Equipment rental firm Ashtead (LON:AHT) saw shares rise over 4 percent on Tuesday morning, after seeing consistent improvement in performance over the six months to October. Group rental revenue rose 20 percent over the period, with first half underlying pre-tax profit hitting £537 million. The group spent £708 million on capital expenditure, up from £683 million last year, and saw earnings per share rise to 34.2 pence. The group’s performance was helped by an increase in rentals from the clean-up efforts following hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, as well as benefitting from the impact of weaker sterling. Looking forward, Ashtead’s CEO Geoff Drabble said the group expects “a number of years of good earnings growth and significant free cash flow generation.” “We continue to enjoy support from good end markets, a strong balance sheet and impressive operational execution. “Our strong performance, together with the successful execution of our 2021 plan, allows the Board to continue to look to the medium term with confidence.” Shares in Ashtead are currently trading up 4.01 percent at 2,100.00 (0959GMT).

Ladbrokes & GVC today announced GVC had made an approach for Ladbrokes in a move that would create one of the UK’s largest gambling companies. GVC have offered 160.9p per share with a possible additional 42.8p if certain terms are met. In the offer terms, Ladbrokes Coral shareholders would be receive 32.7p in cash and 0.141 ordinary GVC shares for each Ladbrokes Coral share and potentially further value of up to 42.8p structured as a contingent value right (CVR). The additional CVR payment is conditional on the outcome of government review of fixed odds betting machines. Shares in Labrokes Coral soared over 20% on the news in early trade on Thursday. Shares in Ladbrokes Coral have suffered in recent years as the government gears up to limit the maximum bet size on fixed odds betting machines, a significant element of Ladbrokes revenue. The merger would may the new group one of the UK’s largest online Bingo operators with brands such as Gala Casino & Gala Bingo, Bwin, Foxy Bingo and Partypoker.  

UK shopping centre owner Hammerson (LON:HMSO) made a £3.4 billion bid for smaller rival Intu (LON:INTU), a move already agreed by over half of Intu’s shareholders. Hammerson, who owns several major UK shopping centres including the Bullring in Birmingham and London’s Brent Cross, made an offer of 253.9p per share for Intu, a 28 per cent premium on the group’s closing price on December 5. Intu owns the Lakeside shopping centre in Essex and Manchester’s Trafford Centre and if the deal goes through, it will create the UK’s biggest property company, worth £21 billion. Intu shares rose over 20 percent in early trading on Wednesday, with Hammerson shares down 3.5 percent. Hammerson’s chief executive, David Atkins, said: “This marks an exciting milestone in the history of Hammerson. Bringing together the high-quality portfolios of both companies establishes Hammerson as a larger, leading European retail Reit, enhances shareholder returns and supports opportunities for long-term growth.” Analysts had mixed reactions towards the deal, with Christopher Fremantle, from Morgan Stanley, saying: “We see Hammerson’s agreed bid for intu as an opportunistic move that combines a strong Hammerson management platform with intu’s large assets but sub-optimal corporate wrapper. Doubts on structural headwinds will remain, but the deal has a number of benefits in our view.” Shares in Intu are currently trading down 14.97 percent at 228.90 (1531GMT).

Shares in insurance provider Saga dropped by nearly 25 percent on Wednesday, after “challenging trading” led to the issuance of a profit warning. The company were negatively affected by the collapse of Monarch Airlines, with the change of carriers costing £2 million. Shares fell after the Saga said that it expects underlying pretax profits to remain on track for the current financial year, growing by 1-2 percent, but then experience a 5 percent drop in profits in 2018. Lance Batchelor, the chief executive, said: “Against a backdrop of some challenging trading conditions in our final quarter, we continue to develop the business for the long term.” This comes just two days after Saga has confirmed that it has made “around 100” employees redundant, saying that the saved money would be put towards growing the company. “The changes we have made this week will allow us to invest further in future growth,” Batchelor said. Shares in Saga (LON:SAGA) are currently trading down 23.83 percent at 138.10 (1319GMT).

The UK car industry suffered yet another blow in November, as sales of new vehicles fell for the eighth month in a row. Economic uncertainty continued to affect the industry’s performance in the run-up to Christmas, with a sharp fall in demand for diesel cars and a 33 percent drop in business registration. Sales slumped by 11.2 percent during the month to 163,541 vehicles, putting the industry in danger of recording its first drop in annual sales since 2011 Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders, blamed a higher tax on diesel cars as a major reason for the drop: “An eighth month of decline in the new car market is a major concern, with falling business and consumer confidence exacerbated by ongoing anti-diesel messages from government. “Penalising the latest, cleanest diesels is counterproductive and will have detrimental environmental and economic consequences.”

Shares in transport operator Stagecoach (LON:SGC) rose over 5 percent on Wednesday morning, after the extension of its East Midlands train franchise and further negotiations with the Department for Transport. Stagecoach released their six months results for the period to the end of October, with earnings per share in line with the group’s expectation at 13.6 percent. Profit also increased over the period to £96.7 million, up from £89.5 million over the same period last year. Investors were boosted by Chief Executive Martin Griffiths’ comments over the future of the company: “We have made positive progress across our businesses. In UK rail, we are working with the Department for Transport towards new contracts at Virgin Trains East Coast and Virgin Trains West Coast. “Our East Midlands Trains franchise has been extended through to March 2019, with the prospect of us agreeing a further direct award franchise from March 2019, and we are part of shortlisted bids for new South Eastern and West Coast Partnership franchises.” Stagecoach is an international public transport group, with operations in the UK, the United States and Canada. Stagecoach is one of the UK’s biggest bus and coach operators with over 8,000 buses and coaches on a network stretching from south-west England to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, as well as a major UK rail operator, running the East Midlands Trains network. Shares in Stagecoach (LON:SGC) are currently trading up 5.50 percent at 186.10 (1104GMT).