Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 hit peak of 7,762.95 at open
- UK headline inflation falls to 8.7% in April
- US stocks seen cautious as debt default worries mount
- M&S soars as upgrades follow strong results
Toxic mail
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has suspended a ballot of International Distributions Services PLC's Royal Mail (LON:IDSI) workers on a deal aimed at ending a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions, according to news reports.
The union said it had become clear that the environment it was attempting to deliver the agreement in remained "toxic".
In a message to members, general secretary Dave Ward and deputy general secretary Andy Furey said the company had not stopped "attacks" against union members in the workplace.
They said the proposed agreement, set against the "most brutal dispute in our history, a self-inflicted but very real financial crisis for the company and jointly agreed need for change", would secure the future of the company, jobs, and the service.
They continued: "Unless Royal Mail Group openly accept that their culture of imposition and the 'our business to run' mantra must go – then the integrity of the negotiators agreement will be irreparably damaged."
The union's postal executive said it had decided to suspend the vote on the proposed national agreement until moves were made to restore quality of service and "genuinely review all failed revisions".
Divis up
Dividends from the world’s largest companies reached a record in the first quarter of this year, as banks and oil companies led the way in rewarding shareholders.
Some US$326.7bn was paid out by 1,200 companies in the first three months of the year, according to asset manager Janus Henderson, a rise of 12% year on year.
Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG_p) Group, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) Corporation and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) all featured among the ten highest dividend payers, while Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) & Co sat in the top twenty.
“Banks made the largest contribution to growth in the first quarter thanks to their large weighting in the index and healthy results on the back of widening interest margins,” the report said. “Oil producers came a close second.”
Some of London's biggest risers
CT Property Trust - up 28% to 81.4p: Shares soar after it agreed to be bought in an all-paper deal tabled by LondonMetric valuing it at £198.6 million – a 34% premium to Tuesday’s closing price.
Simec Atlantis - up 11% to 1.16p: Shares climbed as it confirmed its Uskmouth site in Wales will be used for one of the UK’s largest battery storage (BESS) projects. In a statement, SAE said a subsidiary of Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners gave formal notice yesterday to exercise an option to lease land at Uskmouth for a BESS project with 230MW/460MWh capacity.
Active Energy - up 16% to 5.16p: Shares jumped after the firm that Player Design Inc (PDI) has obtained the necessary permit for the construction and operation of a CoalSwitch manufacturing facility in the US.
Marks and Spencer- up 12% to 184p: Shares in the FTSE 250-listed retailer Marks and Spencer (LON:MKS) shot higher after it reported profits growth in the year to 1 April 2023. Pre-tax profits in the year jumped 21% to £475mln while revenues grew 9.9% to £11.9bn.