Market Report
WS Atkins agrees to takeover by SNC-Lavalin
WS Atkins, the rail, telecoms and defence engineer, has agreed to be taken over by Canada's SNC-Lavalin for £2. 1bn.
Vedanta's Indian subsidiary hit by fire and smelter outage in same week
Vedanta Resources' Indian subsidiary Vedanta Limited will need to repair more than a third of its aluminium smelting pots after an outage earlier this week, while elsewhere a fire has put a power plant out of action for two months.
Europe close: French stocks jump, but investors wary
French stocks outperformed by a mile on Thursday, with just days to go until the French presidential elections - as British shares did ahead of the referendum vote - although a key gauge of investor caution belied their wariness .
London close: Talk of tax hikes for middle class hits shares
Strength in Sterling capped gains on London's top flight index following the Shadow Chancellor's remarks that Labour would look into taxing higher income earners more heavily.
FX round-up: Corbyn manifesto against moral corruption boosts pound
Talk that Labour might push for personal income tax hikes in the upcoming general elections and combative language from Jeremy Corbyn gave the pound a fillip.
TfL proposes major changes to private hire licence fees
Transport for London opened a consultation on proposals to change the fees private hire operators are charged for the costs of licensing, compliance and enforcement activity on Thursday.
Oxford BioDynamics invited to join FNIH steering committee
Discovery and development of novel epigenetic biomarkers-focussed biotechnology company Oxford BioDynamics announced on Thursday that itself and Dr Claudio Carini, a member of company’s scientific advisory panel, had been invited to join the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health Biomarkers Consortium as a member of the Cancer, Inflammation & Immunity, and Neuroscience Steering Committees.
Ebiquity launches Portfolio Digital product in UK
Independent marketing and media analytics consultancy Ebiquity announced the launch of Portfolio Digital, a new digital ad intelligence platform designed to monitor online display advertising on Thursday.
Salt Lake Potash contracts Amec for Goldfields pilot plant
Salt Lake Potash announced to the market on Thursday that Amec Foster Wheeler had been appointed to prepare an analysis of the alternatives for the company to construct a pilot plant at the Goldfields Salt Lakes Project, intended to be the first salt-lake brine sulphate of potash (SOP) production operation in Australia.
Quieter Falklands trading sees FIH earnings fall
Falkland Islands and UK-focussed specialist services company FIH Group updated the market on its trading for the year to 31 March on Thursday, cautioning that the results remained subject to audit and final approval by the board.
FTSE 250 movers: Essentra rallies on update; Acacia loses shine
London’s FTSE 250 index was down 0. 2% to 19,376. 68 in afternoon trade.
FTSE 100 movers: Unilever gains on results; Ashtead drops on read-across
London’s FTSE 100 was up 0. 1% to 7,119. 40 in afternoon trade as the pound gained ground against the dollar on the back of Theresa May’s call for a snap general election in June.
Friday preview: UK retail sales could confirm consumer spending slowdown
UK retail sales for March are published on Friday, along with flash April data on eurozone services and manufacturing activity and ahead of similar surveys covering America, while Reckitt Benckiser is among those giving trading updates in what appears to be a quiet day for big corporate results.
Small cap news round-up
Natural resources investing company Cluff Natural Resources announced the results of an independent scoping study covering two prospects on its 100% owned licence P2248 in the Southern North Sea gas basin on Thursday.
Shell dividend to come back into focus in 2017, Cannacord says
Cannacord Genuity sounded a cautious note on shares of Royal Dutch Shell's B shares pointing out the company's lack of free cash flow and mounting debt pile given its current dividend payouts, telling clients it preferred BP instead.
US open: Stocks make modest gains as earnings season continues
As earnings season continues, there were modest gains on Wall Street on Thursday following a slump in oil prices in the previous session.
Sector movers: Oil service stocks, General retailers lead falls
Oil service stocks accounted for most of the selling pressure on the FTSE 350 on Thursday as investors booked some profits on the group following recent losses in crude futures.
Cluff announces North Sea scoping study results
Natural resources investing company Cluff Natural Resources announced the results of an independent scoping study covering two prospects on its 100% owned licence P2248 in the Southern North Sea gas basin on Thursday.
Braveheart trading in line with expectations
Fund management and strategic investor group Braveheart Investment Group updated the market on its trading on Thursday, reporting that it had continued to perform in line with the January 2017 trading update.
Results round-up: Unilever, Sky, Debenhams
Unilever upped its quarterly dividend 12% as underlying sales grew 2. 9% in the first three months of the year, despite sales volumes remaining in the red for the third consecutive quarter.