SSE mulls sale of stake in gas firm SGN as part of £2bn disposals plan February 2, 2021 Energy giant SSE today said that it was mulling the sale of all or part of its stake in gas firm SGN as part of its £2bn disposals programme. SGN – formerly Scotia Gas Networks – owns and manages gas distribution to 5.9m households in Scotland and the south of England. SSE hold a 33 [...]
House prices fall for first time in six months in January February 2, 2021 House prices fell for the first time in six months in January as the end of the stamp duty holiday approached. Nationwide’s annual house price index showed that prices fell 0.3 per cent last month, the first time they have dropped since June. That means the average price for a house, not adjusted for the [...]
Shares in Egdon and Europa pop as Lincolnshire field produces first oil February 1, 2021 Shares in UK onshore oil firms Egdon and Europa jumped today as the companies announced the first production from their Wressle site in Lincolnshire. The site, which was meant to produce its first oil last year, is one of few onshore oil developments in the UK. AIM-listed Europa saw its stock soar 15 per cent [...]
Eaton buys Cobham air refueling arm for $3bn as Advent sell-off begins February 1, 2021 Engineering firm Eaton today announced that it would buy Cobham’s air-to-air refueling arm for $2.8bn (£2bn). The deal values Cobham Mission Systems at about 14 times its 2020 earnings. US private equity firm Advent bought Cobham last year and proceeded to split it into nine divisions, of which Mission Systems was one. Opponents of the [...]
Ryanair on track for record loss after €306m third quarter hit February 1, 2021 Ryanair this morning plunged to a €306m (£222.6m) loss as the Irish carrier continued to suffer “the most challenging year in its history”. The Irish carrier said that passenger numbers were down almost 80 per cent to just 8m people over the three month period. As a result, it said it was reducing its full [...]
UK PMIs: Manufacturing activity slows in January as export orders shrink February 1, 2021 Manufacturing growth slowed its lowest rate in three months in January as Covid-19 and Brexit weighed upon export orders. The IHS Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 54.1 last month, down from 57.5 in December. Any reading above 50 designates growth. However, the score was higher than analyst estimates of a score of 52.9. The [...]
BP sells stake in giant Omani gas project for $2.6bn February 1, 2021 BP has this morning sold a 20 per cent stake in a giant gas field in central Oman to Thailand’s national oil company for $2.6bn (£1.9bn). The oil giant will remain the operator of Block 61, the largest “tight gas” development in the Middle East, with a 40 per cent stake. It said that it [...]
Digital 9 Infrastructure set for £400m London listing February 1, 2021 Digital 9 Infrastructure, an investment trust, today announced that it was launching a £400m London initial public offering (IPO). The trust, which is newly established, will invest in a range of digital infrastructure assets, including subsea fibre, data centres, terrestrial fibre, tower infrastructure and small cell networks. It will be externally managed by Triple Point [...]
Renewables firm Next Energy set for London IPO February 1, 2021 Renewables firm Next Energy has this morning announced that it will list on London’s main market. The company is seeking to raise £300m at an issue price of £1 per share. Founded in 2007, the investment company has around $2.3 in assets under management around the world. It invests both in established renewable energy sources [...]
Private equity deal activity bounces back in second half of 2020 February 1, 2021 Private equity activity in the UK bounced back in the second half of 2020, but the spring’s lockdown meant that the total number of deals fell to the lowest level in seven years. According to Big Four auditor KPMG, 889 deals were completed last year, with a total value of £87.2m. The figure is the [...]
