UK pre-market stocks update – Unilever, Aviva, Vodafone, De La Rue

© Reuters.

By Samuel Indyk

Investing.com – At 07:28GMT, FTSE 100 futures are trading higher by 0.4% at 7,411.

In FX markets, GBP/USD is trading at 1.3540, EUR/GBP is trading at 0.8364. The US Dollar Index is up 0.15%.

Bitcoin is trading at $35,276.

Today’s calendar highlights include Eurozone PMIs, UK PMIs, US Chicago Fed National Activity Index, US PMIs.

Stocks

Unilever (LON:ULVR) - Trian Partners,the activist fund run by Nelson Peltz, has reportedly built a stake in Unilever. The size of the stake and the timing of the acquisition were undisclosed. (FT)

Aviva (LON:AV) - Cevian Capital has increased its stake in Aviva to 6.0% from 5.0%, almost £1 billion. Cevian wants Aviva to return £5 billion to shareholders. (Telegraph)

Vodafone (LON:VOD) - Reportedly explored a potential purchase of Three UK from CK Hutchison. Vodafone expressed interest late last year, sources said, however, Vodafone is not currently in active negotiations with CK Hutchison. (Bloomberg) Vodafone is also reportedly in discussions with Ilian to combine their respective businesses in Italy. (Reuters)

Bridgepoint Group (LON:BPTB) - Temasek is reportedly close to a deal to acquire Element Material Technology from Bridgepoint for almost $7 billion. (Bloomberg)

Informa (LON:INF) - Reportedly preparing to launch an auction process to sell its clinical trial data provider Citeline in a deal that could value the unit at £1.2 billion. (Reuters)

Polymetal (LON:POLYP) - Polymetal announces initial JORC-compliant Mineral Resource estimate for the Novopet polymetallic deposit. The initial Mineral Resource estimate as at 1 January 2022 comprises 9.2 Mt of mineralised material with an average GE grade of 8.0 g/t. The value structure by metal is as follows: 37% - copper, 35% - gold, 23% - zinc, 6% - silver. Polymetal's current share in the Novopet JV is 75%.

Endeavour Mining (LON:EDV) - Q4 production of 398koz, up 4% over Q3, while AISC remained stable at ~$900/oz. Record FY21 production of 1,536koz, beating the annual guidance of 1,365-1,495koz, at an AISC of ~$880/oz. FY22 production guidance of 1,400-1,500koz at AISC of $890-940/oz. Declared H2 dividend of $70 million, totalling $140m for FY21.

Spirax-Sarco Engineering (LON:SPX) - To acquire Cotopaxi Limited from Business Intelligence of Oriental Nations Corporation Ltd, for a consideration of £13.3 million, which is £12.8 million on a cash and debt free basis.

Petropavlovsk (LON:POG) - Appointed Stanislav Ploshchenko as the Group's Chief Financial Officer, with immediate effect.

Computacenter (LON:CCC) - Now believe adjusted profit before tax for the year will be slightly in excess of £250 million. FY total revenue for the Group grew by 23 per cent including the effects of acquisitions made since the beginning of 2020. Product order backlog is at an all-time high and considerably larger than a year ago.

HgCapital Trust (LON:HGT) - Announced an investment in Waystone Group, a provider of institutional governance, risk, and compliance services to the asset management industry. Terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Pantheon International (LON:PANI) - NAV per share down 1.4% in month to 31st December tp 415.3 pence per share.

Unite Group (LON:UTG) - Acquired a consented 270-bed development site in Nottingham city centre. Total development costs for the scheme, which will open for the 2024/25 academic year, are estimated to be £34 million.

De La Rue (LON:DLAR) - Omicron and Delta variants have caused substantially increased employee absences in our manufacturing facilities globally, which will result in lower total operational output for the full year. Also been affected by supply chain shortages in chips and other process raw materials and has experienced a degree of supply chain cost inflation. Now expects adjusted operating profit for the full year to be broadly similar to last financial year, in the £36-£40 million range, versus market expectations of approximately £45-£47 million. See these factors continuing as incremental headwinds into financial year 2022-23, with the effect of slowing the Company's adjusted operating profit growth profile.