Thursday 26 April 2018

Company news, markets and financial talking points, available from 8am Monday to Friday

'Takeover boom' reaches pre-2008 heights in Britain

Britain is experiencing a takeover boom with more than £200bn of deals involving a UK company agreed since January. Data in The Times shows that dealmaking has returned to levels seen before the 2008 economic crisis. Yesterday, Sky and Shire Pharmaceuticals became the targets of overseas companies, and Whitbread announced plans to demerge its Costa Coffee chain.

Facebook posts record revenues for first quarter

Facebook has shrugged off the controversy over its data privacy to post record revenues for the first quarter of 2018. The social network giant made $11.97bn in revenue in the first three months of the year, up 49% from the previous year. Wall Street had estimated revenues of $11.41bn. "Despite facing important challenges, our community and business are off to a strong start in 2018," said Mark Zuckerberg.

New legislation could expose oligarchs in UK havens

"Corrupt Russian oligarchs" who are "sheltering dirty money" in Britain’s overseas territories could be exposed under laws, reports The Times. A coalition of Tory rebels, Labour, the SNP and other opposition parties plan to challenge Theresa May on the issue next week, when MPs are expected to vote on the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill.

Car production tumbles by 13.3% in March

The number of cars made in the UK slumped by 13.3% during March. The Society of Motor Manufacturing and Traders said car sales to the UK had dropped for an eighth month, with double-digit falls in the home market and exports proving a "considerable concern". The body added that poor weather had affected production. The news comes amid concern over falling diesel sales and the impact of Brexit on exports.

Persimmon shareholders in bonus uprising

Investors in Persimmon have revolted against the "grossly excessive" and "totally and utterly unjustifiable" £75m bonus handed to chief executive, Jeff Fairburn. At the housebuilder’s annual meeting in York yesterday, shareholders complained about the "enormous sums" awarded to Fairburn and other senior managers. The Guardian reports that 64% of shareholders failed to support the huge payout.

Quote of the day… How tech drama damaged TSB brand

"It's gone from being a popular challenger bank to the focus of relentless criticism. TSB, all of a sudden, has become the unwilling byword for unreliable technology." Adam Parsons of Sky News outlines the damage done to the TSB brand.

THE NUMBERS... AT 0640 GMT

FTSE 100: down -0.62 to 7379.32
Dow Jones: up +0.25 to 24083.83
Dax: down -1.02 to 12422.30
Cac 40: down -0.57 to 5413.30
Nikkei: up +0.44 to 22312.11
Hang Seng: down -0.81 to 30083.23
US dollar: buys €0.8213 and £0.7171
Sterling: buys $1.1452 and €1.3943
Oil: $74.45 up +0.61