Direct Line accepts improved takeover offer from Aviva, Berkeley pre-tax profits fall
By Josh White
Date: Friday 06 Dec 2024
(Sharecast News) - London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 15 points lower on Friday, having closed up 0.16% on Thursday at 8,349.38.
Stocks to watch
Direct Line on Friday said it had accepted a takeover offer from rival Aviva after the latter increased its bid to 275 a share. The company reiterated that it was confident of its prospects as a standalone operation, but after considering the new offer with advisers and consulting with shareholders it decided the latest bid was at a value that it could recommend acceptance. Aviva has until 1700 GMT on Christmas Day to make a firm offer under UK takeover rules.
Berkeley Group reported a 7.7% decline in half-year pre-tax profit to £275.1m on Friday, with resilient sales prices and stable build costs despite broader macroeconomic risks. The FTSE 100 housebuilder launched its 'Berkeley 2035' strategy to enhance capital flexibility, as it remained on track to meet its profit guidance while delivering £283m in shareholder returns by September next year. Net cash as at 31 October stood at £474m, down from £531m at the end of April, while Berkeley's net asset value per share improved by 84p over the same period to 3,447p.
Newspaper round-up
Ten years ago, marketing executives at Britain's biggest supermarket had a brainwave: might slashing the price of basic vegetables tempt shoppers to do their Christmas shop with them? Tesco, under chief executive Dave Lewis, was trying to revive a business reeling after falling sales, five profit warnings and an accounting scandal. That promotion in December 2014, dubbed its Festive Five, offered bags of carrots, potatoes, brussels sprouts, parsnips and a cauliflower for 49p each. - Guardian
A US federal judge on Thursday rejected plane giant Boeing's agreement to plead guilty to fraud after two fatal crashes of its 737 Max passenger jets, faulting a diversity and inclusion provision in the deal regarding the selection of an independent monitor to audit the company's compliance practices. Boeing and the US justice department now have 30 days to update the court on how they plan to proceed in the case, Judge Reed C O'Connor of the northern district of Texas ordered. - Guardian
The former boss of Boohoo resigned after alleged stalking and "corporate espionage" targeted at several of the retailer's executives. John Lyttle, who stepped down on October 18 after five years as chief executive, is understood to have cited stalking and surveillance concerns as reasons for his exit. Lyttle, Dan Finley, Boohoo's chief executive, and co-founder Mahmud Kamani, claim to have over the past few months been routinely followed by men on public transport and in other public spaces, at locations in London, Kent and Manchester. - The Times
Building new nuclear power stations will be "essential" to decarbonising Britain's energy system, Ed Miliband has said, insisting that investing taxpayer money could deliver "big returns" for the country. In his first speech on nuclear power since being reappointed energy secretary, Miliband said that despite "this being a time of immense challenge" for the public finances, the government was "determined to drive forward nuclear through both public and private investment". - The Times
An additional 100,000 workers have been dragged into a '60pc tax trap' in the past year, figures from HM Revenue & Customs have revealed. The number of taxpayers earning between £100,000 and £125,000 in 2023-2024 stood at 634,000, up 18pc from the previous year, when 537,000 were caught. The tax trap applies when the personal allowance, which is £12,570 for the 2024/25 tax year, begins to fall because the worker earns £100,000. - Telegraph
US close
US stocks were in the red on Thursday with all three Wall Street benchmarks pulling back from record highs.
Labour market data and a flurry of retailer earnings - along with a continued surge in the price of bitcoin - were dominating headlines during the session, with investors choosing to take profits ahead of the all-important non-farm payrolls release on Friday.
The Dow slipped 0.55% to 44,7651.71, the S&P 500 fell 0.19% to 6,071.11, while the Nasdaq fell 0.18% to 19,700.26 - with the latter two indices snapping a four-day winning streak.
On the macro front, the Labor Department reported that jobless claims hit 224,000 last week, up from 213,000 in the previous week and ahead of expectations of 215,000.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas revealed that US employers announced 57,727 job cuts in November, up from October's 55,597 print and 45,510 at the same time a year earlier for the fourth-highest November reading since 2008.
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