Source: Sharecast
STOCKS TO WATCH
Consumer goods giant Unilever announced on Friday that the demerger of its ice cream business, now named The Magnum Ice Cream Company, will complete on 6 December. Unilever said Magnum Ice Cream Company shares were expected to commence trading on Euronext Amsterdam, the London Stock Exchange, and the New York Stock Exchange on 8 December.
Safety equipment and technology group Halma has announced the £230m acquisition of E2S Group, a London-based manufacturer of industrial hazard detection devices. The business will sit within Halma's Safety Sector division, supporting its ongoing expansion into the fire detection and alarm systems market.
US supermarket chain Kroger will pay $350m in compensation to Ocado for the closure of three warehouses, the UK online grocer and technology business said on Friday. The payment also reflects Kroger's decision not to proceed with another customer fulfilment centre in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the two planned CFCs due to go-live in 2026. Earlier this month, Ocado said Kroger's decision to fulfil online orders from its own stores in highly populated areas would cost it $50m in lost licensing fees.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
City regulators have announced a package of changes aimed at bolstering growth across the mutuals and co-operatives sector after the Labour government promised to double the size of the £223bn industry. Top officials from the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England will join the city minister, Lucy Rigby, in Rochdale – the birthplace of the UK's co-operative movement – on Friday to set out plans to streamline regulation, simplify applications and launch a new mutual societies development unit to provide expert advice and support. – Guardian
Versace has announced its creative director is leaving, less than nine months after taking on the role and two days after the deal to sell the brand to rival Italian fashion house Prada. Dario Vitale exits after just one season, having taken the helm from Donatella Versace. Prada said it would announce a replacement "in due course". – Guardian
An activist investor has bought a near £250m stake in Rightmove, piling fresh pressure on the embattled property giant. London-based Independent Franchise Partners has built up a 5.8% stake in the house-buying portal in recent weeks, becoming Rightmove's third-biggest shareholder. – Telegraph
Scotland's flagship carbon capture project is at risk of collapse after its main backer announced plans to exit the scheme. The Acorn project, based in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, is being built to capture CO2 from heavy industry and then bury it under the North Sea. But the driving force behind the project, energy group Storegga, said on Thursday it planned to sell its stake in the scheme, delivering a major blow to the net zero push spearheaded by Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary. – Telegraph
British businesses sacked staff at the fastest rate since the Covid-19 pandemic in the build-up to Rachel Reeves's second budget, and plan to lay off more workers in the year ahead, official data shows. Employment across the private sector fell by 1.8% in November, the steepest monthly decline since July 2021, according to figures from the Bank of England. – The Times
US CLOSE
Major indices were little changed at the close on Thursday as speculation continued to ramp up ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting, though the third straight gain for the S&P 500 sent the index to its highest level since late October.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.07% at 47,850.94, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.11% to 6,857.12 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.22% stronger at 23,505.14.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com