Source: Sharecast
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Real estate investment trust LondonMetric said on Wednesday that it has sold a further six assets for £42.6m since its FY results announcement in May. LondonMetric also noted that the recent acquisitions of Highcroft Investment and Urban Logistics REIT had increased the value of its portfolio by £7.3bn.
Advertising agency WPP on Wednesdays cut its first-half revenue forecasts due to a deteriorating trading performance in the second quarter which would also hit full year profit estimates. WPP now expects H1 like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs to decline by 4.2% to 4.5%, with a fall of 5.5% to 6.0% in the second quarter - below expectations.
Seven housebuilders have agreed to collectively pay £100.0m to affordable housing programmes across the UK following an investigation by the competition regulator into pricing and buyer incentives. Barratt Redrow, Bellway, Berkeley Group, Bloor Homes, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Vistry have offered a package of commitments to address the Competition and Markets Authority's concerns, which includes a payment to fund hundreds of new homes – helping low-income households, first-time buyers and vulnerable people.
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The London stock market risks "drifting into irrelevance" without government and regulatory reforms, ranging from tax breaks for stock market listings to looser bonus rules for directors, a lobbying group has said. The 20 recommendations put forward by the Confederation of British Industry, which lobbies on behalf of UK businesses, suggest financial incentives, marketing campaigns, and boardroom pay are central to guaranteeing the future success of the London Stock Exchange, which has been losing stock market listings and floats to foreign rivals. – Guardian
A wealth tax would punish savers and hit the middle class, the Government has been warned by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Introducing a levy on the assets of the rich would not be "sensible", the IFS said, in a rebuff to Labour backbenchers. Taxing the same wealth each year would "penalise" people for saving and making investments, leaving the country poorer in the long run. It would also likely hit the middle classes once property and pension wealth are factored in, the think tank warned. – Telegraph
Britain's move to a net-zero economy will cost taxpayers more than £800.0bn over the next two decades, the UK's fiscal watchdog has said. The Office for Budget Responsibility said government plans to limit climate change will cost the public purse £30.0bn every year until at least 2051, as tax revenue from the sale of petrol and diesel fuel dries up. – Telegraph
The $10.0bn energy empire founded by husband-and-wife British entrepreneurs has suffered a new blow after its transport business, which ferries fuel from a refinery to petrol station forecourts around the UK, fell into administration. Axis Logistics, the transport operation of the Prax Group, has been cut off from accessing fuel from the company's Lindsey oil refinery after the facility in Humberside was placed into administration by the government last week. – The Times
France's EDF will invest only £1.1bn in the Sizewell C nuclear plant that is due to be built using its design and equipment in Suffolk. The French state-owned energy group confirmed it had agreed to take just a 12.5% equity stake in the estimated £40.0bn project, in which it was originally the lead developer and for which it remains a critical contractor. – The Times
US CLOSE
Major indices turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday as trade-related nervousness took hold after Donald Trump said his new 1 August tariff deadline would not be extended.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.37% at 44,240.76, while the S&P 500 lost 0.07% to 6,225.52 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.03% higher at 20,418.46.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com