BUSINESS LIVE: Ryanair profits rise; AstraZeneca builds factory in Singapore; British Land sells its stake in Meadowhall

The Australian miner that wants to buy Anglo American will decide this week whether it is willing to increase its £34 billion bid.

Melbourne’s BHP has until 5pm on Wednesday to make a bid for the FTSE-100 rival.

Swedish private equity firm EQT AB is in advanced talks to acquire Dublin-based video game services company KeywordsStudios for £2.8 billion, in the latest potential takeover of a London-listed company.

Keywords told investors this morning: ‘The Possible Offer follows four previous unsolicited proposals from EQT in recent months, which the Board of Directors rejected, and represents a significant increase from the original proposal.

“The Board of Directors remains confident in the company’s growth strategy to build the only truly global platform providing solutions for the video games and entertainment industries, both organically and through acquisitions, and EQT supports this strategy.

‘The Board of Directors of Keywords Studios has carefully evaluated the Possible Offer with its financial advisors and has concluded that the Possible Offer has a value that the Board of Directors would be willing to recommend to the shareholders of Keywords Studios, should a permanent intention to make an offer under Rule 2.7 of the Code on such financial terms will be announced, subject to agreement to all other terms of an offer.’

Adam Vettese, analyst at eToro:

‘The pandemic hangover appears to be well and truly over for Ryanair, as the low-cost carrier posted a record profit of €1.95 billion. A milder winter and an early Easter contributed to the slow season as travel demand shows no signs of abating.

‘The essence of Ryanair is low prices and an easing of cost pressures will not only ease pressure internally, but also ensure that more consumers with more disposable income top up the holiday pot, ready to book a cheap getaway.

“The company has been somewhat cautious in confirming future guidance amid ongoing potential issues such as aircraft supply and macroeconomic pressures. Despite this, a major share buyback of €700 million has been announced, which could be a catalyst to see the shares creep back to the record levels reached earlier this year.”

One of Britain’s top industrialists has warned that the country’s output is lagging behind Germany’s because of uncompetitive government taxes.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe – Britain’s fourth richest man – hit out at the Conservatives’ economic strategy, saying the country needs to ‘smart up a bit’ on business.

The billionaire, who runs petrochemical empire Ineos, claimed high taxes would ‘kill’ oil and gas companies while businesses elsewhere flourished.

British Land has exchanged contracts to sell its 50 percent stake in Meadowhall Shopping Center to its partner Norges Bank Investment Management for £360 million.

The divestment is in line with the company’s strategy to focus on retail parks and reduce exposure to indoor shopping centres, the Broadgate owner said in a statement.

Landlord boss Simon Carter said: ‘We have had a successful partnership with Norges for many years and are delighted to continue working with them as asset managers of the centre.

‘Following the sale of Meadowhall, 93% of our portfolio is now in our preferred segments of retail parks, campuses and London city logistics.

‘We will continue to grow our retail park portfolio; With low capital investments, parks offer attractive cash returns and with an occupancy rate of 99% we achieve strong rental growth.’

AstraZeneca plans to build a $1.5 billion manufacturing facility in Singapore in a bid to expand its portfolio of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs).

The greenfield facility, which will be the drugmaker’s first end-to-end ADC manufacturing site, will be supported by Singapore Economic Development.

ADCs are specially designed antibodies that bind to tumor cells and then release cell-killing chemicals.

“Singapore is one of the most attractive countries in the world for investment given its reputation for excellence in complex manufacturing, and I am pleased that AstraZeneca is locating our $1.5 billion ADC manufacturing facility in the country,” said CEO Pascal Soriot.

Cadbury owner Mondelez will face scrutiny over its chocolate sales in Russia at its AGM this week.

Senior MPs and campaign groups have criticized the company for selling some of its brands, including Milka chocolate and Oreo biscuits.

Investor Wespath Benefits and Investments has proposed an independent investigation into how the American conglomerate implements human rights policy in Russia and Ukraine.

Ryanair’s profits rose 34 per cent last year to a record €1.9bn (£1.6bn) and the budget airline has expressed ‘cautious optimism’ ahead of the key summer trading season.

The result was slightly above analysts’ expectations. Ryanair cut its after-tax profit forecast to €1.85 billion to €1.95 billion in January after some online travel agencies suddenly stopped selling their flights.

The Irish airline, Europe’s largest by passenger numbers, also said there would be 23 aircraft fewer than the number Boeing would deliver at the end of July and that there remained a risk – although ‘unlikely’ – that deliveries could continue to decrease.