29th Sep 2025 07:53
(Alliance News) - AstraZeneca plans changes to its US listing and to retain its position in London, GSK promotes its chief commercial officer to lead the company while Merchants Trust raises its dividend.
Here is what you need to know before the London market open:
----------
MARKETS
----------
FTSE 100: called up 0.5% at 9,326.83
GBP: up at USD1.3439 (USD1.3399 at previous London equities close)
----------
BROKER RATINGS
----------
Jefferies raises Admiral Group to 'buy' (hold) - price target 4,100 (2,550) pence
----------
Berenberg starts Rentokil Initial with 'sell' - price target 284 pence
----------
Jefferies cuts Sabre Insurance to 'underperform' - price target 116 (145) pence
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 100
----------
AstraZeneca plans to harmonise its share listing structure but will continue to be listed, headquartered and tax resident in the UK. The pharmaceutical company recommends to shareholders a harmonised listing structure for its shares across the London Stock Exchange, Nasdaq Stockholm and the New York Stock Exchange. This requires upgrading the existing US listing with a direct listing of ordinary shares on the NYSE, replacing the existing US listing of American depositary receipts. This means shareholders will be able to trade their interests in AstraZeneca across the three markets. "Today we set out our proposed harmonised listing structure which will support our long-term strategy for sustainable growth, while remaining headquartered in the UK and listed in London, Stockholm and New York. Enabling a global listing structure will allow us to reach a broader mix of global investors and will make it even more attractive for all our shareholders to have the opportunity to participate in AstraZeneca's exciting future," says Chair Michel Demare. In a separate release, AstraZeneca says its drug Enhertu showed a "highly statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement" in invasive disease-free survival in patients with high-risk early breast cancer compared to trastuzumab emtansine. "This landmark trial is the first to directly compare Enhertu and T-DM1 in early breast cancer, and the results clearly show that Enhertu delivers superior outcomes, indicating that it may be a better option for patients with high-risk HER2-positive disease in the post-neoadjuvant setting," says Executive Vice President Susan Galbraith. Enhertu was discovered by Tokyo-based pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo and is being jointly developed and commercialised by the two companies.
----------
GSK appoints Chief Commercial Officer Luke Miels as chief executive officer designate, to become CEO at the start of 2026. The pharmaceutical firm says Miels will succeed current CEO Emma Walmsley on January 1. Miels has "outstanding global biopharma development and commercial experience, together with a deep understanding of the company, its prospects and its people," says Chair Jonathan Symonds. "On behalf of the board, I want to thank Emma and acknowledge her outstanding leadership in delivering a strategic transformation of GSK, including the successful demerger of Haleon. GSK today is necessarily very different to the company she was appointed to nine years ago and has a bright and ambitious future," Chair Symonds adds.
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 250
----------
Merchants Trust raises its dividend amid "strong income growth" from its portfolio. Net asset value per share with debt at market value was 599.2p at the end of July, up 2.9% from 582.4p. The NAV total return for the period was 5.4%, lagging the 7.5% return of the FTSE all-share index. The investor in high-yielding UK large-cap companies says its profit on ordinary activities before tax fell 61% to GBP45.6 million in the six months to the end of July from GBP116.1 million a year ago. It reports gains on investments at fair value of GBP22.5 million, down 76% from GBP93.4 million. Revenue earnings per ordinary share climbed 3.5% to 17.7 pence from 17.1 pence. Merchants Trust declares a second interim dividend of 7.3p per share, bringing the total dividend for the first half of the year to 14.6p, up 0.7% from 14.5p last year. Looking ahead, Chair Colin Clark says: "Globally, geopolitical risks remain high. US trade policy continues to reshape global commerce, while conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, and elsewhere add to volatility. Meanwhile, advances in AI and automation are reshaping industries and labour markets, with profound implications for productivity and employment." Clark adds: "In such an environment, macroeconomic predictions are fraught with uncertainty. We believe this favours active, bottom-up investors such as our manager, who focus on the fundamentals of individual businesses rather than short-term macroeconomic noise."
----------
OTHER COMPANIES
----------
Fermi announced a plan for a secondary listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. Fermi develops on-demand power generation projects for artificial intelligence servers. It is developing a site in Amarillo, Texas that plans to deliver up to 11 gigawatts of power by building a grid to house one of the largest nuclear power complexes in the US. The grid will draw on natural gas, solar and nuclear power with battery energy storage. The real estate investment trust plans to market 25 million shares for a listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market for between USD18 and USD22 each. At the top of that range, it would have a market value of USD13.2 billion.
----------
Alphawave IP Group reports higher revenue but a wider loss during the first half of the year. Revenue climbs 13% to USD103.0 million in the six months to the end of June from USD91.0 million a year ago while the pretax loss widens to USD178.0 million from USD49.9 million. Research and development costs grow 65% to USD65.1 million from USD39.4 million, while other operating expenses multiply to USD109.9 million from USD19.6 million. The high-speed connectivity solution firm agreed to a USD2.4 billion takeover from US semiconductor firm Qualcomm in June. "Since announcing the agreement for the recommended acquisition of the group by Qualcomm, which values the group at an implied enterprise value of approximately USD2.4 billion, we have continued to deliver against our strategy and maintain strong momentum in the business," says CEO Tony Pialis.
----------
Gulf Keystone Petroleum says that crude exports from the Shaikan Field via the Iraq-Turkey pipeline restarted on Saturday. It expects export volumes to reach full capacity in the next few days. Gross production has averaged 40,900 barrels of oil per day in 2025 to date.
----------
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
Comments and questions to [email protected]
Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
AstrazenecaGlaxosmithklineMerchants TrustAlphawave IpAdmiralRentokil InitialSabre Insurance GroupGulf Keystone Petroleum