UKX FTSE 100 Index

FTSE 100 Recovers as it Tracks Gains in Asia, US

0757 GMT - The FTSE 100 rises 0.5% to 7057 points after losses in the previous session as the index tracks gains in Asia and Wall Street overnight. "Fluctuating sentiment is again in evidence, with investors reacting with some temporary relief to the absence of any new concerns," Interactive Investor analyst Richard Hunter writes. The FTSE 100 could eke out a gain for the week, although it remains down by 4.6% in the year to date, with lower commodity prices having weighed on the index, he says. Meanwhile, data on Friday showed U.K. retail sales fell 0.5% on month in May after a downwardly revised 0.4% increase in April amid a cost of living crisis. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

 
Companies News: 

Barclays to Buy Kensington Mortgage Co., Portfolio for Around $2.8 Bln

Barclays PLC said Friday that it has agreed to acquire Kensington Mortgage Co. and a related portfolio of U.K. mortgages for around 2.3 billion pounds ($2.82 billion).

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Ferguson Launches GBP375 Mln Share Buyback

Ferguson PLC said Friday that it is starting a share buyback of 375 million pounds ($459.8 million) in continuation of its $2 billion repurchase program.

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Lamprell Says Blofeld Takeover Offer Is at a Significant Discount

Lamprell PLC said Friday that it considers the takeover cash offer from Blofeld Investment Management to be at a significant discount to the prevailing share price and so far no agreement has been reached.

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RPS Group Says Five-Month Performance Was Better Than Expected

RPS Group PLC said Friday that its performance in the first five months of the year was better than expected.

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Greencoat Renewables Agrees to Buy 134MW Swedish Wind Farm -- Deal Digest

ACQUIRER: Greencoat Renewables PLC, a renewable-infrastructure company.

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Trackwise Designs Sees 2022 Sales Below Market Views on Lower Demand

Trackwise Designs PLC said Friday that sales for 2022 are expected to be below market views due to reduced customer demand.

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Foresight Sustainable Forestry Raises GBP45 Mln Via Equity Issue

Foresight Sustainable Forestry Co. said Friday that it has raised 45 million pounds ($55.2 million) via share issue to acquire further assets.

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Essentra to Sell Packaging Businesses for GBP312 Mln

Essentra PLC said Friday that it will sell its packaging businesses ESNT Packaging & Securing Solutions Ltd. and Essentra Packaging US Inc. for 312 million pounds ($382.5 million) in cash.

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Southern Energy Completes Expanded Share Placing, Raises $31.0 Mln

Southern Energy Corp. said Friday that it has completed an increased placing of shares in the U.K., bringing the size of its total offering to $31.0 million from $30.0 million.

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Ultra Electronics Takeover by Advent's Cobham Moves Closer to UK Government Approval

Ultra Electronics Holdings PLC said Friday that it has noted the U.K. government is minded to accept the undertakings proposed by Advent International Corp.'s Cobham Group Holdings Ltd. to allow its takeover of Ultra.

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LSL Property Services to Extend Share Buyback for Three Months

LSL Property Services PLC said Friday that it will extend its 10 million pound ($12.3 million) share-buyback program for an additional three months, from the end of June to the end of September.

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Lamprell Shares Fall on Liquidity Constraints Warning

Shares in Lamprell PLC fell Friday after the company said that it is looking for a solution to meet its immediate funding obligations of $75 million in June and July as it continues to be affected by low-margin projects and insufficient revenue levels.

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Gulf Keystone Petroleum Cuts Top End of Production Guidance

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. on Friday narrowed its 2022 production guidance toward the lower end of the range.

 
Market Talk: 

Fiscal Stimulus Might Support UK Retail Sales in 2H

0756 GMT - The extra package of measures to support U.K. households brightens the outlook for retail sales in the second half of the year, as these grants should ensure that real disposable incomes recover slightly in the third quarter, Pantheon Macroeconomics chief U.K. economist Samuel Tombs says in a note. However, there is increasing evidence that British households aren't using their excess savings from the pandemic to keep spending, so consumers real expenditure will rise only sluggishly in the second half, he says. "We expect retail sales volumes in 4Q to be only about 1% higher than in 2Q," Tombs says. (xavier.fontdegloria@wsj.com)

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Sterling Shrugs Off Weaker UK Retail Sales Data

0715 GMT - Sterling shows little reaction after official data showed U.K. retail sales fell in May. Retail sales fell 0.5% month-on-month in May, compared to the 0.7% decline expected by economists in a WSJ survey. April's data was revised lower to show 0.4% growth versus the 1.4% rise previously reported. The data confirm the bleak outlook facing the U.K. economy as the impact of rising prices takes its toll on consumers, Silicon Valley Bank's Sam Cooper writes. "The drop in sales comes as no surprise to FX markets and this is reflected in the GBP/USD rate, with sterling largely unmoved on the release." GBP/USD trades at 1.2275 and EUR/GBP is at 0.8590, both little changed after the data. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

Contact: London NewsPlus; paul.larkins@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 24, 2022 04:16 ET (08:16 GMT)

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