MARKET REPORT: Standard Chartered soars on Abu Dhabi bid chatter

Shares of Standard Chartered soared after reports that the United Arab Emirates’ largest bank was considering a takeover bid.

First Abu Dhabi Bank was eyeing a bid for its London-listed rival, whose shares rose 20 percent on the news, valuing it at nearly £23bn.

But the lender later trimmed its profits, as the UAE bank said: “First Abu Dhabi Bank confirms that it was previously in the very early stages of evaluating a possible bid for Standard Chartered, but is no longer doing so.”

Standard Chartered shares rose 6.8 percent, or 44.8 pence, to 705.2 pence. Shore Capital analyst Gary Greenwood said Standard Chartered, which employs 85,000 people and serves clients in nearly 150 markets around the world, has been “cited as a bid candidate” for more than two decades.

The bid talk came on another positive day as the FTSE 100 rose for its third consecutive session since the start of the year, rising 0.6 percent, or 48.26 points, to 7633.45.

The FTSE 250 rose 0.4 percent, or 72.36 points, to 19463.43. Airlines shares soared after Ryanair raised earnings forecasts.

The Irish carrier had a strong Christmas, its first without Covid in three years, with passenger numbers up by more than a fifth to 11.5 million in December.

It operated 65,500 flights last month, bringing the number of passengers carried year-round to 160 million.

It now expects annual profits to be between £1.1bn and £1.2bn – up from a previous forecast of between £880m and £1.06bn.

While Ryanair’s shares are no longer listed in London, the update was seized upon by traders, with British Airways owner IAG rising 2.8 per cent or 3.82 pence to 138.36 pence, Wizz Air up 12.8 per cent or 269 ​​pence rose to 2364 pence and Easyjet is up 5.9 percent, or 20.9 pence, to 375.6 pence.

Stock Watch – Angle

Angle, the maker of a blood test that can detect cancer, warned that the year would be harder than hoped.

The group said sales are “likely to be significantly below current market expectations.”

That followed a dismal end to last year as economic turmoil slowed sales.

As a result, Angle said revenue for 2022 would likely have been just over £1m.

It was also on course for an annual loss of around £22 million.

Shares fell 37 percent, or 17.75 pence, to 30.25 pence.

Interactive Investor’s Victoria Scholar: ‘After a challenging few years, Ryanair is storming ahead.

The latest earnings upgrade and traffic figures highlight the demand revival after the pandemic and the special boost during the holiday season.”

Miners rallied after metal prices recovered, with copper and aluminum making the biggest gains.

This pushed Anglo American up 4.4 percent, or 139p, to 3319p, while Antofagasta added 3.6 percent, or 56.5p, to 1610.5p and Glencore rose 1.5 percent, or 7.4p, to 514p.

Pearson went the other way. The educational publisher took the biggest hit on the blue-chip index after Bank of America downgraded its rating from “underperform” to “neutral.” It fell 5.9 percent, or 56p, to 898.4p.

Capricorn Energy tried to overcome opposition to the proposed merger with Israeli gas company Newmed. The oil group insisted the deal would deliver value to investors, who could collect a dividend of around £520 million.

The comments came amid fierce opposition, led by third-largest shareholder Palliser Capital. Shares of Capricorn were flat at 245p.

Jefferies analysts say investors in HSBC could see big returns in the year ahead.

The broker said the 157-year-old bank is likely to benefit from the reopening of China and Hong Kong alongside the sale of its Canadian operations, which could “unlock” £11.75 billion in buybacks and special dividends between 2023 and 2024.

As a result, HSBC’s rating was upgraded to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’, while the target price rose nearly 200p from 574p to 770p. It rose 4 percent, or 21.8p, to 565.3p.

At WPP, the advertising giant made its first acquisition of the year after acquiring North American company Fenom Digital. Shares rose 0.3 percent, or 2.8 pence, to 857.2 pence.