A group of investors including Blackstone and Thomson Reuters are selling down their stake in LSE Group at a rapid pace this year. Overnight, the group sold £2.7 billion worth of shares, a sizeable chunk of the financial services group. That came just two months after their previous £2 billion disposal and off the back of direct repurchase of £750 million shares by the company itself.
(Bloomberg) — A group of investors including Blackstone and Thomson Reuters are selling down their stake in LSE Group at a rapid pace this year. Overnight, the group sold £2.7 billion worth of shares, a sizeable chunk of the financial services group. That came just two months after their previous £2 billion disposal and off the back of direct repurchase of £750 million shares by the company itself.
Here’s the key business news from London this morning:
In The City
JD Sports Fashion Plc: The sports apparel retailer reported a record profit before tax and adjusted items of £991.4 million, driven primarily by its core sports fashion business.
- The retailer expects further growth in its profits this year, expecting its headline profit before tax and adjusted items to top £1 billion
Admiral Acquisition Ltd.: The acquisition company backed by serial dealmaker Martin E. Franklin has raised $550 million, exceeding an earlier goal for the initial public offering.
- Franklin pressed ahead with the listing even after the bubble in special purpose acquisition companies burst in the US, with many of the vehicles shutting down for a lack of targets
London Stock Exchange Group Plc: A consortium of investors including Blackstone Inc. and Thomson Reuters Corp. sold £2.7 billion worth of stock in the exchange overnight.
- The placing priced at 8,050 pence per share, a discount of about 5% to LSE Group’s closing price on Tuesday
In Westminster
Rishi Sunak travels to the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, today, just as his predecessor Liz Truss pays a visit to Taiwan. She’s expected to call on the West to bolster support for the self-governing island, a hawkish stance that’s at odds with Sunak’s attempts to reset ties with China.
Back home, Sunak’s government is advancing measures to improve Britain’s housing woes with new legislation that will make it harder for landlords to evict tenants. The bill will also give renters more power to challenge poor living standards, without fear of losing their homes.
In Case You Missed It
A group of banks led by Barclays Plc and Morgan Stanley is working on a compromise deal to unlock a months-long stalemate that’s stalled efforts to calculate and disclose the carbon footprints of the industry’s capital-markets operations. Any agreement would mark a milestone in climate finance.
And finally, London’s cooling luxury housing market is turning into a tale of two sellers — those willing to knock down the asking price to secure a deal and those too stubborn to budge. Over half of prime homes in the city were sold at a discount in April, with the average price reduction rising to 9.1% for the first time in more than three and a half years, researcher LonRes said.
Looking Ahead
Chinese demand probably fueled fourth-quarter sales gains for Burberry Group Plc, which reports before the open tomorrow. China, which brought in about 40% of revenue pre-Covid, is currently running at about 25%, offering plenty of upside as the year progresses, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. With Daniel Lee’s new debut collection hitting stores from September, upholding Burberry’s “Britishness” theme will be crucial. Watch pricing trends and inventory levels for signs shoppers back the brand.
The fiber storm buffeting telecom carriers shouldn’t have prevented BT Group Plc from meeting its earnings and free cash flow targets in results before the bell. Scrutiny is more likely to focus on how receptive consumers were to a 14.4% increase in mobile and broadband tariffs, BI said.
EasyJet Plc’s strong pricing and cost management probably saw its first-half pretax loss shrink by £120 million to £140 million, with summer bookings momentum and greater control of operations increasing expectations for the rest of the year. Premier Foods Ltd. is also due.
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