Ascential considering break-up, Sirius RE FY rent rolls grow

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was being called to open 20.3 points lower ahead of the opening bell on Monday after closing 1.56% higher at 7,669.56 in the previous session.

Stocks to watch

Investment firm Sirius Real Estate said on Monday that total annualised rent rolls had grown in what had been "a transformative year" for the company, marked by its successful raising of €700.0m through two oversubscribed issuances and the group's entry into the UK market via its strategic acquisition of BizSpace.

Like-for-like rent roll growth in Germany was up 6.4% year-on-year, while in the UK, rent roll growth was stronger at 7.5%. Total annualised rent rolls increased to €167.1m, up from €96.5m at the same time a year earlier.

Information and data company Ascential confirmed on Monday that it was considering a break-up of the group.

The announcement came after a Sky News report, citing unnamed sources as saying that Ascential, which has a market capitalisation of £1.49bn, was working with investment bankers on plans to demerge its digital operations and list them separately in the US.

Newspaper round-up

Elon Musk, Twitter's biggest shareholder, has decided not to join the social media company's board, its chief executive Parag Agrawal has said. Musk, who disclosed a 9.2% stake in Twitter just a few days ago, was offered a board seat and his appointment was to become effective on Saturday. But Agrawal posted on Twitter that Musk had declined the offer. "Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board," Agrawal said on Sunday. - Guardian

Homebuyers wanting to take out a mortgage could soon struggle to get the size of loan they need, as banks begin taking into account the cost of living crisis when calculating how much they can lend. Mortgage brokers have said soaring energy bills, the national insurance rise and a big increase in the cost of household goods are set to prompt banks to tighten their mortgage affordability tests, making it harder for consumers to borrow as much as previously. - Guardian

The American owner of Boots risks losing billions after the one-time favourite to buy the chemist chain valued the retailer at a steep discount. Buyout funds CVC and Bain indicated that they were willing to pay just £4.0bn for the business, according to City sources. The consortium bowed out of the running last month. A spokesman for Boots said that the pair did not lodge a formal offer. - Telegraph

Thousands of civil service jobs created to tackle the pandemic and Brexit face the axe as the Treasury attempts to rein in soaring Whitehall headcounts. Plans to slash as many as 40,000 roles will focus on cutting pandemic-related staff in the Department of Health and workers no longer needed after Brexit, The Telegraph can reveal. - Telegraph

Thorntons, Toyota and AB InBev are among the companies who failed to file their gender pay gap reports before the statutory deadline as officials seek to clamp down on regulatory breaches. Other big employers in Britain to miss the deadline included Pirelli, the tyre company, ScotRail, Taylor Wessing, the law firm, and Lenovo, the technology company. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks delivered a mixed performance on Friday as major indices turned in a losing week on the back of fears regarding a more aggressive stance against inflation by the Federal Reserve.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.40% at 34,721.12, while the S&P 500 was 0.27% weaker at 4,488.28 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.34% softer at 13,711.00.