Source: Sharecast
STOCKS TO WATCH
Student accommodation provider Unite Group exchanged contracts for the disposal of a portfolio of nine properties on Thursday to an affiliate of Lone Star Funds. Unite said on Thursday that it will net £140.0m from the £212.0m sale of the assets in Aberdeen, Leicester, Leeds, Nottingham and Sheffield. The disposals were priced at a roughly 1% discount to their December 2024 book value and reflect a net operating income yield of 6.4% based on 2025/26 income.
UK footwear company Dr Martens reported a slump in annual profits as new boss Ije Nwokorie said a turnaround plan would deliver a return to earnings growth in 2026. Pre-tax profits for the year to March fell to £8.8m from £93.0m as revenue dived 10% to £787.6m against a challenging macroeconomic and consumer backdrop in several of the company's core markets.
Fintech giant Wise has announced its intention to shift its primary listing from the UK to US, saying the move would help accelerate growth and bring "substantial" strategic benefits to the business and its shareholders. The news came as the cross-border payments firm delivered a 17% increase in underlying pre-tax profits to £282.0m, with revenues rising 15% to £1.21bn.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
Consumer watchdogs from 21 countries have filed a formal complaint to EU authorities about alleged "dark" practices by the Chinese fast fashion firm Shein including the "shaming" of customers into buying more than they can afford. The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) has submitted a 29-page dossier to the European Commission citing multiple examples of “dark patterns”, or deceptive techniques designed to encourage purchases. – Guardian
HM Revenue and Customs has lost £47.0m after a phishing scam breached tens of thousands of tax accounts, a group of MPs has heard. Two senior civil servants at the tax authority told the Treasury committee on Wednesday that 100,000 people had been contacted, or were in the process of being contacted, after their accounts were locked down in what the officials said was an "organised crime" incident that began last year. – Guardian
Britain risks losing its grip on a rival to Elon Musk's Starlink as part of French government rescue efforts to avert a debt crisis at the company. Eutelsat, which owns UK space business OneWeb, has been locked in talks with key shareholders including the French and British governments, as it seeks to raise funds to create a European alternative to Mr Musk's satellite business. – Telegraph
Britain has spent more than £500.0m on switching off wind farms this year to avoid overloading the creaking power grid. So-called curtailment, where wind farms are switched off because the network is too congested to accept their power, cost grid operators £6.0m on Tuesday. At the same time, another £10.0m was paid to gas-fired plants to provide replacement power elsewhere in the system, according to analysis by the Wasted Wind website. – Telegraph
Sales of new Tesla cars in Britain fell more than 45% in May from a year earlier, underscoring the challenges facing Elon Musk as he renews his focus on the electric vehicle maker. The marque's sales declined for a fifth straight month in the UK, Germany and Italy, according to data from the research firm New Automotive. The sales decline in the UK, Europe's biggest EV market, came as industry-wide electric car sales jumped 28%. – The Times
US CLOSE
US stock markets finished mixed on Wednesday as investors digested a flurry of disappointing economic data, ongoing trade uncertainty and concerns about the fiscal outlook.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.2% lower at 42,427.74, snapping a four-day winning streak; while the S&P 500 was more or less flat at 5,9750.81, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3% to 19,460.49.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com