Close Brothers buying Bluestone Motor Finance, 3i reports strong sales at Action

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 35 points higher on Wednesday, having closed up 0.1% on Tuesday at 7,660.20.

Stocks to watch

Close Brothers on Wednesday said it was buying Bluestone Motor Finance, a provider of motor finance in Ireland for an undisclosed cash sum. The transaction is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of this year. Bluestone Motor Finance has originated more than €450m since inception in 2014 and had loans under management of €132m at the end of the last year.

3i Group updated the market on its September portfolio reviews on Wednesday, highlighting growth and positive momentum in several sectors despite macroeconomic challenges. Notably, Action saw robust sales and EBITDA growth with year-to-date sales at €7.5bn, 31% higher than the same period in 2022. However, certain assets like Luqom and YDEON continued to face sales challenges post-Covid lockdown, while Action expected its operating EBITDA to reach around €1.53bn.

Global investment manager M&G posted stronger-than-expected interim profits and net client flows. Pretax profits for the first half of its financial year came in at £75m with adjusted operating profits printing at £390m (consensus: £284m). Assets under management and administration meanwhile came in at £332.8bn (consensus: £339bn).

Newspaper round-up

Rishi Sunak is facing a fresh setback to his target of halving inflation as oil prices hit $95 for the first time this year. The price of Brent crude closed in on $96 per barrel on Tuesday, the highest level since November 2022 as Russia and Saudi Arabia conspire to limit production and push up global costs. Inflation figures published on Wednesday [today] are expected to show the first acceleration in consumer prices since February. Analysts have forecast a 7.1pc rise for August on the year, up from July when consumer price inflation came in at 6.8pc. - Telegraph

San Francisco-based Instacart’s initial public offering was priced at the top end of its $28 to $30 price range, raising a total of $660 million, out of which $237 million will go to investors who sold their shares in the flotation. It gave the company a valuation of nearly $9.9 billion, a fraction of the $39 billion it was worth in 2021, the company’s last funding round. Instacart’s strong debut, along with that of Arm, the British technology chip designer, last week, could encourage other startups to test the waters and potentially revive the IPO market after a near 18-month dry spell. - The Times

Tony Blair helped broker Keir Starmer's meeting with Emmanuel Macron yesterday as part of secret plans to 'reverse Brexit', it emerged last night. A Whitehall source said the former prime minister had used his extensive EU contacts book to arrange the meeting on a day when the bloc released plans that could see Britain effectively rejoin the EU as an 'associate member'. The source said Sir Tony was 'convinced that Brexit is now a vote-winner for Labour' and was pushing his successor to open the door to reversing it. - Daily Mail

Revolut is delaying its results for a second year in a row as pressure mounts on the former fintech darling. The company was due to publish its figures at the end of September, nine months after the end of the 2022 financial year. But it has now been given until the end of December to post its numbers on Companies House – repeating the extension it was given for its 2021 results last year. - Daily Mail

After the staff shortages, the strikes, the difficult restart following the Covid-19 travel restrictions and the airline complaints, Heathrow has regained its prepandemic status as the world’s most-connected airport. In a further boost for Europe’s largest airport, Heathrow in west London is pulling away from two of its main rivals on the European mainland, Frankfurt and Paris Charles de Gaulle, for international travellers’ business. - The Times

US close

Wall Street’s equity markets experienced a downturn on Tuesday as jittery traders, closely watching the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting, caused stocks to retreat by the end of the trading session.

By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a slight decrease of 0.13%, finishing the day at 34,517.73, while the broader S&P 500 declined 0.22%, closing at 4,443.95.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was not immune to the trend either, ending the session down 0.23% at 13,678.19.

The dollar was steady against sterling on the currency front, last trading at 80.69p.

The greenback meanwhile weakened 0.02% against the euro to 93.62 euro cents, while it slid 0.07% on the yen to change hands at JPY 147.75.