Royal Mail owner IDS agrees takeover by Kretinsky, Bank of Georgia Q1 profits rise

London open

The FTSE 100 was called to open down around 30 points.

Stocks to watch

Royal Mail owner International Distribution Services said it had reached agreement with Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky on a takeover of the 500 year old company worth up to £5.28bn.

Kretinsky’s EP Group is offering 360p a share along with the 2p final dividend for the year to March 31 and a special 8p dividend to be paid if the deal becomes unconditional. He has also pledged to maintain Royal Mail’s guarantee of services six days a week for five years.

First-quarter profits at Bank of Georgia were up by more than a fifth, helped by favourable macro conditions and the recent acquisition of Armenia's Ameriabank. Adjusted profit came in at 369.1m Georgian lari (£107m), up 22.5% on last year, with net interest income rising 17.7% to GEL437.8m.

Adjusted return on average equity rose to 27.7%, up from 26.7% in the fourth quarter but down slightly on the 27.9% recorded the year before - though still well above the bank's medium-term target of 20%.

"You are now seeing the group's balance sheet in its new shape, with assets close to $16bn at the end of March, comprising two leading, top-of-mind universal banks in Georgia and Armenia," said chief executive Archil Gachechiladze in a note to shareholders.

Newspaper round-up

The next government should force all tradespeople who install home heat pumps, solar panels and insulation to sign up to a mandatory accreditation scheme to counter mistrust in the industry, a leading consumer group is demanding. A report from Which? found that households face “significant anxiety” in choosing tradespeople to fit low-carbon heating systems, such as heat pumps, and insulation after “press stories about poor work and rogue traders”. – Guardian

A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced former FTX executive Ryan Salame to more than seven years in prison, the first of the lieutenants of failed cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried to receive jail time for their roles in the 2022 collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange. Salame, 30, was a high-ranking executive at FTX for most of the exchange’s existence and, up until its collapse, was the co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets. He pleaded guilty last year to illegally making unlawful US campaign contributions and to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. – Guardian

Ocado is facing relegation from the FTSE 100 following a collapse in its share price, fuelling pressure on the company to consider abandoning London for New York. The London Stock Exchange said the technology company was likely to be kicked out of the blue-chip index in a quarterly reshuffle, after its valuation plunged from a peak of £22bn during the pandemic to just £3.6bn as of Tuesday. – Telegraph

Shell is preparing to axe staff in its offshore wind business, as chief executive Wael Sawan pursues a move away from renewables. The FTSE 100 oil giant is reportedly plotting the cuts after being hit by cost increases which have affected the entire offshore wind industry. They are expected to begin “within months” and will affect staff in Europe, according to Bloomberg. – Telegraph

A wind farm backed by SSE, the London-listed energy group, has been hit with the largest penalty to be issued by the energy regulator for overcharging bill payers to reduce its power generation. Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited (Bowl) has agreed to pay £33.1 million in redress after Ofgem found that it had charged “excessive prices” to lower its output. – The Times

US close

US equity indices finished mixed on Tuesday, the Dow falling more than 200 points on the back of inflation concerns and strong gains for chipmaker Nvidia pushing the Nasdaq to a new record high.

Just seven stocks on the Dow finished in positive territory, with the index closing 0.55% lower at 38,85286 as it continues its retreat from its recent all-time closing high of 40,003.59. The benchmark has now fallen four of the past six sessions since hitting the record on 17 May.

While the S&P 500 finished flat, up just 0.02% at 5.306.04, the Nasdaq Composite set another closing peak of 17,019.88, up 0.59% on the day, with heavyweight chip giant Nvidia surging more than 7% to a new high as it continues its stellar performance.