Vodafone confirms sale of Italy business, Bodycote posts rise in profits

Stocks to watch

Vodafone and Swisscom have confirmed that the Swiss telecom group will take over Vodafone Italy for €8bn, creating the country's second-largest broadband provider. The news follows a statement released on 28 February by the two companies that confirmed media speculation regarding a potential sale. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and customary requirements, but is not expected to close until the first quarter of 2025.

Heat treatment and thermal processing services specialist Bodycote delivered a rise in annual profits, driven by a strong performance at its aerospace and defence division. The company on Thursday posted an operating profit of £127m, up 14%, with revenues increasing 8% to £802m and said it was on track to deliver medium-term margin growth of more than 20%.

WH Smith announced on Friday that its chief financial and operating officer Robert Moorhead would retire after more than 20 years with the company. Max Izzard, currently senior vice-president of group and corporate finance at Burberry, would succeed him from 1 September, with Moorhead stepping down from the board on 30 November. It said Izzard would bring extensive experience in multi-site international consumer businesses, having held senior roles at Burberry and IHG.

Newspaper round-up

Unilever could face a potential row with shareholders after it emerged that the new boss of the consumer goods company can earn up to €17.4m (£14.9m) this year if he hits maximum targets. Hein Schumacher, who joined the owner of Marmite, Domestos and Dove in June last year, took home €3.9m for his first six months as chief executive. He earned a €1.86m annual bonus on top of his €1.4m in basic pay and benefits, which included €292,492 to help cover his relocation to the UK, according to Unilever’s annual report published on Thursday. – Guardian

Thousands of people in the UK are being deemed incapable of any work every month due to mental health problems, figures have shown. According to official data published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), at least 20,000 incapacity benefit claims are for mental health problems – making up more than two-thirds of the total. – Guardian

Ministers are planning to crack down on telegraph poles following a community backlash over unsightly broadband infrastructure. Data minister Julia Lopez has written to network operators including BT’s Openreach and Virgin Media O2 urging them to curb the installation of new telegraph poles as they expand full-fibre services. – Telegraph

Civil servants at Britain’s official statistics body have threatened to go on strike after being asked to work in the office for two days a week. More than 1,000 employees at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) are being balloted over strike action after bosses told them to stop working from home full time. – Telegraph

Surging demand for Wegovy has helped the Danish economy to dodge recession, with the country’s growth last year almost entirely driven by Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceuticals group behind the weight-loss jab. Official figures from Denmark’s statistics agency show that the country’s drugs industry, which is dominated by Novo Nordisk, powered the economy’s 1.8 per cent growth in 2023, helping Denmark to avoid the stagnation that has affected most European economies. – The Times

US close

US stocks finished with moderate losses on Thursday after another round of inflation statistics surprised to the upside, clouding the outlook for interest rates in the near term.

The Dow finished 0.4% lower while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both fell 0.3%, while 10-year US Treasury yields surged from 4.191% to 4.297%.

February's US producer price index advanced 0.6% last month, double the increase economists had been expecting, while the year-on-year change picked up to 1.6% from 1.0% previously.

The data came ahead of the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy meeting on 19 and 20 March and followed a hotter-than-expected reading of US consumer price inflation earlier in the week.

In other macro news, jobless claims dipped unexpectedly last week. According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms the number of initial unemployment claims slipped by 1,000 over the week ending on 9 March to 209,000. Economists had anticipated a rise to 218,000.