Offer pitched at 220p per shareMerger to create UK?s second biggest mortgage and savings groupVirgin Money suspends £150 million buybackVirgin Money UK (VMUK) was the FTSE 250?s big winner on Thursday, shares in the UK?s sixth largest retail bank surging 36% to 215.8p on news it has agreed the key terms of a £2.9 billion takeover by Nationwide Building Society.The mooted deal would create Britai

Shares in Virgin Money (VMUK), previously known as CYBG, surged 21% to a three-month high of 172p, topping the list of FTSE 350 risers, despite reporting losses for the full year to 30 September and suspending its dividend.The Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank owner said underlying profit for the full year was down 7% to £539m, but reported losses after tax were £194m after 'legacy conduct costs, re

The FTSE 100 got off to a slow start this morning after US president Donald Trump signed into law a bill backing Hong Kong's protesters.Stock markets around the world fell sharply on the news, fearing that China will retaliate. Beijing has consistently warned the US and other countries against interfering in what it sees as its internal affairs.The UK's benchmark index no different to other stock

The FTSE 100 opens marginally lower at 7,304 on Thursday after the Prime Minister was boxed in by Parliament overnight. MPs from both sides blocked both a no-deal Brexit and a call for a snap election. In addition a number of stocks are trading ex-dividend today, dragging on the index.After the close last night FTSE Russell announced its quarterly index review, making three changes to the FTSE 100

London's FTSE 100 dips 23 points to 7,420.5 on Wednesday with investors waiting for the latest Federal Reserve meeting with bated breath. In stark contrast, Asian shares rally after US President Donald Trump said on Twitter that he had a 'very good' call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, raising investors' hopes of an amicable resolution to the US-China trade war.High-end housebuilder Berkeley (B

Following the financial crisis more than a decade ago and the public bailout of Lloyds (LLOY) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), the UK banking market was opened up to a new wave of companies who it was hoped would genuinely challenge the established players.Without 'legacy issues' such as mis-selling scandals, and without networks of high street branches weighing on their costs, the idea was that

Getting a slug of free cash appears is going down well with investors in challenger bank Metro Bank (MTRO). The high street business revealed today that it has been awarded £120m from the Banking Competition Remedies (BCR) scheme.The £775m BCR fund was belatedly launched last year by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). It was part of the deal struck with the UK government as part of its bail-out a dec

Investors have a couple of interesting takeovers to concentrate on in early trade on Friday as lender Provident Financial (PFG) and Cathedral City cheese maker Dairy Crest (DCG) recommend bids to shareholders.Provident, the £1.3bn business behind Vanquis credit cards, accepts a £1.3bn offer tabled subprime lending peer Non-Standard Finance (NSF). Interestingly, NSF was founded in 2014 by John va

UK stocks are drifting into mid-week with the FTSE 100 index down 0.3% to 7,157 on weakness in banks, healthcare and utilities, while construction stocks, miners and telecoms help underpin recent gains.Housebuilder Barratt Developments (BDEV) releases a strong set of half year results with profits growing faster than revenues which is always a good sign.For the six months to the end of December sa

UK stocks open lower following the weaker trend in Asian and European markets with the FTSE 100 index giving up 0.5% to 6,872 and the FTSE 250 index giving up 0.2% to 18,373.On a busy day for retail updates supermarket giant Tesco (TSCO) beats estimates with a 2.2% rise in UK like-for-like sales over the key Christmas period, sending its shares up 2% to 216p to top the FTSE 100 leaderboard.Analyst

The broader UK stock market is very cheap on multiple metrics as a result of investors worrying how Brexit will impact the UK economy and domestic earners.The fear has spread so that many investors are nervous about UK equities in general, even though a lot of the companies generate their earnings overseas. This situation presents an opportunity to buy some real bargains.Many fund managers and inv

Tuesday has the look of another down day as early trading sees the FTSE 100 index slide back below the 7,000 mark. At 8.30am the UK's blue-chip benchmark is trading around 30 points off at 6,970.32.This follows a rocky ride for lading US stocks overnight with the Dow down nearly 400 points and Nasdaq falling 219 points lower as technology-led stock market heavyweights such as Apple, Amazon and Fac

Investors appear to be regaining confidence after a volatile period last week with markets marching forward across the UK, mainland Europe and Asia on Monday morning, the FTSE 100 climbing 26.4 points higher to 7,040.3 and the FTSE 250 up almost 140 points at 18,729.Industrial components distributor Diploma (DPLM) ticks up 7.3% to £13.90 on strong full year results revealing 9% growth in adjusted

Takeover, merger (M&A) and spin-out activity is expected to accelerate in the months ahead as UK businesses aspire to bolster their competitive advantages and/or release extra shareholder value.Already this year several UK firms have been targeted with deals either agreed or negotiations ongoing, including the £18bn-plus potential takeover of TV and broadband supplier Sky (SKY) by US cable group

Now challenger banks CYBG (CYBG) and Virgin Money (VM.) have agreed terms, they are entering into an unchartered area of banking, challenger plus perhaps.Neither as large as the big boys but with significantly more scale than the dwindling number of challenger banks elsewhere on the market.To create a truly full service bank, CYBG and Virgin Money needed changes to make it a more level playing fie

The FTSE 100 is down slightly by 7 points to 7,627 as trade war fears are once again brought to the fore. Also German chancellor Angela Merkel's stance over her open door immigration policy has put her in a precarious position which is weighing on investor sentiment.Miner South32 (S32) which spun out of mining behemoth BHP Biliton (BLT) gains 1.2% to 214.2p on news it is acquiring Arizona Mining f

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank owner CYBG (CYBG) is offering Virgin Money's (VM.) shareholders a bigger stake in the proposed combination as the latter tries to get the deal over the line.The revised offer emerged last night, just ahead of Monday's deadline and will create a £4bn new bank. The new offer contains a 7% increase on the original share exchange ratio meaning Virgin Money shareholders w

The FTSE 100 builds on a strong close to last week on Monday. In early trading the index is up 0.6% to 7,747.09 despite negative news over the weekend on trade relations between the US and China.Packaging group DS Smith (SMDS) agrees to buy Eastern European counterpart Papeles y Cartones de Europa, known as Europac, for €1.67bn (£1.45bn).DS Smith said it had offered €16.80 per Europac s

The chief financial officer of CYBG (CYBG) has refused to comment on the bank's takeover approach for Virgin Money (VM.), revealed on 7 May.Speaking to Shares at its half year results on 15 May, Ian Smith wouldn't be drawn into discussion on any element of the approach.Virgin has yet to formally respond to takeover interest but some analysts reckon CYBG will have to pay significantly more than the

Annual results for the year 31 March 2018 from Vodafone (VOD) are overshadowed by the shock news that chief executive officer (CEO) Vittorio Colao is to leave.The boss plans to step down in October after 10 years in charge of the world's second largest mobile operator, and will be succeeded by finance director Nick Read, the company said on Tuesday.Vodafone figures are somewhat patchy with revenue