One of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) largest shareholders believes it is “now or never” for other suitors to make a rival offer to the shock £30bn bid from the Hong Kong bourse. The top ten shareholder said they would not be rushed into a decision over the surprise offer from Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), because they want to see whether it could spark a bidding war. The investor said exchanges such as America’s Intercontinental Exchange would probably “feel pressure” to come up with a counter-offer or risk missing out on one of the world’s most prized financial companies. Other City sources speculated that Hong Kong’s cash-and shares bid of £83.61, made on Wednesday at a near-23% premium on Tuesday’s closing price, was an “opening gambit”. “If they go 10% higher, then it will be a case of what might happen in the short term to the LSE share price versus a five-year view on where the share price can go on a successful Refinitiv integration,” a source said.
Trainline Plc (TRN) has increased its full-year revenue expectations after total ticket sales in the first half jumped 19% year on year to £1.8bn. The ticket-selling platform, which completed a £1.7bn stock market float in June, said it now expected revenue to rise more than a fifth, driven by a strong UK performance and more consumers buying via mobile. It also revealed a 52% rise to £259m for international ticket sales while total revenues jumped 29% to £129m over the period. However, the travel ticketing app admitted that UK sales growth would be lower in the second half. Clare Gilmartin, Trainline chief executive, said she was “pleased with the strong levels of growth”.
British American Tobacco (BATS) is to cut more than 2,000 jobs as part of a sweeping restructuring designed to address a decline in smoking and a shift towards vaping. The tobacco giant will shed layers of management, reorganise its business units and simplify its structure to create a “more efficient, agile and focused” company. Around a fifth of its senior management workforce, some 2,300 jobs, will be culled. The Dunhill and Lucky Strike maker declined to comment on the geographical location of the cuts. The overhaul will be seen as chief executive Jack Bowles trying to stamp his mark on one of London’s biggest listed companies. Mr Bowles replaced long-term chief executive Nicandro Durante in April after shares halved last year.
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) is taking full advantage of its tie-up with Amazon to expand its swift grocery delivery service across the country. The grocer revealed plans to extend its presence to Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool, Sheffield and Portsmouth this year. “Morrisons at Amazon” is already live in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and parts of London; the service allows shoppers to buy Morrison’s own products on Amazon’s website. The move comes after Morrisons revealed in May it would no longer have an exclusive online partnership with Ocado, which it sealed in 2013. Ocado still provides the delivery service that underpins Morrisons.com, but the two companies negotiated a looser partnership earlier this year after the former suffered a devastating fire at one of its warehouses, reducing its capacity to serve its other customers.
BP (BP.) plans to axe some of its oil projects and reduce investment in others in a bid to be more environmentally friendly, its chief executive has said. Bob Dudley said one way to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions was to sell some of its most carbon-intensive projects, although he would not say which assets BP was targeting. Earlier this year shareholders voted to force BP to explain how it is aligning its operations with the Paris climate change agreement of 2015 by issuing a report on the matter before its annual general meeting in May next year. This puts senior managers under pressure to come up with solutions.
Questor: why Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) decision to axe its share buyback is good news for investors. Questor Income Portfolio: in response to bad news about PPI the bank was able to curtail its share repurchases rather than disappoint income investors. Hold
