STOCKS TO WATCH
Harbour Energy founder EIG said it had sold its remaining stake in the oil company via a secondary placing of 54.77m shares to institutional investors by way of an accelerated bookbuild. The 3.5% stake was placed at 205p a share with gross proceeds of £112m. EIG, a US-based private equity firm, started the company in 2014 with a plan to build a "new global, independent oil and gas company by acquisition", according to Harbour's website.
Food ingredients manufacturer Tate & Lyle said on Friday that the scheme document for its recommended takeover by Ingredion has now been published and sent to shareholders. Tate & Lyle said the document sets out the full terms of the proposed acquisition, which was to be implemented via a court‑sanctioned scheme of arrangement and will require approval from shareholders at both the court meeting and general meeting, scheduled for 28 July. Subject to shareholder backing, court approval and satisfaction or waiver of the remaining conditions - including material antitrust clearances - the deal was expected to become effective in the second half of 2027.
AIM-listed healthcare financial services firm Craneware has said it expects its full-year results to be below market expectations due to the timing of the 340B drug pricing programme in the US and the deferral of several contracts. Revenues for the 12 months ended 30 June were now expected to be $205m to $208m and adjusted underlying earnings were pegged to come in at $65m to $67m - broadly in line with last year.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
The boss of Currys has said supplies of air conditioning and fans are "tight" ahead of another UK heatwave, expected next week, after a boom in sales sent retailers scrambling to source new stock. Alex Baldock, chief executive of the electrical goods retailer, said cooling kit had been "flying off the shelves" during June's record heat in England. Sales of fans were up nearly 3,000% over the most recent heatwave weekend compared with a week earlier, while air conditioning sales increased 330%. – Guardian
Ryanair has warned of "queue chaos" this summer at EU airports because of new fingerprint checks, as the European Commission invited the air industry to an urgent meeting next Tuesday to discuss concerns over the new entry and exit system. The airline, Europe's largest, said passengers going on well-deserved breaks this summer should not be used as "guinea pigs" for a "half-baked" system. – Guardian
Chemicals giant Ineos has accused its US rivals of dumping cheap plastic into the UK market, putting tens of thousands of British jobs at risk. Ineos, owned by billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, said that since US chemicals suppliers began lowering their prices in 2023, Britain's imports had doubled. US market share of Britain's plastics market jumped from about 16$ to as much as 40%. – Telegraph
The billionaire Issa brothers have filed for a New York stock market flotation of their petrol station empire in a deal that could value the business at about $9bn (£6.6bn). Cumberland Farms, formerly known as EG Group, said it had confidentially submitted paperwork to the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a public listing. – Telegraph
Britain needs to build better-quality flats to help kickstart the housing market, the boss of one of the country's biggest developers has said. Andy Hill, founder and chief executive of the Essex-based Hill Group, said the industry needed to do a better job of building flats and demonstrate to first-time buyers that they are good "stepping stones" as they work their way up the property ladder. – The Times
US CLOSE
US stocks finished in a mixed fashion on Thursday ahead of the three-day weekend, with the Dow jumping to a new record and the Nasdaq slipping into the red, as investors weighed a weak jobs report with interest rate projections.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.14% at 52,900.07, while the S&P 500 was flat at 7,483.24 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.80% lower at 25,832.67.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com