Rank CEO to retire, Prudential launches $1.2bn buyback
By Benjamin Chiou
Date: Tuesday 06 Jan 2026
(Sharecast News) - LONDON PRE-OPEN
London's FTSE 100 is expected to test new heights on Tuesday, with futures showing a 41.50-point gain (+0.41%) from Monday's all-time closing high of 10,004.57.
STOCKS TO WATCH
Rank Group on Tuesday said chief executive John O'Reilly had decided to retire on January 29 and will be replaced on an interim basis by chief financial officer Richard Harris. The Mecca bingo owner added that a formal search process to identify a permanent CEO would now begin.
Insurance and investment giant Prudential has announced the launch of a $1.2bn share buyback programme which it expects to complete by mid-December. The repurchases form part of a previously announced $5bn buyback programme planned for 2024 to 2027, but include returns from the net proceeds from December's IPO of Indian investment arm ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company. Further proceeds of the IPO will be returned to shareholders in 2027.
High street retailer Next has lifted full-year guidance, on the back of better-than-expected festive trading. In the nine weeks to 27 December, full-price sales rose 10.6% year-on-year, comfortably ahead of forecasts for a 7% improvement across the entire quarter. As a result, the company now expects total group sales in the year to 31 January to come in at £6.97bn and pre-tax profits of £1.15m. Next had previously guided for annual sales of £6.87bn and pre-tax profits of £1.14bn.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
Insolvent recruitment businesses shorn of their debts then reacquired from administration by the directors or shareholders that presided over their demise are costing the exchequer tens of millions of pounds in lost taxes, a Guardian analysis suggests. The practice of "phoenixism" - the art of liquidating a company and allowing the directors to rise from the ashes with a new entity, free of debts - is estimated by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to have cost taxpayers about £800m a year. - Guardian
A rise in the popularity of Chinese brands pushed total car sales in the UK above the 2m mark last year for the first time since 2019, figures reveal. Chinese companies accounted for 9.7% of the 2m new car registrations in the UK in 2025, or 196,000 vehicles, according to preliminary figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), a lobby group. That was nearly double the 4.9% market share achieved by the country's carmakers in 2024. - Guardian
Claire's Accessories is on the brink of collapse for the second time in six months after it was struck by Rachel Reeves's tax raid. The jewellery and accessories chain has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators, putting more than 1,000 jobs at risk just days into the new year. Fresh turmoil comes just months after Claire's Accessories collapsed into administration before being rescued in September. - Telegraph
Losses at Euan Blair's technology start-up have widened as the company cut staff numbers for the first time. Multiverse, founded in 2016 by Sir Tony Blair's son to give apprentices roles at technology companies, said it had made dozens of roles redundant last year, with its total headcount falling from 822 to 813. The job losses were disclosed in Multiverse's latest accounts, which showed losses at the company hit £63.3m in the year to March 2025, up from £60.6m a year earlier. - Telegraph
Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia, announced a new AI model for self-driving cars as he tried to reassure investors about the scale of the artificial intelligence boom. Huang unveiled the Alpamayo, the "world's first thinking, reasoning autonomous vehicle" with AI that "can teach the car how to drive". He said it took thousands of people to build. - The Times
US CLOSE
US stocks rose on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping to a new record high, as America's weekend assault on Venezuela sparked big gains in the defence and energy sectors.
The Dow surged 1.2% to 48,977.18 - after briefly topping the 49,000 mark for the first time ever - surpassing a previous closing high of 48,731.16 reached on 24 December. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% and the Nasdaq gained 0.7%.
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