BUSINESS LIVE: 888 profits slump; Inland Homes in administration; Deliveroo £250m buyback
The FTSE 100 is down 0.2 per cent in afternoon trading. Among the companies with reports and trading updates today are 888 Holdings, Deliveroo, Inland Homes, Phoenix Group and Mitchells & Butlers. Read the Thursday 28 September Business Live blog below.> If you are using our app or a third-party site click here to read Business Live
Dealmaking falls to 14-year low
The value of mergers and acquisition (M&A) deals made with UK involvement has fallen to a 14-year low in 2023, new findings show.
M&A deals with any UK involvement have a total value of £144.7billion in the year to date, down 45 per cent on levels seen last year, according to LSEG Deals Intelligence.
Phoenix Group reports marginal profit rise in interim results
Phoenix Group profits rose in the first half, driven by demand for corporate pension scheme insurance products.
The insurance company, which has historically specialised in managing books of life insurance businesses that are closed to new customers, posted an operating profit growth of 5 per cent year-on-year to £266million in the six months to 30 June.
Mitchells & Butlers toasts rising sales as cost headwinds ease
Mitchells & Butlers sales have improved after more customers stepped out to grab drinks and food at its pubs despite a high inflationary environment.
Cost headwinds, which pose a major challenge for the UK’s hospitality industry, have also started to abate, while high inflation has not deterred demand, the group told shareholders on Thursday.
888 suffers fresh regulation and ‘customer-friendly sports results’
William Hill owner 888 Holdings has issued a profit warning after the gambling group was hit by new regulatory changes and ‘consumer-friendly’ sports results.
888 Holdings shares slumped 17.4 per cent to 91.25p in early trading as the betting group told investors earnings before nasties for 2023 would miss forecasts amid more challenging trading conditions.
Lloyds Bank partners with BlackRock to launch ETF investment Quicklist
Lloyds Bank is attempting to lure customers to the DIY investment space with the launch of its ETF Quicklist.
The bank has partnered with BlackRock to put together a list of 16 iShares ETFs for investors.
London offices in ‘rental recession’ thanks to remote working boom, analysts warn
London’s office market is in a ‘rental recession’ with empty space across the capital’s traditional business districts at a 30-year high, according to a report.
Analysts at Jefferies estimated that office space in use across the City, West End and Canary Wharf has shrunk as much as 20pc.
Inland Homes to appoint administrators as cash dries up
Inland Homes is set to appoint administrators due to a lack of available funds.
Deliveroo proposes tender offer to return up to £250m to shareholders
Deliveroo plans to return up to £250million to its shareholders via a premium tender offer launching on Friday.
The food delivery group, which first outlined the plan to return the surplus capital to shareholders in August, said it plans to buy up to 217.4million existing ordinary shares for between 115p and 135p per share.
Morrisons chief executive Potts steps down after nine years
888 profits slump on regulatory shake-up
Gambling giant 888 Holdings has lowered its annual profit expectation after sales slumped by 10 per cent in the third quarter, which the firm partially blamed on tighter regulation of the sector in the UK.
Lord Mendelsohn, executive chair, said: ‘This has been an important quarter for the business with the announcements of Per Widerström as our new CEO and Sean Wilkins as our new CFO, who I am very confident will lead the business through its next phases of growth and I look forward to Per starting as CEO in mid-October. We are making significant strides to improve the quality and long-term sustainability of our revenues, but performance in Q3 has been below our expectations, and this means we now expect to end the year with EBITDA below our prior expectation.’
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