Tesco selling Thailand and Malaysia operations, Bunzl buys Bodyguard Workwear

Stocks to watch

Tesco said it was selling its Thailand and Malaysia businesses to Thai conglomerate CP Group for $10.6bn (£8.2bn) and planned to give £5bnbn to shareholders via a special dividend with associated share consolidation. The supermarkets giant said it would also cut debt through a £2.5bn pension fund contribution.

Distribution and services company Bunzl announced the acquisition of Bodyguard Workwear, a distributor of safety workwear and other personal protection equipment for an undisclosed sum. Chief executive rank van Zanten said: "This is an important development for our UK safety operations. Bodyguard Workwear is a well-known and respected brand and the business is focused on the rail industry which is expected to grow further over the coming years. The acquisition pipeline continues to be promising with a number of ongoing discussions taking place."

Serco Group has signed a six-year contract extension with the Government of Western Australia to continue delivering support services at Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth, it announced on Monday. The FTSE 250 services company said the extension had an estimated value to it over its six-year term, including indexation, of around AUD 730m (£370m).

Newspaper round-up

The chancellor is under pressure from industry groups to resist the temptation to fund coronavirus spending with tax hikes on business when he delivers the budget on Wednesday. The RAC said a majority of drivers wanted Rishi Sunak to freeze fuel duty for the 10th year following intense speculation that he plans to increase the duty on petrol and diesel by 2p a litre. – Guardian

The crisis on Britain’s high streets showed no sign of easing during the storm-buffeted month of February, while new figures show the number of retail workers losing their jobs this year is approaching 20,000. Severe rain last month caused a 7.8% fall in the number of people visiting high street stores in February, according to the retail research company Springboard, whereas there was only a 1.1% fall in the numbers at retail parks. – Guardian

City mayors have launched a power grab from Whitehall as they seek a boost from Boris Johnson’s pledge to “level up” the economy. The mayors of the West Midlands and Greater Manchester have called for more control of key policies such as taxes, welfare and transport in the UK’s second and third-largest cities. – Telegraph

Merlin Entertainments is expected to be given the go-ahead to start reopening some of its attractions in China closed as a result of the coronavirus crisis. The company was forced to shut its 12 Midway attractions in China, where the covid-19 virus originated, under instruction from local authorities. – The Times

More senior executives at Metro Bank have left as its new management seeks to revitalise the struggling lender. Last week Sandra di Vito, director of change and innovation, left and several senior members of the IT team also have gone. There is a view inside the bank that the new leadership team wants to cut ties with the team and methods of Craig Donaldson, the previous chief executive, a source said. – The Times

US close

US stocks closed lower on Friday as investors digested the latest monthly non-farm payrolls data and remained focused on the spreading coronavirus outbreak.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.98% at 25,864.78, while the S&P 500 was 1.71% weaker at 2,972.37 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out of the session 1.87% softer at 8,575.62.

The Dow closed 256.50 points lower after recording heavy losses during the previous session as US stocks followed Europe's lead and headed south.

Airline stocks were still under pressure as market participants were still trying to decipher what the short- and long term impacts of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak on the global economy and corporate profits would be.

Energy was the worst-performing sector after oil prices dived more than 10% to multi-year lows following news that OPEC's allies had rejected additional production cuts.