British Land acquires North London warehouses, Vodafone posts improved Q3 services revenue
London pre-open
The FTSE 100 was being called to open 41.5 points higher ahead of the bell on Wednesday after closing 0.96% higher in the previous session at 7,535.78
Stocks to watch
Real estate investment trust British Land has acquired three warehouses in Wembley for £157.0m, bringing its urban logistics development pipeline to over £1.0bn.
The FTSE 100-listed firm stated on Wednesday that the North London warehouses, which comprise over 245,000 square foot on a 12.5-acre site, generate an annual income of £3.6m, with significant reversion
UK telecoms giant Vodafone reported higher third-quarter services revenue, driven by growth in Europe and Africa as it reiterated annual guidance.
The company said on Wednesday that service revenue grew 3.1% on a reported basis to €9.6bn, while total revenue was up 4.3% to €11.6bn. Vodafone also still expects adjusted core earnings of between €15.2-€15.4bn and an adjusted free cash flow of at least €5.3bn.
Newspaper round-up
The government has been warned by an influential group of MPs to urgently tackle a "fraud epidemic" across Britain, amid concerns about the increasing financial toll on consumers and taxpayers from economic crime. The Commons Treasury committee said ministers needed to bring in fresh laws and beef up resources for fighting fraud after a dramatic surge in scams during the coronavirus pandemic. - Guardian
Colin the Caterpillar has shaken hands with rival Cuthbert in a resolution of the supermarket cake wars. Marks & Spencer has reached a deal with Aldi after taking legal action to protect its bestselling bug-shaped Colin cake. M&S had called in the lawyers over concerns that the German discount grocer's rival chocolate sponge roll, Cuthbert, was making copycat appearances at birthday parties and picnics. - Guardian
Sadiq Khan is threatening to shut the Tube for days on end and close bridges and tunnels across the capital as a black hole in London's transport budget balloons to £1.5bn. Introducing a road tax, increasing council tax and extending a congestion charging zone will not be enough to balance the books at Transport for London, board papers published on Tuesday reveal. - Telegraph
Google has brushed off fears that the waning impact of pandemic lockdowns will put an end to the tech boom as it smashed Wall Street profit estimates. Alphabet, Google's parent company, revealed that sales in the fourth quarter of last year reached $75.3bn (£56.2bn), a 32% increase on a year earlier. Profits rose by 36% to $20.6bn. - Telegraph
A £2.7bn takeover of Playtech by an Australian suitor looks set to fail because of opposition from investors. Aristocrat Leisure requires 75% acceptance under the scheme of arrangement, which concludes today, but Playtech and Aristocrat were last night ready to throw in the towel amid indications that they had fallen short due to opposition from a collection of Asia-based investors who own about 28% of the shares. - The Times
US close
Wall Street stocks closed higher on the first day of February trading as market participants digested a number of data points and corporate updates.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.78% at 35,405.24, while the S&P 500 was 0.69% firmer at 4,546.54 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.75% stronger at 14,346.00.