B&M LFL sales slump, GSK to acquire Affinivax

London pre-open

FTSE 100 futures were pointing to a broadly flat open ahead of the bell, up just 3.7 points prior to the open after closing 0.19% higher in the previous session at 7,600.06.

Stocks to watch

Retailer B&M Value said on Tuesday that UK like-for-like sales over the first eight weeks of the current financial year were down 13.2% and 11.5% against 2022 and 2021, respectively, as inflationary pressures and the cost-of-living crisis weighed on trading.

B&M Value also announced flat annual profits for the year to 26 March and said chief financial officer Alex Russo would replace Simon Arora as chief executive.

Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline said on Tuesday that it had agreed to acquire Boston-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Affinivax as part of a deal valued at as much as $3.3bn.

GlaxoSmithKline will make an upfront payment of $2.1bn for Affinivax, with another $1.2bn in potential development milestones to follow upon the achievement of certain paediatric clinical development milestones. Under the terms of the agreement, GSK will acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of Affinivax.

Newspaper round-up

Missguided, the online fashion specialist, has called in administrators after failing to secure a rescue bid. Administrators from Teneo were appointed on Monday after the company was issued with a winding-up petition by clothing suppliers who are owed millions of pounds. About 140 jobs are thought to be at risk with one source saying more than 80 people had immediately been made redundant. - Guardian

The UK battery startup Britishvolt has said it will invest more than £200.0m in a new facility in the West Midlands to test manufacturing methods that will be used at the factory is has planned for in Northumberland. The company will lease a site in Hams Hall, Warwickshire, from the warehouse developer Prologis, with equipment installation expected by the end of autumn 2023. - Guardian

British Airways check-in staff are threatening to strike at the height of summer as unions seize on travel chaos to ram through a new pay deal. Bosses at Unite, the trade union, say check-in staff have missed out on pay rises that bring wages in line with pre-pandemic levels. BA has restored management pay to pre-crisis levels, but the airline is refusing to reverse a 10% cut imposed on blue collar workers during the pandemic, it is claimed. - Telegraph

Supermarkets have warned Boris Johnson that a return to imperial measures would drive up inflation and make the cost of living crisis worse. Reintroducing measurements in pounds and ounces would be a "distraction" from the country's problems and increase grocers' costs according to the British Retail Consortium, speaking on behalf of the industry's major players. - Telegraph

Businesses are increasingly confident that they can use high inflation to rebuild their margins, a survey has found. Confidence among firms has risen for the first time since the onset of the war in Ukraine, according to the monthly barometer by Lloyds Bank. It rose by five points on the index to reach 38%, significantly higher than the long-term average of 28%. - The Times

US close

The New York Stock Exchange was closed on Monday in observance of Memorial Day.