Astrazeneca: ‘We’re too big to base our CEO’s pay on FTSE 100 peers’ February 18, 2025 Astrazeneca is too big and complex to base its chief executive’s pay packet on the rest of the FTSE index, according to the chair of its remuneration committee. Writing in the pharmaceutical giant’s annual report, chair Sheri McCoy said “UK-listed FTSE companies are not the right peer group for us to use” given the group’s [...]
Assura: FTSE 250 firm rejects £1.5bn takeover approach February 17, 2025 FTSE 250 healthcare real estate investment trust Assura has rejected a takeover offer worth more than £1.5m – the fourth such deal it has turned down in the last six months it has been revealed. The Altrincham-headquartered business hit the headlines at the end of last week when it emerged it had been approached by [...]
FTSE 250 Assura receives unsolicited takeover approach February 15, 2025 Assura, the FTSE 250 healthcare real estate investment trust, has received an unsolicited takeover approach from private equity giant KKR and a major universities pension scheme. The Altrincham-headquartered company confirmed late on Friday that it had been contacted by KKR and USS Investment Management, which is representing Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). The parties have until [...]
Motor finance scandal: Close Brothers on the hook for £165m February 12, 2025 Close Brothers will be forced to set aside £165m in its half-year results following recent developments in the motor finance scandal. The calculation is based on currently available information but the merchant bank said ultimate costs could be “materially higher or lower” given uncertainty surrounding the FCA’s ongoing review of motor commissions. Close Brothers said [...]
FTSE 100 surges to new high ahead of Bank of England vote February 6, 2025 The FTSE 100 has ticked up to another new all-time high this morning, ahead of the Bank of England’s decision over whether to cut interest rates later today. The FTSE 100 opened 0.8 per cent up this morning at 8,695.24, pushing the index just above the record 8,692 it achieved last week. The FTSE 100 [...]
Babcock hikes guidance amid Skynet ramp up February 6, 2025 Defence firm Babcock has hiked full-year guidance for revenue and profit as business in its Nuclear and Marine segments has boomed. The FTSE 250 group said on Thursday it expects underlying operating profit to exceed the top end of analyst expectations, which were in the range of £327.1m to £339.7m. Revenue is expected to come [...]
Wizz Air: Why airline faces lengthy spell of turbulence February 4, 2025 Wizz Air is facing some turbulence. Despite enjoying its busiest ever year of passenger traffic in 2024, the Hungarian budget carrier can’t seem to turnaround an ailing share price. The stock is down more than 40 per cent over the last 12 months and fell a further three per cent on Monday after analysts at [...]
St James’s Place and Next help FTSE 100 to another all-time high January 31, 2025 The FTSE 100 has hit another all-time high this morning, with the index up five per cent since the start of 2025. London’s main index rose 0.46 per cent this morning before dropping back slightly, while the more domestically focused FTSE 250 jumped 0.53 per cent. “Given the volatility this week on Wall Street as [...]
Watkin Jones: Shares in property developer soar on return to profit January 23, 2025 Shares in Watkin Jones soared more than 13 per cent on Thursday after the property developer swung to profit in 2024. The London-listed firm reported £9.2m in pre-tax profit for the year ended September, up from a £2.9m loss the year prior. Basic earnings per share also swung to 3.5p, up from a loss of [...]
Revolution Beauty expects sales to fall by a quarter in blow to turnaround plans January 23, 2025 Revolution Beauty expects sales to fall by around a quarter in 2025 in a blow to the troubled cosmetics firms’ turnaround plans. The London-listed group said it had experienced some sales softness in its digital channels and an element of de-stocking from US retailers in December. It has also pushed back the launch of certain [...]