Tesco sales rise, Crest Nicholson rejects second Bellway offer

Stocks to watch

UK supermarket chain Tesco on Friday reported a 3.4% jump in group first-quarter sales driven by strong volume growth across the UK, Republic of Ireland and Central Europe supported by easing inflation. Retail sales on a like-for-like basis for the 13 weeks to May 25 came in at £15.3bn as the company said UK market share had increased 52 basis points to 27.6% against its main competitors.

Crest Nicholson confirmed it had rejected a second, unsolicited takeover approach from Bellway which valued the group at about £650m. Under the terms of the latest offer, received on 7 May, Crest shareholders would receive 0.093 new ordinary shares in Bellway for each of their shares. This represents an implied value of 253p per Crest Nicholson share, which is a premium of about 18.8% to the closing share price on Thursday.

Harworth Group has secured planning permission from North Yorkshire Council for a 1.5 million square foot industrial and logistics development, it announced on Friday, at the Gascoigne Interchange site in Leeds. The company said the project included seven grade-A units, expected to start in 2025, with a potential gross development value of up to £190m. It said the site, with extensive rail connections, was designed to support sustainable and low-carbon freight movement, enhancing its appeal amid strong demand for high-quality industrial space in Yorkshire.

Newspaper round-up

The UK has seen an “explosion” in insecure, low-paid work in the past 14 years, according to a new report. The TUC said its study had found that the number of people in insecure work had reached a record high of 4.1 million. The analysis of official statistics shows the number of people in “precarious” employment – such as zero-hours contracts, low-paid self-employment and casual or seasonal work – increased by nearly 1 million between 2011 and 2023. – Guardian

The owner of the Jeep, Fiat and Vauxhall brands has said it will not take a defensive stance in the battle for electric car sales, amid signs of an escalating trade war in the market between Europe and China. Stellantis’s chief executive, Carlos Tavares, has criticised the EU tariffs on imported Chinese cars announced on Wednesday and said the world’s fourth biggest carmaker preferred to “fight to stay competitive”. – Guardian

Motorists are poised to benefit from a sharp drop in fuel prices over the next 18 months, as analysts predict the cost of oil could fall to $60 (£47) a barrel. The expectation of lower petrol prices has emerged in response to predictions that there will be a global oversupply of oil by 2030. A glut of supply will force companies to lower prices with experts at Citigroup predicting crude oil will fall to $60 a barrel over the next 18 months, down from $80 today. – Telegraph

Members of Nationwide Building Society are being urged to vote in favour of a new pay package for its chief executive, which will triple Debbie Crosbie’s maximum long-term bonus from £1.14 million to £3.42 million. The potential pay rise was because the remuneration opportunity for Crosbie “currently sits substantially below UK banking peers of a similar size and complexity”, the 16 million members were told in letters sent out this week. – The Times

A reality television influencer has pleaded not guilty to illegally plugging unauthorised investment schemes on social media. Scott Timlin, who appeared on the MTV show Geordie Shore, is one of nine so-called finfluencers, or financial influencers, charged by the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to an unauthorised foreign-exchange trading scheme. – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks delivered a mixed performance on Thursday after the Federal Open Markets Committee’s latest interest rate decision a day earlier.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.17% at 38,647.10, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.23% to 5,433.74 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.34% firmer at 17,667.56.

The Dow closed 65.11 points lower on Thursday, off session lows but still extending losses recorded in the previous session as investors digested the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision.

The US central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged, as expected, but acknowledged that it had seen “modest further progress” towards hitting its 2% target level and stated that just one rate cut was coming before the end of 2024, down from the three it had originally signalled.

On the macro front, the number of people in the States filing for unemployment benefits moved higher during the week ended 8 June, according to the Department of Labor, which said initial unemployment claims increased by 13,000 in seasonally adjusted terms.