By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – At 07:29GMT, FTSE 100 futures are trading lower by 0.4% at 7211.
In FX markets, GBP/USD is trading at 1.3207, EUR/GBP is trading at 0.8537. The US Dollar Index is up 0.1%.
Today’s calendar highlights include Eurozone industrial production, US PPI.
Data
UK unemployment rate fell to 4.2%, in line with expectations. Average earnings excluding bonus were 4.3% versus expectations of 4.0%. Claimant count unemployment fell 49.8K.
The Office for National Statistics said there is still no sign of the end of the furlough scheme hitting the number of jobs with the total number of payrolled employees continuing to grow strongly in November. The number of payrolled employees is now above pre-pandemic levels.
Stocks
BT (LON:BT) - Altice UK - a company established and wholly owned by Patrick Drahi - increases ownership in BT to 18.0%. Altice UK has restated its position to the Board of BT that it does not intend to make an offer for BT.
Rentokil (LON:RTO) - Agreed to acquire Terminix for $6.7 billion in stock and cash. Rentokil will issue to Terminix shareholders at closing aggregate consideration comprised of approximately 643.29 million new Rentokil Initial (LON:RTO) shares (representing approximately 128.66 million ADSs, based on a 1:5 ADS to Rentokil Initial share ratio) and approximately $1.3 billion in cash.
Ocado (LON:OCDO) - Ocado Retail says Q4 retail revenue down 3.9% to £547.8 million, up 31.6% on 2019 level. 2021 expected outturn in line with guidance; strong demand offset by labour pressures and capacity constraints. Q4 trends reflect strong momentum in underlying demand for Ocado. Strong, mid-teens sales growth expected for 2022; driven by accelerated roll-out of new capacity. Ambition for EBITDA margin to rebuild towards 2021 levels following a significant year of investment in 2022. Separately, judgement in the ITC trial was delivered yesterday. three of the four AutoStore patents are invalid. The fourth is not infringed. A fifth patent was abandoned by AutoStore the night before the trial.
3I Group (LON:III) - Ms Jasi Halai, currently Group Financial Controller, will join the Group Board as Chief Operating Officer in May 2022.
Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) - Five-year production to potentially reach approximately 900,000 tonnes of copper by 2026 if the Second Concentrator project at Centinela is approved by the end of 2022.
Drax Group (LON:DRX) - Company subsidiary Pinnacle Renewable Energy has agreed to acquire the pellet sales contract book of Pacific BioEnergy Corporation, adding 2.8Mt of orders for sustainable biomass supply to high-quality counterparties in Japan and Europe. The total incremental revenues over the contract period are around CAD 675 million.
Chemring (LON:CHG) - FY revenue up 1% to 408.0 million. Order intake up 3% to £448.6 million. Underlying operating profit up 10% to £60.1 million. Proposed final dividend increased by 23% to 3.2p per share, giving a total dividend of 4.8p per share. Expectations for 2022 are unchanged.
Polar Capital Technology Trust (LON:PCT) - NAV per ordinary share up 11.5% to 2782.81p in 6 months to 31st October. Price per ordinary share up 6.3% to 2514.00p. No interim dividend declared.
GCP Infrastructure Investments (LON:GCPI) - Total shareholder return for the year of -7.9%. Dividends of 7.0 pence per share for the year to 30 September 2021. Profit for the year of £62.4 million (30 September 2020: loss of £0.7 million) primarily due to revaluations in respect of high near-term electricity futures prices.
Syncona (LON:SYNCS) - Portfolio company Freeline Therapeutics has proposed implementing an approximate 25% reduction in the size of its workforce.
Primary Health Properties (LON:PHP) - Acquired the Parkside Medical Centre in Boston, Lincolnshire for a total consideration of £6.8 million.
Bmo Global Smaller Companies (LON:BGSC) - Net Asset Value with debt at fair value increased to 183.39p per share, giving a total return of 5.6% compared to the Benchmark total return of 4.3%. Interim dividend increased by 3.6% to 0.57p per ordinary share.