British Land set to sell £429 million of Sainsbury’s superstores
One of the UK’s largest property development and investment companies, British Land (LON:BLND), said that it had exchanged on the sale of 12 superstores from its joint venture with Sainsbury’s for £429 million, to Realty Income Corporation.
The company said that its share of the proceeds will be £193.5 million.
The sale will reduce its retail business from roughly 50% to a third of its total assets.
In an aim to deliver its long-term strategy to build a mixed-use business, British Land is focusing on three core elements – campus focused London offices, a smaller, refocused, Retail business, and Residential, primarily build to rent.
Moreover, the company said that it was progressing unique development opportunities, such as Canada Water, in addition to the investment into its campuses.
British Land said that it will focus on the additional sale of retail assets which do not align with its strategy.
The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of May. It follows the sale of its last four freestanding Debenhams stores in December as it moves its estate away from the gloomy British high street.
“We have a clear view of the value of our assets and despite the clear challenges currently in the retail market, we remain opportunistic and proactive,” the company said in a press release.
Many retailers have fallen victim to the tough trading conditions to hit the UK high street. It was recently reported that almost 2,500 high street stores closed in 2018, according to PwC research compiled by the Local Data Company (LDC). Research shows that Banks and financial services lead the way with 291 net closures, closely followed by fashion retailers with 269 closures.
Headquartered in London, British Land is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100.
Brexit party lead EU election polls, says YouGov
Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party is leading European election polls in the UK, according to a survey by YouGov.
YouGov said that the former UKIP leader’s new party leads polls with 27% of the vote.
This was followed by Labour with 22% of the vote, with the Conservative’s trailing behind with 15%.
Meanwhile, the newly formed Change UK party, formerly known as The Independent Group, secured 6%, behind UKIP’s 7% and the Green Party with a 10% share of the vote.
Whilst the Conservative’s and Labour will not doubt be concerned about the surge in support for the Brexit party, YouGov said that the UKIP vote felt the biggest tremor.
Whilst support for Farage’s new political venture surged 12 points since last week, support for his former party, UKIP, halved.
Farage was a founding member and the leader of UKIP party.
He has been viewed as a key architect of Brexit, having campaigned alongside the VoteLeave campaign in the run-up to the 2016 referendum.
In 2016 he stood down as leader, claiming that he “wanted his life back”.
Despite being a fervent pro-leave supporter, as of currently Farage is still an MEP for the European Parliament for the South of England.
The prospect of the UK’s involvement in forthcoming EU elections has been widely contested by the EU and those within Westminster.
This proves particularly troubling given the fact that the UK voted to leave more than two years ago.
Initially, Prime Minister Theresa May had pledged for Article 50 to be initiated on March 29th.
However, she ultimately failed to secure sufficient support in parliament for her withdrawal deal.
As a result, Westminster remains in somewhat of a political deadlock, with no clarity on the path forward for delivering Brexit.
In a bid to avoid a no-deal scenario, The UK and EU have thus agreed upon a flexible 6-month extension to Brexit until October.
As it stands, this means that the UK will indeed most likely participate in upcoming EU elections.
Nevertheless, this may be avoided if parliament decides on how best to proceed with Brexit, ahead of May 23rd.
Funding Circle revenue jumps 40%
Funding Circle (LON:FCH) updated the market on its first quarter on Thursday, sending shares upwards.
The peer-to-peer lending platform said that growth was driven by a 44% increase in loans under management, totalling £3.4 billion.
Revenues were also boosted by higher transaction yield, largely as a result of new policies in the US, alongside growth in other revenue streams.
As a result, the company reported year-on-year growth of 40%.
Samir Desai CBE, CEO and co-founder, said: “Q1 was a period where Funding Circle reinforced its leadership position across each of its markets, reaching a new high of loans under management of GBP3.4 billion. We continue to implement our strategy of diversifying funding sources with a new commitment from the European Investment Bank, as well as launching two new institutional investor products.”
The company which was launched in the UK in 2010, floated on the London Stock Exchange in September 2018.
It was initially valued at £1.5 billion at 440p, however, it has since traded below this level.
Thursday’s company update sent Funding Circle shares up during trading, as investors took stock of the details.
Shares are currently trading +3.54% as of 13:29PM (GMT).
Rentokil Initial enjoys ‘good start’ to 2019, shares rise
Rentokil Initial (LON:RTO) said it enjoyed a ‘good start’ the year, with acquisitions boosting revenues during the first few months of 2019.
The FTSE-100 pest control company said that ongoing revenue rose by 8.9%.
Rentokil Initial said that 4% of revenue was derived from organic Revenue growth, whilst 4.9% was from acquisitions.
Ongoing revenue at its pest control business increased by 12%,on the back of strong performances in core and emerging markets, up 12.1% and 11.5% respectively.
Its hygiene business also enjoyed a strong performance, with ongoing revenue growth of 7.2%.
Meanwhile, ongoing revenue in its Protect and Enhance markets proved in line with the previous year.
The group signed a raft of acquisitions during the first three months of 2019.
Four of these were in Pest Control, in particularly in North America and Latin America, whilst an additional four were in Hygiene.
Commenting on the trading update Andy Ransom, Chief Executive, said:
“We have had a good start to 2019 and I’m pleased with our performance in the first three months of this year. I am confident of another year of successful growth for the Company, in line with market expectations.”
