Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 up 46 points
- Segro, Barclays (LON:BARC) and Pearson (LON:PSON) lead risers
- Lloyds (LON:LLOY), NatWest (LON:NWG) and other lenders jump
- Rightmove down 3% as outlook unnerves
M&S wins Marble Arch legal battle with Gove
Marks and Spencer Group PLC (LON:MKS) has won its legal battle with Michael Gove over the proposed redevelopment of its Marble Arch store.
A High Court judge sided with the FTSE 100 retailer after the Housing Secretary had attempted to block its plans to knock down and rebuild its Oxford Street department store.
Gove initially rejected the proposals as he claimed it would "fail to support the transition to a low carbon future, and would overall fail to encourage the reuse of existing resources, including the conversion of existing buildings.”
M&S has proposed to knock down the current site and rebuild it with a new 10-storey building.
The judge said Gove “misinterpreted and wrongly applied planning policy” by rejecting the proposals.
British manufacturing industry contracts on Red Sea disruption
UK manufacturers experienced additional declines in February after Houthi attacks in the Red Sea caused prices to increase as deliveries were delayed.
The S&P Global UK manufacturing PMI came in at 47.5 for last month, rising to the highest level in ten months and increasing on flash figures of 47.1.
Despite the rise, the figure being below 50 means output has contracted for 19 consecutive months.
Rob Dobson, director at S&P Global, said: "UK manufacturers faced challenging circumstances in February, as the ongoing impact of the Red Sea crisis delayed raw material deliveries, inflated purchase prices and impacted production capabilities.
"Production volumes subsequently contracted for the twelfth successive month while total new orders fell at the sharpest rate since October.
"The impacts were felt particularly hard on the price and supply fronts. Input cost inflation hit an 11-month high, leading to a further increase in selling prices."
ITV's Britbox deal "should be taken positively"
The FTSE 250 is being pushed 133 points higher after ITV (LON:ITV) PLC rallied 14% after selling half of its stake in Britbox.
Analysts at UBS believe the deal "should be taken positively" despite of any struggles with performance in the year-to-date.
"While we believe value exists in ITV underpinned by Studios, we expected near-term catalysts were limited as sentiment has been impaired by scepticism around ITV's ability to scale EBITA from FY23 lows and achieve c67% of Group revenues from Digital (c£750m) and Studios in FY26," the Swiss bank explained.
Announcing the disposal, the broadcaster said the move would allow it to focus on enhancing its domestic streaming platform, ITVX, and expand its global Studios division.
After accounting for loan repayments and tax, the deal will net £235 million.