Source: Sharecast
STOCKS TO WATCH
Online ticketing platform Trainline said on Thursday that it expects full-year earnings to be at the upper end of guidance after an 8% jump in interim sales driven by strong traffic in the UK and Europe and also unveiled a £150m share buyback. Trainline now expects adjusted core profits to grow at the top end of its previous guidance range of between 6% and 9%. Group net ticket sales increased to £3.2bn, near the top of expectations.
Real estate investor LondonMetric Property revealed on Thursday that it had acquired £78.5m of triple net leases across five transactions, reflecting a net initial yield of 5.5%, which was expected to increase to 6.3% over five years. LondonMetric said the nine assets added £4.6m of additional rent per annum and had a weighted average unexpired lease term of 23 years.
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The US drugmaker Merck has scrapped a £1bn London research centre and is laying off 125 scientists in the capital this year, in a big blow to the UK's important life science sector. Keir Starmer's government has described life sciences as "one of the crown jewels of the UK economy" and the previous Conservative government had vowed to turn the country into a "global science and technology superpower" by 2030. - Guardian
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has told private equity bosses that she plans to shut down more regulators across the UK as she attempts to drive growth across Britain's subdued economy. Reeves – who in July claimed regulators were a "boot on the neck" of business – highlighted her recent decisions to sack the chair of the competitions watchdog, shut down the payments regulator, and "severely" constrain the Financial Ombudsman Service, which UK banks have long lobbied to curtail. However, she said there was "still more to do". – Guardian
Ed Miliband must embrace the declining North Sea by offering subsidies to oil and gas companies operating in the basin, Dale Vince has said. Mr Vince, the green energy tycoon who is also a Labour donor, said companies that operate in the North Sea should be given a guaranteed minimum price per barrel of oil and gas to put them on an equal footing with renewable energy providers. – Telegraph
The UK is "losing the race" to attract global investment into its key life sciences and pharmaceutical sectors due to an uncompetitive operating environment, the pharmaceuticals industry has warned amid a stand-off with the government. The critical report from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry "lays bare" the country's drop in rankings in attracting foreign direct investment and commercial clinical trials. – The Times
US CLOSE
Major indices delivered a mixed performance on Wednesday, with the Dow posting losses but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq notching more record highs, as traders reacted to an unexpected drop in wholesale prices.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.48% at 45,490.92, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.30% to 6,532.04 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.03% firmer at 21,886.06.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com