Rentokil Initial has been the subject of an investigation by the UK’s competition regulator, the competitions and markets authority (CMA), regarding to its takeover of MITIE’s pest control unit.
The CMA concluded that the firm must address concerns relating to the merger by April 23, or it will face further investigation.
Earlier this month, The CMA said: “Having considered a wide range of evidence, it (CMA) has found there could be a substantial reduction in competition, which may lead to higher prices or reduced quality for customers.”
Shares in the company are currently trading +1.77% as of 12:42PM (GMT), as investors react to the trading update.
UK retail sales rise 1.1% in March, ONS says
UK retail sales rose 1.1% in March, as milder weather encouraged shoppers to take to the high street.
Retail sales rose in March according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), despite an increasingly difficult trading environment for the high street in the last few months.
This proved ahead of economist expectations, who had forecast a contraction of 0.3% during the month.
Overall, quantity of retail sales in the three months to March increased by 1.6%, compared to the last quarter of 2018.
The growth suggests that shoppers had thus far not been deterred from spending despite persistent Brexit-related uncertainty.
The year-on-year rise in retail sales between March of last year this year was 6.7%, proving the highest increase since October 2016.
However, this figure proved particularly high due to unseasonably colder weather in March 2018, with the “Beast of the East” heavily impacting sales.
Head of retail sales at the ONS, Rhian Murphy, commented:
“Retail sales increased in the three months to March, following sustained growth throughout the first three months of the year. March’s mild weather boosted sales, with food shops also recovering after a weak February.”
Despite the stronger UK retail sales figures, the high street is still struggling amid falling footfall levels, rising costs and subdued spending.
2,481 stores closed in the UK in 2018, according to PwC research compiled by the Local Data Company (LDC).
Moneysupermarket.com q1 revenue rises 19%
Moneysupermarket.com reported a 19% rise in revenue in its first quarter results on Thursday, sending shares up.
The price comparison website said revenues grew to £104.9 million for the quarter ending March 31 2019, compared to £88.3 million during the same period a year ago.
Moneysupermarket.com attributed the strong performance to ‘attractive offers’ alongside the introduction of Ofgem’s energy price cap, which led to a rise in energy switching from customers.
Commenting on the future outlook, the company said that performance of its home services in the first quarter had been ‘exceptional’, rising by 70% on the year before.
Moneysupermarket.com said it expects this to moderate during the course of the year.
The firm said its expectations for the year remain unchanged.
Mark Lewis, CEO of Moneysupermarket.com Group, commented on the latest quarter:
“The reinvent strategy continues with a strong first quarter of trading, notably helping a record number of customers beat the rising energy price cap. MoneySuperMarket innovation continues, we have new branding and advertising to remind everyone how we can help them with their finances and ‘get money calm’ and new products like Credit Monitor are on the site.”
Moneysupermarket.com is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE-250.
In 2012, the group purchased MoneySavingExpert.com for £80 million.
Shares in the firm (LON:MONY) are currently +7.98% on the back of the results.
Unilever first-quarter results beat forecasts
Unilever (LON:ULVR) revealed a stronger-than-expected growth in its underlying sales for its first-quarter.
Owner of iconic brands such as Dove, Marmite, PG Tips, Ben and Jerry’s, Magnum and Pot noodles, Unilever said that its underlying sales grew 3.1%, with 1.2% from volume and 1.9% from price.
Analysts were roughly expecting a 2.8% underlying sales increase, according to Reuters.
Unilever, whose underlying sales in emerging markets increased by 5%, is headquartered in London and Rotterdam.
“We have delivered a solid start that keeps us on track for our full year expectations. Growth was led by emerging markets and was balanced between volume and price,” said CEO of Unilever, Alan Jope.
Underlying sales in Unilever’s Beauty & Personal Care division increased by 3.1%. Skin care and deodorants saw a strong start to the year, with hair and skin cleansing growing only modestly. The company said that its sales in oral care saw a decline as a result of challenging market conditions.
The group’s Home Care division saw its underlying sales grow 6%. This was driven by its fabric solutions and home and hygiene, though its life essentials category was flat.
As for its Food & Refreshment division, underlying sales grew 1.5%. Ice cream started the year strong, but sales in tea and savoury were flat. Dressings declined, impacted by continued high promotional intensity and the later timing of Easter.
Unilever recently announced the launch of a new vegan Magnum ice-cream bar in a bid to cater for consumers pursuing a vegan lifestyle. But, Australian dairy farmers labelled the ice-cream bar “a problem for the dairy industry”.
Earlier this year, Unilever made headlines for reportedly stockpiling its ice cream brands ahead of the UK’s departure from the European Union.
“Accelerating growth is our number one priority. It requires both great execution and a continued strategic shift into faster growth segments and channels. We saw good performance in key growth channels including out-of-home and e-commerce and benefited from stronger global innovations and faster and more relevant local innovation,” Unilever’s CEO continued.
The company now expects full year underlying sales growth to be in the lower half of a 3-5% range.
Its full-year 2018 financial results continued to see profitable growth despite “volatile” market conditions.
At 08:57 GMT Thursday, shares in Unilever plc (LON:ULVR) were trading at +2.6%.