Homeserve FY profits soar, Hikma CEO resigns

Stocks to watch

Home repairs and emergency services provider Homeserve said on Tuesday that it had almost trebled annual profits as it prepared to be sold to Brookfield Asset Management in a £4.4bn deal.

Homeserve posted a pre-tax profit of £175.1m for the year ended 31 March, up from £47.2m a year earlier. However, the FTSE 250-listed firm added that no final dividend was declared in light of the cash offer.

Drugmaker Hikma Pharmaceuticals revealed on Tuesday that chief executive Siggi Olafsson had resigned from both the role and the company's board of directors in order to pursue other opportunities.

Hikma, which has already initiated an externally facilitated process to replace Olafsson, stated chairman Said Darwazah will now assume all CEO responsibilities. Olafsson will remain available to the group until he departs on 24 June.

Newspaper round-up

Washington DC's attorney general has sued Mark Zuckerberg, seeking to hold the Facebook co-founder personally responsible for his alleged role in allowing the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica to harvest the personal data of millions of Americans during the 2016 election cycle. The suit, filed in the capital by the District of Columbia attorney general, Karl Racine, alleges that Zuckerberg directly participated in policies that allowed Cambridge Analytica to gather the personal data of US voters without their knowledge in an attempt to help Donald Trump's election campaign. - Guardian

The Bank of England will be forced to continue home working if it wants to hire more staff despite the "benefits" of face-to-face conversations, Andrew Bailey has said. The Governor warned the Bank could struggle to recruit if it refuses to let employees work from home, but said he wanted more of them to come into the office. - Telegraph

The cost of electric car batteries will surge 15% if metal prices remain high, in a blow to millions of consumers seeking to upgrade, the International Energy Agency has warned. Supply disruption caused by Russia's war in Ukraine is adding to already surging costs of key components in electric vehicle batteries, such as nickel and cobalt, forcing manufacturers to pay more or try to find other sources. - Telegraph

A proposed new nuclear power plant in north Wales could cost as much as £17.0bn but would be quicker and cheaper to build than EDF's Hinkley Point C in Somerset, according to the American consortium behind the project. Westinghouse, the reactor maker, and Bechtel, the engineering group, hope to win government support and potential taxpayer investment for their plan to build two reactors at Wylfa on Anglesey. - The Times

Almost one in five British workers expect to switch to a new job in the coming year as they seek higher pay. 18% said they were very likely to switch to a new employer in the next 12 months, with a desire for a pay rise driving 72% of those employees. More than a quarter, or 27%, plan to ask for more money next year, according to the survey by PwC of about 2,000 UK workers and a further 50,000 from across the world. - The Times

US close

Major indices closed higher on Monday, with the Dow Jones reclaiming some of its recent losses.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.98% at 31,880.24 and the S&P 500 was 1.86% firmer at 3,973.75, while the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.59% stronger at 11,535.27.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com