Barclays evaluating Africa business options, WPP buys data analytics provider

London’s FTSE 100 is expected to open 41 points lower than Friday’s close at 6,055.

Stocks to watch

Barclays noted recent media speculation regarding a potential sale of its shareholding in Barclays Africa Group Limited and said it was evaluating its strategic options.

The bank said it expects to update the market on Tuesday with its full year results for 2015.

WPP’s operating network Millward Brown, which specialises in brand, media and communications research, has agreed to acquire the business operations of marketing analytics company Analytics Quotient (AQ) for an undisclosed sum.

India-based AQ extracts insights from data to help clients define their marketing strategies and builds data visualisation tools and custom analytics solutions to help clients slice, dice, simulate and monitor business data.

A strategy of growth by acquisition paid off for Bunzl last year, with the company reporting positive numbers in the 2015 calendar year on Monday.

The FTSE 100 distribution and outsourcing firm saw revenue grow 5% in both reported and constant currency terms, to £6.49bn. Adjusted operating profit rose 6% to £455m, adjusted profit before income tax 6% to £411.2m, and adjusted earnings per share rose 6% as well, to 91p.

Bunzl's board recommended a final dividend of 26.25p.

The company also announced it had completed the acquisition of Brazilian firm Dental Sorria and US business Earthwise Bag Company, and had entered into an agreement to acquire Turkish packaging and foodservice group Bursa Pazari İnşaat Sanayi ve Ticaret AS.

In the news

Britain’s retailers predict that almost 1m jobs in the sector — a third of today’s total — will disappear by 2025 as technology and the rising minimum wage reshape the industry. Retailers currently employ one in six British workers — about 3m people — and the sector accounts for a tenth of the economy. But the British Retail Consortium, the industry’s trade body, believes that higher wage costs coupled with improved productivity will result in “fewer but better jobs” in the near future. – Financial Times

Mike Ashley, billionaire founder of Sports Direct, is facing fresh calls from investors to shake up the company’s board and replace the chairman. Some shareholders have become increasingly disillusioned with the way Mr Ashley, who is deputy chairman and owns 55 per cent of the shares, runs the group. They think chairman Keith Hellawell’s lack of experience in the sports goods retailing business is holding back the company as trading conditions have become more difficult. – Financial Times

Consumer spending is on course to rise at the joint-fastest pace since the financial crisis, according to a new report. However, the EY Item Club warned that household incomes faced a “big squeeze” in future years as higher inflation starts to bite. Falling food and fuel prices will put more money in people’s pockets in 2016, with strong real income growth expected to drive big-ticket purchases such as cars and holidays. - Telegraph

Business leaders have criticised BT’s claims that its rivals have not wanted to invest in Britain’s broadband infrastructure as “disingenuous” and called on the Government to set more ambitious upgrade targets. The Institute of Directors said it was vital that more competition is forced upon the former state monopoly so Britain does not fall even further behind countries such as Lithuania, where ultrafast fibre optic networks cover more than a third of the country. Here only around one in 50 homes and businesses has access to such services, according to Ofcom. – Telegraph

US close

US stocks ended mostly a little lower on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.3%, the S&P 500 slipped 0.2% but the Nasdaq nudged up 0.2%. For the week, however, equities ended higher, underpinned by steadying oil prices.