21st Jul 2025 07:51
(Alliance News) - London stocks are set to open broadly flat on Monday, as a "landmark" review calls for water regulator Ofwat to be scrapped under a system overhaul to create separate bodies for England and Wales.
In early corporate news, Assura swings to annual profit following its rebuff last week of a takeover offer from private equity consortium KKR in favour of a bid from peer Primary Health Properties. Meanwhile, Ryanair says profit doubled during its first quarter.
Here is what you need to know before the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: called up slightly at 8,992.72
GBP: down at USD1.3436 (USD1.3444 at previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS
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The system for regulating water companies should be overhauled and replaced with one body for England and one body for Wales, a landmark review of the sector has advised. The much-anticipated final report from the Independent Water Commission, led by former Bank of England deputy governor Jon Cunliffe, outlined 88 recommendations to the UK and Welsh governments to turn around the ailing industry. The report, published on Monday morning, recommended abolishing Ofwat, which oversees how much water companies in England and Wales can charge for services, as well as the Drinking Water Inspectorate, DWI, which ensures that public water supplies are safe. The current system of regulation has faced intense criticism for overseeing water companies during the years they paid out shareholders and accrued large debts while ageing infrastructure crumbled and sewage spills skyrocketed.
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BROKER RATINGS
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UBS cuts easyJet price target to 750 (775) pence - 'buy'
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BofA raises Pennon Group to 'buy' (neutral) - price target 560 (460) pence
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RBC cuts Ashtead Technology price target to 560 (780) pence - 'outperform'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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BP names former CRH Chief Executive Albert Manifold as its new chair, to succeed Helge Lund. Manifold will join the board on September 1 and take over the chair role on October 1, at which point Lund will step down as both chair and director. Manifold was CEO at building materials supplier CRH for ten years to December 2024. He is non-executive director at chemicals producer LyondellBasell and also at engineering consultancy Mercury Engineering.
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HSBC is struggling to find a suitable candidate to replace Chair Mark Tucker, the Financial Times reported Saturday. The London-based bank has not been able to find enough suitable candidates for its final shortlist among over 100 names that were originally considered for the position. HSBC had considered executives from Zurich Insurance Group, Goldman Sachs Group and Lloyd's of London, but candidates were unavailable or had declined, the FT cited people familiar with the matter. HSBC has not ruled out appointing one of its current board members as chair if it cannot find a suitable replacement. Independent Non-Executive Director Brendan Nelson is set to become interim chair on October 1. In addition, HSBC on Friday said it has agreed to sell its portfolio of French home and "certain other" retail loans to a consortium comprising Rothesay Life and CCF Group. The bank signs a memorandum of understanding through its HSBC Continental Europe subsidiary with Rothesay Life, the UK's largest pensions insurance specialist, and French banking group CCF. A EUR1.2 billion pretax fair value loss through other comprehensive income on the portfolio during the first quarter resulted in an approximately 0.2 percentage point reduction in HSBC's common equity tier one ratio, which stood at 14.7% on March 31. If completed in the fourth quarter as expected, HSBC said the transaction will recycle the loss recognised in other comprehensive income to the income statement with no further impact on the CET1 ratio.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Mony Group reports GBP59.8 million in pretax profit for the six months that ended June 30, rising 2.9% from GBP58.1 million the year before. Revenue grows 0.8% to GBP225.3 million from GBP223.5 million, while administrative expenses are reduced by 6.9% to GBP67.9 million from GBP72.9 million. The price comparison website operator declares an interim dividend of 3.3 pence per share, unchanged from a year prior. "We've started the year well, hitting strategic milestones and growing revenue and profits despite the challenges faced in some of our end markets," comments Chief Executive Officer Peter Duffy. "Since February, we have welcomed over half a million new members to the SuperSaveClub, bringing total membership to just over 1.5 million - we see plenty of room for further growth. The investment we've made to date in our data and tech platform means we have a scalable and competitive springboard to unlock further AI and innovative product development opportunities." The firm is "confident" in delivering adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation within the company-cited market consensus for GBP137 million to GBP150 million. This would be up 5.8% at best from GBP141.8 million a year earlier. Adjusted Ebitda in the first half rose 1.5% to GBP75.1 million from GBP74.0 million.
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Assura swings to pretax profit of GBP166.0 million in the year that ended March 31, from a loss of GBP28.7 million a year prior. Net rental income grows 17% to GBP167.1 million from GBP143.3 million, and the care property investor and developer reports a GBP57.9 million revaluation gain against a GBP131.5 million deficit the year before. Assura declares a total dividend of 3.34 pence per share, up 3.1% on-year from 3.24p. "Assura's strong performance reflects the quality of our portfolio and our track record of delivery and consistent growth," says Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Murphy. The firm notes the "substantial and varied opportunities" to be taken advantage of within the current UK healthcare market, with the NHS "in crisis" as a result of an ageing population, long-term medical conditions and inflation. It adds that the independent sector has continued to experience a surge in demand, growing to GBP6.8 billion per year in revenue. Consortium Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co on Monday reports it has as of Friday received valid acceptances for less than 0.1% of Assura shares. Assura last week on Tuesday formally rejected the all-cash offer from KKR, with the board recommending "unanimously" the company's shareholders "take no action" over the bid. Over three weeks ago, the Assura directors recommended the new cash-share offer from peer Primary Health Properties PLC. Under the terms of the increased PHP offer, Assura shareholders would receive 0.3865 new PHP shares and 12.5 pence in cash.
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OTHER COMPANIES
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Ryanair says post-tax profit more than doubled in the first quarter that ended June 30 to EUR820 million from EUR360 million a year ago. This is helped by stronger fares during the Easter travel season, as the low-cost airline reiterated its cautious outlook for the rest of the year. The Dublin-based carrier attributes the fare increase to the timing of the Easter holiday in April, weak prior-year comparisons, and stronger-than-expected close-in pricing. Operating profit more than doubles to EUR913.3 million from EUR365.7 million. "It remains too early to provide meaningful financial 2026 profit after tax guidance," says Chief Executive Officer Michael O'Leary. "We do, however, cautiously expect to recover almost all of last year's 7% fare decline, which should lead to reasonable net profit growth." Looking ahead, Ryanair maintained its forecast for passenger growth of 3% to 206 million this year, noting continued aircraft delivery delays from Boeing. It expects to recover nearly all of last year's 7% drop in average fares, but warned that visibility for the second half remains limited.
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Kromek wins its first contract, worth GBP1.7 million, under the UK government's Radiological Nuclear Detection Framework for the procurement of radiological nuclear detection equipment. The radiation detector and bio-detection technology solution developer says the contract is part of the first procurement round under the four-year framework, for the supply of Kromek's D3S-ID wearable radiation detector and ongoing training and product maintenance. A "significant majority" of the revenue is set to be recognised during the group's current financial year, and will contribute towards anticipated revenue growth within its CBRN Detection segment. "As one of the few pre-approved suppliers, we are uniquely positioned to support the Home Office's mission to strengthen national security and to secure further strategic orders," comments Chief Executive Officer Arnab Basu.
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By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter
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