Source: Sharecast
STOCKS TO WATCH
Berkeley Group posted weaker interim revenues and profits on Wednesday, amid a "very challenging" macroeconomic and regulatory environment. Revenues came in at £1.2bn in the six months to 31 October, down from £1.3bn a year earlier, while pre-tax profits fell 7.7% to £254m. However, net cash was £5m higher, at £342m, and net asset value per share rose 5% at £37.63. The housebuilder also said it remained on track to meet full-year profit guidance.
Ventilation products manufacturer Volution Group said on Wednesday that trading in the first four months of FY26 had been positive, with organic revenue growth of around 5% at constant currency. Volution, which said all three regions delivered organic growth against a varied but generally challenging backdrop, stated total revenues for the period were up more than 30%, including a 25% contribution from its recent acquisition of Fantech and a small foreign exchange benefit.
The $50bn merger of Anglo American and Canada's Teck Resources has been overwhelmingly approved by both sets of shareholders, the companies said on Wednesday. Anglo investors voted 99% in favour, while in Vancouver, Teck's class A common stockholders approved the deal by more than 99%. Under the deal, Anglo will own 62.4% of the combined group, with Teck shareholders owning the rest. The primary listing will stay in London, but the merged group's headquarters will be in Vancouver. The merger still has to gain approval from regulators and the Canadian government.
GSK's risvutatug rezetecan has received Orphan Drug Designation from US regulators for the treatment of small-cell lung cancer, the UK pharma group announced on Wednesday. The approval marked the fifth regulatory designation for risvutatug rezetecan, which is being developed for treating a range of solid tumours, including lung, prostate and colorectal cancers.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
The "premium" that the UK pays to borrow money compared with its international peers may be coming to an end as markets grow more confident about the government's plans, a thinktank has suggested. The Institute for Public Policy Research said that the chancellor Rachel Reeves's announcement in the autumn budget that she would be more than doubling the UK's financial headroom by 2030 from £9.9bn to £22bn had begun to assure bond markets about Labour's fiscal approach. – Guardian
Channel 4 has raided Sky for its new chief executive as the broadcaster faces the prospect of a takeover of ITV by Comcast that would pose the biggest threat in its four-decade history. Its board is understood to have agreed the appointment of Priya Dogra, the head of Sky's advertising, data and new revenue, as its new chief executive. – Guardian
Ed Miliband's plans to build the Sizewell C nuclear power station are facing a High Court legal threat over claims it will destroy a rare bird habitat. Activists are seeking a judicial review to force the Government to revisit plans for the project, which they say is being built on land occupied by endangered marsh harriers. In a hearing on Tuesday, the Together Against Sizewell C campaign group raised concerns over Sizewell C's plans to build 10-metre-high flood defences on Suffolk marshland. – Telegraph
US defence giant Anduril is planning to build fighter drones for the British Army on the Isle of Wight as defence chiefs seek to embrace the age of autonomous warfare. The company – founded by Palmer Luckey, the billionaire US inventor – has agreed a deal with GKN Aerospace that could see it manufacture the aircraft's bodies in Cowes. – Telegraph
Elon Musk's SpaceX is said to be preparing for an initial public offering that would be one of the biggest public listings to date. SpaceX's leaders and advisers are pursuing a listing of the rocket maker as soon as next year that would target a valuation of about $1.5trn, Bloomberg News reported. That valuation would put it close to Saudi Aramco's record when it listed in 2019 at a valuation of $1.7trn. – The Times
US CLOSE
Major indices delivered a mixed performance on Tuesday as Nvidia shares headed south after Donald Trump approved H200 chip sales to China under a deal that will see the US government receive a 25% cut.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.38% at 47,560.29, while the S&P 500 shed 0.09% to 6,840.51 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.13% firmer at 23,576.49.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com