Below are the key morning headlines from today’s papers, featuring the Financial Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail & more - see the full Press section here.
Unilever (ULVR) has emerged as the front runner in the race to buy GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Horlicks malt drinks business. The Anglo-Dutch consumer goods firm is understood to have pulled ahead of rivals after a last-minute, all-cash offer. Glaxo launched the bidding process in September, pitting some of the world’s biggest consumer goods giants against each other. Horlicks, which is being sold along with other nutrition businesses, is expected to fetch as much as £3billion. Until yesterday the Swiss giant Nestle was seen as a top contender, but it is believed to have been edged out by Unilever. Coca-Cola was another bidder but its interest reportedly petered out
A potential competition inquiry is looming over a deal to create Britain’s biggest social care company. The Competitions and Markets Authority has invited comments into the proposed merger of CareTech Holding (CTH) and Cambian Group (CMBN) . The Aim-quoted Care reached an agreement to buy its rival in August for £372 million in cash and shares. Cambian is the UK’s largest provider of specialist education and behavioural health services for children, working alongside most local authorities in England and Wales. Care Tech provides services to children and adults in 292 locations. Analysts at Liberum said that the deal would make it the largest provider of children’s services in the country. The competitions watchdog served an initial enforcement order on the two companies in October, effectively preventing their integration until it has conducted an investigation. The deadline for comments is December 12, after which the CMA will decide whether to launch a merger inquiry.
Brexit uncertainty is making it difficult to predict property sales, a London-based housebuilder has claimed. Telford Homes (TEF) , which specialises in non-prime property in the capital, said that despite short-term market uncertainty, it was continuing to secure individual open market sales, particularly for homes priced under £600,000. This helped the company to report higher profits for the half-year, along with demand from first-time buyers and institutional investors. However, Jon Di-Stefano, chief executive, said that Brexit could affect the company’s ability to sell the 60 additional homes it needs to shift by the end of March to meet its target of exceeding £50 million in profit before tax for the financial year. Telford Homes is an Aim-listed London residential developer. It has a market capitalisation of £230 million.
‘British Netflix’ may fail competition checks, says Sky chief. BBC, ITV and Channel 4 could fall foul of regulator in bid for rival streaming service. Sky (SKY) has warned that plans by the BBC, ITV (ITV) and Channel 4 to build a British Netflix could fall foul of the competition regulator. Stephen van Rooyen, chief executive of UK and Ireland operations at the pay-TV company, said public service broadcasters still accounted for the lion’s share of TV viewing and that any new venture would likely be investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority. “You [would] have the full might of the public service broadcasters collaborating together. That must – they still command 73% to 74% of viewing share – open up a competition question. It would be subject I would have thought, as it was 10 years ago, to a competition review.”
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) could be broken up to revive its fortunes and eliminate its massive debt pile, it was claimed yesterday. Analysts at Barclays suggested the travel firm’s airline and tour operator divisions should be split to raise cash to pay off debts, which are around two-thirds of its £558m value. Thomas Cook is preparing to report a £58million fall in full-year profits to £250million today after warning earnings would be lower than expected this week – the third time since July.
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) dips after analyst suggests it will take longer than expected to turn around key food business. In a note to clients yesterday, RBC’s Richard Chamberlain said he believed it would take longer than expected for M&S to turn around its key food business. Chamberlain said: ‘M&S has completed around a third of its range reviews. ‘However the rest won’t be finished until April and it will take time for customers to notice its new lower prices.’ Food sales probably won’t regain momentum until ‘well into next year,’ he added, since the retailer is seeing its prices decrease in a sector where they are generally rising and is choosing to promote less at a time when promotions are popular
Cluff Natural Resources (CLNR) , which holds assets on the Southern North Sea gas basin, jumped as it signed an exclusivity agreement with an unnamed major oil and gas company. It hopes the mystery company will eventually help Cluff drill two of the sites and get the oil flowing.
Argentina-focused President Energy (PPC) , meanwhile, climbed by 7.5% or 0.7p to 10.05p, after announcing that it had bought new assets and that production would begin next month.
Shares in Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) (EOG) , Union Jack Oil (UJO) and Egdon Resources (EDR) all crashed as they announced planning permission for their shared Wressle oil development in north Lincolnshire had been refused. Egdon’s managing director Mark Abbott said his firm would appeal against the decision. But its shares slumped 22.8%, or 1.85p, to 6.25p. Union Jack’s were down by 15.6%, or 0.02p, to 0.1p and Europa’s by 7%, or 0.2p, to 2.65p.
Property investor LondonMetric Property (LMP) buoyed by shift from ‘bricks to clicks’. Property investor LondonMetric’s dramatic shift from owning shops and retail parks to warehouses continued to pay off as it revealed a rise in income and underlying profits in the first half of the year. The FTSE 250 member, whose tenants include Primark, Dixons and Argos, drummed up a 6% rise in net rental income to £47m as the shift towards online shopping created higher demand for logistics space. Pre-tax profits were roughly flat at £79m after it made big gains on derivative investments in the previous year but EPRA earnings, an underlying profitability measure, were up 7% at £31m.
Shares in W H Ireland Group (WHI) , one of the City’s oldest stockbrokers, hit their lowest level in five years after it swung to a half-year loss of £2.1m, down from profits of £960,000 recorded 12 months ago. The wealth management business, which dates back to the 19th century, said “costly and challenging” restructuring continued to weigh on the business, sending its stock falling 7p to 70.5p. Revenue dropped 12% to £12.8m for the six months ending Sept 30. The firm also announced the departure of its finance director Daniel Cowland, who would leave the company no later than April next year.
