BUSINESS LIVE: Anglo-American rejects BHP bid; NatWest’s profits are falling; Pearson English Language Boost

Sainsbury’s has claimed that customers love its self-checkouts and appreciate the ‘fast checkout’, despite consumer backlash against the machines, which has led some stores to scale back the technology.

Boss Simon Roberts said Sainsbury’s had invested in more self-checkouts in recent years, but had also committed to non-automated belt checkouts.

NatWest Group has become the latest bank to report much lower first-quarter profits amid spiking interest rates and pressure on mortgage lending.

The banking giant’s pre-tax profits fell 27 percent to £1.33 billion in the first three months of 2024, although this was above analyst expectations of £1.26 billion.

The most popular investments for early bird Isa savers are US, global and Indian funds, plus some well-known UK financial shares, new research shows.

Technology tracker fund and investor favorite Fundsmith Equity round out the top buys among Hargreaves Lansdown customers who paid into stocks and shares Isa during the first ten days of the new tax year.

For most people, going to a loan shark is something of Guy Ritchie movies and gritty crime dramas.

However, for the masses across the country, illegal money lenders have become the only way to meet their livelihoods household bills to baby food.

Anglo American has rejected rival BHP Group’s £31.1 billion takeover proposal, saying it significantly undervalued the company and its future prospects, according to the London-listed miner.

But analysts said last night BHP should improve its offeringwhich faced political opposition in South Africa and investors describing the bid as ‘opportunistic’ due to Anglo’s ‘depressed’ valuation.

Sophie Lund-Yates, Chief Equity Analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown:

‘The FTSE 100 has once again reached an untouched top as investors remain in a positive mood. There was a flurry of strong results from major players such as Barclays and AstraZeneca on Thursday, which helped propel the FTSE to these new highs.

‘The market is also responding to the news that consumer confidence has improved slightly, according to data from GfK. Anglo American has also rejected BHP’s surprise takeover bid, deeming the multi-billion pound offer unattractive.

‘The proposed deal would massively reshape the company, and Anglo’s board has suggested that the current offer does not reflect the opportunities. There is a good chance that BHP will come back to the table, and these conversations will continue to be the main driver of market reaction for both groups.”

Private equity firm Thoma Bravo has agreed to acquire British cybersecurity firm Darktrace for approximately $5.32 billion in cash.

The agreed price of $7.75, or about 620p per share, represents a 44 percent premium to Darktrace’s average share price in the three months to Thursday, Thoma Bravo said.

The company’s shares rose 16 percent to 601 pence after the announcement.

John Moore, senior investment manager at RBC Brewin Dolphin:

‘Like its peers, NatWest has seen profits fall, but it has still exceeded expectations in a more competitive mortgage market and a peaking interest rate environment.

‘Costs are stable and return on equity remains high – although not at the level of a year ago. Unlike Lloyds and Barclays, NatWest doesn’t have to deal with legacy problems in car finance and investment banking, so the bank has these advantages on its side, along with its more streamlined business model.

‘The key, as always, is the sale of the government’s stake, which will need to be addressed in the near future, and NatWest is in a positive position to begin that process.’

The boss of the company that owns London’s stock market will become one of Footsie’s highest-paid CEOs despite the crisis engulfing the stock market.

About 89 percent of London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) shareholders voted in favor of more than doubling David Schwimmer’s maximum package from £6.25 million to £13 million.

British companies are being labeled as ‘sitting ducks’ as foreign predators hunt for takeover bargains in London.

The attack on Anglo American – the second FTSE 100 company to receive a takeover bid this year – has fueled speculation about which company will be next.

City analysts think vulnerable blue chip shares include BP, Unilever, BP, Reckitt Benckiser, Standard Chartered, Entain and Burberry (whose values ​​are listed above).

FTSE 100 education company Pearson has posted a 3 percent increase in adjusted underlying sales for the first quarter, with the company expecting growth to accelerate in the second half.

English Language Learning’s revenue led to growth after growing 22 percent, “with inflationary prices in Argentina having a positive impact that will disappear over the course of the year as comparative exchange rates normalize.”

Pearson boss Omar Abbosh said:

‘The year has started well. Financial performance was in line with our expectations, thanks to strong execution across the business, and we remain laser-focused on delivering on the priorities I have outlined.

“The year is progressing as we expected, and we continue to expect an acceleration of growth in the second half, which will help us achieve our full-year expectations.

‘We look forward to providing an update on our strategic progress with our half-year results in July.’

More than £100 billion has been wiped from Meta’s value as fears mount over the Facebook owner’s massive spending on artificial intelligence (AI).

Shares of the company, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, fell 10.6 percent in New York after it said costs would be higher than previously expected.

That wiped £105bn off Meta’s value. In an update on Tuesday, the group said it will spend as much as £32 billion by 2024 – up from a previous forecast of £30 billion.

NatWest’s profits fell by less than expected 27 per cent in the first three months of 2024, with the lender hit by competition for savings, loans and mortgage products, putting pressure on margins across the sector.

The British bank said pre-tax operating profit for the January-March period was £1.3 billion, up from £1.8 billion a year earlier and just above the average of analyst forecasts of £1.2 billion.

CEO, Paul Thwaite, said:

“Our performance is based on the critical role we play in the economy and in the lives of our 19 million customers. While macro uncertainty persists, customer confidence and activity are improving, with both lending(1) and deposits increasing in the quarter and impairments remaining low, reflecting our well-diversified business.

“We are ambitious for this bank, and by succeeding for our customers, we will also succeed for our shareholders. Our first priority is to achieve disciplined growth within our three companies by serving our customers well. At the same time, we become simpler, more productive and easier to get along with.

‘As a result, we aim to generate returns that allow us to support our customers, invest in our business and provide attractive distributions to shareholders.

‘We are also pleased with the recent momentum in the reduction of HM Treasury’s stake in the bank. Returning the NatWest Group to private ownership is a shared ambition and we believe this is in the best interests of both the bank and all our shareholders.”

Anglo American has rejected rival BHP Group’s £31.1 billion takeover proposal, saying it significantly undervalued the company and its future prospects, according to the London-listed miner.

Stuart Chambers, chairman of Anglo American, said:

“Anglo American is well positioned to create significant value from its portfolio of high-quality assets that are well aligned with the energy transition and other key demand trends.

‘With copper representing 30% of Anglo American’s total production, and with the benefit of well-ordered and value-adding growth opportunities in copper and other structurally attractive products, the Board believes that Anglo American shareholders will benefit from what we expect significant appreciation as the full impact of these trends materializes.

‘BHP’s proposal is opportunistic and fails to value Anglo American’s prospects, while significantly diluting the relative value of the upside holdings of Anglo American shareholders versus BHP shareholders.

‘The proposed structure is also highly unattractive and creates significant uncertainty and execution risks that are borne almost entirely by Anglo American, its shareholders and other stakeholders.

“Anglo American has defined clear strategic priorities – from operational excellence, portfolio and growth – to realize its full value potential and is fully focused on that realization.”