MARKET REPORT: Renewi wants to leave Britain after divesting waste collection business
A British waste manager is about to leave Britain.
Renewi, which traces its history back to Scottish construction company Shanks & McEwan founded in 1880, has transferred its municipal division to Biffa for £131 million to focus on European recycling markets.
The activities will continue in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Portugal.
CEO Otto de Bont said the sale is a “transformational milestone” and the share price added 1 percent, or 6p, to 639p.
The announcement came alongside full-year results which showed sales fell slightly to £1.44 billion in the 12 months to March 31.
Dumped: Waste management company Renewi, which traces its roots back to Scottish construction company Shanks & McEwan founded in 1880, has transferred its municipal division to Biffa for £131m
Renewi was created in 2017 from a merger of Shanks and the Dutch company Van Gansewinkel. In September, the London-listed company rejected a £636 million takeover bid.
The company said its UK operations remain a “significant cash drag” and have incurred costs of £24m over the past two years.
The FTSE 100 rose 0.6 percent, or 47.98 points, to 8,231.05 and the FTSE 250 rose 1.2 percent, or 234.53 points, to 20,670.87.
US chipmaker Nvidia is now worth more than the entire FTSE 100, as the tech giant benefits from rising demand for artificial intelligence. Its market value reached £2.2 trillion yesterday, surpassing the £2.1 trillion of all blue chip companies combined.
Electronics retailer Currys rose 7.2 percent, or 5.15p, to 76.6p after analysts at Berenberg upgraded their rating. It came just two weeks after the company said sales are growing again.
Asset manager Premier Miton fell 7.1 percent, or 5.5p, to 72.5p as clients continued to withdraw money from funds.
Stock Watch – TPX Impact
Business advisor TPX Impact rose 33.9 percent, or 11 cents, to 43.5 cents after a strong financial year.
The company, which has created a digital dashboard for the UK Health Security Agency to publish data on Covid during the pandemic, expects sales to rise by more than 20 per cent to around £84 million in the 12 months to the end of March.
Debts fell to around £7 million – the lowest level in more than three years.
Net outflows rose to £46m in the first half to March 31 – up from £32m the year before.
Property firm London Metric sold seven properties for £31.3 million and bought six warehouses for £45 million. The shares added 2.9 percent, or 5.8p, to 204.4p.
North Sea producer Enquest rose 8.7 percent, or 1.28 cents, to 16 cents, after production in the first four months of the year was higher than expected.
Rajiv Sharma will step down as CEO of yarn manufacturer Coats after eight years and will be replaced by former GKN Aerospace boss David Paja.
Jackets added 1.5 percent, or 1.3p, to 86.6p. Small and medium-sized investor Kelso Group – up 1.7 percent, or 0.05 cents, to 3 cents – and owner of shares in four London-listed companies, said it hopes British shares continue to rise in value.
Virgin Wines outlined plans for a share buyback worth more than £360,000, rising 6.7 per cent, or 3p, to 48p.
Sales at news publisher National World, which is behind titles such as The Scotsman and The Yorkshire Post, rose 18 per cent to £39.5 million in the 21 weeks to May 25, boosting sales by 8.9 per cent (or 1.25p ) rose to 15.25p.
Low-sodium salt company Microsalt, which listed on AIM in February, reported a loss of £2.7m in 2023, compared with £2m the year before, falling 12.7 per cent, or 13p, to 89.5p.
Molecular diagnostics company Novacyt fell 15.9 percent, or 10.6 cents, to 56 cents due to lower demand for Covid tests. Revenues fell 45 percent to £11.6 million in 2023, while losses increased from £20 million to £28.6 million.