TA to offload Auction Technology stake, Bodycote unveils latest targets

Stocks to watch

Private equity firm TA Associates said it has agreed to sell its entire 12.6% stake in Auction Technology for £85.3m. TA will offload 15,337,625 shares at £5.50 each. Completion of the sale is expected to take place on December 20.

Bodycote unveiled its latest financial targets in an update on Thursday, including mid-single-digit annual revenue growth, Specialist Technologies contributing 35% to 40% of revenue, and operating margins exceeding 20% by 2028. The FTSE 250 company said its two redefined divisions - Specialist Technologies and Precision Heat Treatment - were aligned with its three strategic levers - optimisation, performance improvement, and growth, underpinned by sustainability initiatives such as a 46% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. It also announced an extension of its £60m share buyback programme by £30m, and outlined optimization measures expected to deliver annual profit improvements of £12m to £14m by the end of 2026.

Newspaper round-up

The police criminal inquiry into the Post Office has identified dozens of persons of interest so far, as a team bolstered to 100 officers investigates the actions of executives, legal teams and civil servants connected to the Horizon IT scandal. The investigation, which the police describe as unprecedented in size and scale, is in the first instance examining potential offences of perjury and perverting the course of justice by those involved in making “key decisions” on Post Office investigations and supporting prosecutions of branch owner-operators. – Guardian

The wind turbine maker Vestas has said it will cut 300 jobs at its Isle of Wight factory. Staff at the plant in Newport have been told at least half of its manufacturing operation, which employs 600 people, will be cut amid changing demand for turbine blades. Vestas, a Danish manufacturer with operations in 88 countries, is switching from making offshore blades to smaller, onshore blades, which will only sustain 300 jobs at the site, it said. – Guardian

Labour has been accused of seeking to bulldoze through the Home Counties as Angela Rayner prepares to unveil the biggest overhaul of planning rules in a generation. The Housing Secretary will on Thursday unveil a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) intended to pave the way for thousands of estates across the South East. – Telegraph

British supercar maker McLaren has been sold to an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, in a deal presided over by the Emirate’s crown prince. The Woking-based company has until now been owned by state-owned Bahraini investment outfit Mumtalakat. But the firm has now sealed an agreement to sell McLaren’s automotive business to CYVN Holdings, which is managed by the trillion-dollar Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. – Telegraph

One of America’s largest car manufacturers is set to abandon its plans to develop a driverless taxi after the programme was marred by an accident last year. General Motors (GM) had made the new technology a priority, pouring more than $10 billion into its Cruise robotaxi vehicle since 2016. The company announced on Tuesday that it plans to shift the focus of the Cruise programme to concentrate on developing advanced driver assistance systems for personal vehicles instead. – The Times

US close

US stocks mostly rose on Wednesday with the Nasdaq jumping to another all-time high on the back of strong gains in the tech sector, though the Dow continued its recent downward path.

The Nasdaq surged 1.8% to a new high of 20,034.90, surpassing the current record of 19,859.77 reached last Friday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.8% to 6,084.19, bouncing back strongly after two days of losses to sit just marginally below last week's all-time high of 6,090.27.

However, the Dow fell 0.2% to 44,148.56. Since setting a new record closing high of 45,014.04 on 4 December, the Dow has fallen for the past five sessions, shedding nearly 2%.

The focus of the session was on November's inflation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which cemented expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again next week.

As expected, the consumer price index rose at an annual rate of 2.7% last month, up from 2.6% the previous month, while core inflation held steady at 3.3%.