Ocado holds annual guidance, Vodafone in line for fresh Vantage Towers windfall

Stocks to watch

UK online supermarket Ocado held annual guidance after swinging to a core profit in its first half and said its retail earnings would be “marginally positive” for the full year. The company on Tuesday posted a core profit of £16.6m compared with a loss of £13.6m a year earlier. Shares in the firm spiked last month on rumours of a possible bid from online giant Amazon.

Vodafone will receive an additional €500m in proceeds from the co-control partnership for Vantage Towers, it announced on Tuesday, bringing the total net proceeds to €5.4bn and the Global Infrastructure Partners and KKR-led consortium's ownership in Oak Holdings to 40%. The FTSE 100 telecoms giant said it had also agreed a six-month window with the consortium to acquire more shares in Oak Holdings at the same price, up to a maximum ownership of 50% by the end of 2023, while the option to sell down to a 50% stake outside of lock-up provisions would begin on 1 January 2024.

Newspaper round-up

Tesla Inc’s directors will return $735m to the company to settle claims they grossly overpaid themselves in one of the largest shareholder settlements of its kind, according to a Monday filing in a Delaware court. The settlement resolves a 2020 lawsuit by a retirement fund which holds Tesla stock and challenged stock options that were granted to Tesla directors starting in June 2017. – Guardian

Robinhood, the share trading app behind a controversial new wave of stock market speculation in the US, is preparing to target British investors. The New York-listed company, which does not charge commission and supercharged the craze for buying and selling “meme stocks” during the pandemic, has begun hiring for key UK roles. – Telegraph

South East Water has paid out a multimillion-pound dividend despite being tipped into a £74m pre-tax loss by a sharp increase in the cost of its debt pile. The company, which last month left thousands without water and implemented a hosepipe ban, paid £9m to shareholders even as it faced a £50m jump in borrowing costs, its annual report revealed. – Telegraph

The City watchdog is intensifying its crackdown on “finfluencers” as part of a wider overhaul after an explosion in social media adverts such as memes and TikTok videos used to promote financial products. The Financial Conduct Authority is revamping its guidance amid rapid changes in the marketing of financial services, with companies increasingly using social media platforms to promote their products, while online influencers are becoming widespread, spurring worries that consumers are facing increasing risks. – The Times

Supply problems have put the skids under Lotus Cars, with pre-tax losses rising to £141.1 million following a slump in the number of cars it could deliver. The Norfolk-based sports carmaker sold only 576 cars in 2022, compared with 1,566 in the previous year, due to “production challenges”, its latest accounts show. - The Times

US close

Wall Street ended its trading session on a high note on Monday, as investors chose to overlook disappointing economic data from China ahead of a promising week of US earnings reports.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.22% for its sixth consecutive day of positive movement to finish at 34,585.35, while the S&P 500 added 0.39% to 4,522.79.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite outperformed the other indices, registering an impressive increase of 0.93% to end the session at 14,244.95.

In currency markets, the dollar was last down 0.04% against sterling to trade at 76.46p, while it decreased 0.08% to 88.93 euro cents.

The greenback was also weaker on the yen, slipping 0.06% to change hands at JPY 138.62.