro cap is on course to post a loss for the financial year to 30 September.
Savannah Petroleum’s (SAVP:AIM) strong run continues, the shares up another 0.2p to 33.4p on news its Zomo-1 exploration well in Niger has been declared a discovery. This marks the fifth oil discovery made in Niger by the British oil and gas firm guided by CEO Andrew Knott.
