Rolls-Royce CEO to stand down, LXI REIT makes three forward-funded acquisitions
London pre-open
The FTSE 100 was being called to open 259.2 points lower ahead of the bell on Thursday after closing just 0.05% higher in the previous session at 7,498.18.
Stocks to watch
Rolls-Royce's chief executive Warren East will leave at the end of 2022 after leading the engine maker for eight years during the most turbulent period in the company's history.
The FTSE 100 engine maker said it was looking for a replacement for East, who took over after a series of profit warnings and directed Rolls through the aviation industry’s greatest crisis.
Real estate investment trust LXI REIT said on Thursday that it had made three new acquisitions, all of which were funded by its recent £250.0m equity capital raise.
LXI REIT acquired a 45,000 square foot Tesco food store and a 22,000 square foot Home Bargains site in Houghton le Spring, as well as a convenience store in Horncastle leased to the Co-Operative Food Group, for a total of £26.0m, reflecting an accretive 5% net initial yield. The company has now deployed £170.0m since its capital raise.
Newspaper round-up
The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, will say he wants to cut taxes "sustainably" and downgrade the role played by the state as an engine of growth, in a landmark speech that aims to quell concern among Tory backbenchers about the tax burden rising to its highest level in 70 years. Spelling out a personal philosophy on Thursday in his first major speech since Downing Street scandals opened the door for a change of leadership at the top of the Conservative party, Sunak will say only a market economy, driven by private sector spending, will create the dynamism needed to maintain sustainable growth. - Guardian
The prospects for an expansion of oil and gas drilling in the North Sea have cleared a major hurdle, as the Committee on Climate Change said "stringent tests" must be applied to any new exploration licences but stopped short of saying they could not be issued. New drilling would not reduce energy bills for UK consumers, the committee found, and its chair, former Conservative environment secretary Lord Deben, said he would "favour" a moratorium on North Sea exploration. - Guardian
Ikea will invest £1.0bn in London over the next three years as it opens its first city-centre shopping centre. The Swedish retail giant, known for flat-pack furniture and meatballs, has changed tack in recent years to focus on smaller, urban locations rather than just vast, out-of-town sites as consumers alter their shopping patterns. The £170.0m Livat shopping centre, previously the Kings Mall in Hammersmith, opens on Thursday and features Ikea's first small store in the UK as it seeks to become more "accessible" to customers. - Telegraph
The Serious Fraud Office has begun a criminal investigation into Arena Television, the collapsed outside broadcaster accused of borrowing £280.0m against thousands of non-existent assets. In action taken in conjunction with the National Crime Agency, two arrests were made and three properties were searched yesterday as agencies seek to build evidence of what is alleged to be one of the biggest scams to hit Britain’s asset-based lending industry. - The Times
About 1,400 jobs have been put at risk after Studio Retail, the online retailer, formally appointed the administrators Teneo last night to handle its collapse. The company formerly known as Findel stunned the City last week after suspending its shares, saying its request for a short-term £25.0m working capital loan had been turned down by its bank, HSBC. - The Times
US close
Wall Street stocks closed in negative territory on Wednesday as investors reacted to Washington's imposing of the first round of sanctions on Moscow after Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered troops into rebel-held areas of eastern Ukraine.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.38% at 33,131,76, as the S&P 500 lost 1.84% to 4,225.50, and the Nasdaq Composite was 2.57% weaker at 13,037.49.