Source: Sharecast
STOCKS TO WATCH
Banking and wealth management group Investec said on Friday that it expects to deliver interim results in line with guidance, with its stable year‑to‑date performance supported by disciplined execution, strong client activity and continued balance‑sheet growth. For the six months ended 30 September, Investec guided to adjusted earnings per share between 41.7p and 43.3p, up between 3% and 7% on the prior period, while headline earnings per share were expected to come in between 38.1p and 39.7p, and basic earnings per share were set to rise by between 1% and 5% year-on-year.
Harworth reiterated its firm rejection of Peel Holdings' increased takeover offer, arguing the revised terms continued to undervalue the business and its long‑term prospects. Peel lifted its cash bid from 172.5p to 177.5p per share earlier in the week and subsequently triggered a mandatory offer after its stake, together with concert parties, rose to 30%. Harworth's board said it had reviewed the higher offer with its advisers and remained "unanimous and unequivocal" in its view that the proposal significantly undervalued the group.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
Andy Burnham is under further pressure to take control of ailing Thames Water from a cross-party group of MPs who are calling for ministers to break off talks with the US hedge funds who are effectively running the company. Adding their voices to demands that the prime minister takes public control of the company, which has debts of £20bn and is being controlled by a group of 100 hedge funds and distressed-debt investors, the MPs said in a report that ministers should consider emergency legislation to take control of its financial affairs to stabilise the company. – Guardian
Labour has been urged to lay out a credible plan for the future of British Steel, as the government spending watchdog warned of the "startling" costs of keeping the struggling manufacturer in business with no end in sight. British Steel was taken into public ownership in July to protect "the future of steel production", 15 months after the government stepped in to prevent the closure of its steelworks in Scunthorpe and the loss of 4,000 jobs. – Guardian
Supplies of Johnnie Walker and Bell's whisky face disruption as more than 100 workers at Diageo's biggest Scottish distillery prepare to go on strike. Workers at Cameronbridge, Europe's largest grain distillery, will walk out from 28 September for three weeks in a dispute over plans to cut 10 jobs at the site. The action threatens to bring production to a halt at the factory, which makes the grain spirit used in blends for some of Diageo's best-known whiskies, including Johnnie Walker, Bell's and Haig. – Telegraph
Thousands of pensioners have been hit with a further block on withdrawing their cash from Octopus's inheritance tax scheme. The fund, which has 18,000 customers and is known as the Octopus Inheritance Tax Service, has been frozen to redemptions since early July, meaning savers have been banned from getting their money back. Octopus was supposed to have reopened the fund either this week or next. However, it said on Thursday that the closure would "need to remain in place for a short additional period". – Telegraph
The "battle of the pills" has reached a crucial moment. In London on Monday Novo Nordisk will host a capital markets day in what is seen as a "critical opportunity" for the Danish pharmaceuticals group behind the Wegovy weight-loss drug. Executives, led by Mike Doustdar, will seek to convince investors that Novo has a strategy to stay ahead of Eli Lilly, a US competitor, and to navigate a looming "patent cliff" in order to "return to sustainable growth". – The Times
US CLOSE
Major indices finished with strong gains on Thursday in the aftermath of the Federal Reserve's first rate hike in three years, with markets bolstered by falling bond yields and oil prices.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.61% at 51,778.04, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.14% to 7,637.76 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.69% firmer at 26,418.30.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com