29th Jun 2026 07:57
(Alliance News) - BT and Verizon form international joint venture, Foresight increases its dividend while Plus500 adds to its US prediction markets offering with sports event-based contracts.
Here is what you need to know before the London market open on Monday:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: called down 4.0 points at 10,504.02
GBP: higher at USD1.3221 (USD1.3216 at previous London equities close)
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BROKER RATINGS
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Jefferies raises Coca-Cola HBC price target to 5,500 (4,800) pence - 'buy'
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Barclays raises GSK price target to 1,900 (1,800) pence - 'underweight'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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BT Group agrees to form a joint venture with Verizon Communications, comprised of their respective international enterprise operations. The London-based telecommunications company says the new 50/50 joint venture will focus on serving multinational organisations. It expects the join venture to serve over 3,000 customers in more than 180 countries, representing around USD4 billion in combined annual revenue. "This breadth of operations will unlock significant scale efficiencies across the combined global network and service operations following completion," BT says. Both BT and Verizon will hold equal voting rights and Verizon has agreed to pay BT an equalisation payment of USD625 million. The joint venture will bring together BT International with Verizon's international enterprise wireline arm. The joint venture will also allow both companies to focus on their domestic markets, BT adds. BT and Verizon appoint Martijn Blanken as chief executive officer-designate of the new joint venture. Clive Selley will continue to lead BT International as CEO, and Verizon's leadership remains unchanged. BT Chief Executive Allison Kirkby says: "Customers will benefit from new, secure and resilient connectivity platforms, which are designed for the age of AI and sovereign where it matters. It will create new opportunities for our people and long-term value for our owners. Today's announcement marks a major milestone for BT International, and an important step forward for BT as a whole, as we deliver on our UK-focused strategy." BT says its International division will be reported as a discontinued operation in its accounts until completion. It updates its financial 2027 outlook and mid-term guidance, which now only reflects the continuing business. It now forecasts adjusted group revenue between GBP17.1 billion and GBP17.6 billion, down from between GBP19.0 billion and GBP19.5 billion previous. BT sees adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation between GBP8.1 billion and GBP8.2 billion, down from between GBP8.2 billion and GBP8.3 billion. Mid-term guidance is unchanged.
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Relx says it will buy back GBP100 million in shares between Wednesday and July 21. The London-based provider of business, scientific and legal information says this follows the GBP200 million buyback programme which completed on Friday. Both programmes are part of the GBP2.25 billion to be spent on share buybacks in 2026. The firm enters an agreement with ABN AMRO to carry out the programme.
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AstraZeneca's and Daiichi Sankyo's antibody drug conjugate Enhertu has received approval by the European Commission as a monotherapy for the treatment of adults with unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive, solid tumours who have received prior treatment and who have no satisfactory treatment options. The approval follows positive opinion of the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency. Dave Fredrickson, executive vice president, Oncology Haematology Business Unit, AstraZeneca says: "Precision medicine is reshaping cancer care by helping inform treatment decisions based on the molecular and biological characteristics of a patient’s disease. Enhertu is already approved in breast, gastric, and lung cancers, and with this approval, clinicians may now consider Enhertu for patients with HER2-positive status across multiple additional tumour types. This highlights the importance of biomarker testing to identify eligible patients and ensure that those with HER2-positive disease are considered for targeted treatment."
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Foresight Group increases its dividend as assets under management and earnings climb. Foresight is an investment manager, offering institutional and retail investors access to private and listed real assets in the UK, Europe and Australia and to small and medium enterprises in the UK and Ireland. Pretax profit jumps 30% to GBP53.9 million in the 12 months to the end of March from GBP41.4 million a year earlier. Revenue climbs 11% to GBP164.9 million from GBP148.6 million. Adjusted basic earnings per share surge 13% to 46.4 pence from 40.9 pence. Foresight raises its final dividend by 13% to 19.0p per share from 16.8p. The total dividend for the year climbs 12% to 27.1p from 24.2p. Year-end assets under management increases 7.9% to GBP13.02 billion from GBP12.07 billion. Year-end funds under management rises 7.0% to GBP9.02 billion from GBP8.43 billion. Recurring revenue grew 5.6% to GBP135.3 million from GBP128.1 million. This results in 82% recurring revenue, but Foresight says it continues to target between 85% and 90%. Since the end of March, AuM increases to GBP13.1 billion and FuM rises to GBP9.2 billion after incremental fundraising in Foresight's retail and international distribution channels. Executive Chair Bernard Fairman says: "We enter the new financial year wholly focused on our core Real Assets and Private Equity divisions with a diversified fundraising pipeline across institutional and retail investment vehicles managing long duration capital, and remain committed to our medium-term growth guidance."
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Plus500 launches Kalshi sports event-based contracts in the US. The Haifa, Israel-based trading platform operator says the Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated financial contracts represent "the highest-engagement category in prediction markets and significantly expand the group's addressable market". Plus500 says sports event contracts have emerged as the "defining category" in prediction markets. "Today marks an important milestone for Plus500, and we are excited about what it represents. The launch of sports event-based contracts, CFTC-regulated financial instruments available through our proprietary futures trading platform, is the direct result of our technological capabilities and the infrastructure we have built," says Chief Executive Officer David Zruia. "It advances our next-generation prediction markets offering and brings Plus500 directly to the heart of the US retail market. Spanning NFL, NBA, MLB and beyond, this is one of the most engaging and fast-moving spaces in financial markets today, and Plus500 is now fully part of it."
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OTHER COMPANIES
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Porvair reports higher interim earnings, despite expected weakness in petrochemicals and some industrial end markets. The Norfolk, England-based environmental and specialist filtration technology firm says pretax profit rises 6.2% to GBP12.0 million in the six months to the end of May from GBP11.3 million a year earlier. Basic earnings per share grow 6.3% to 20.2 pence per share from 19.0p. Revenue climbs 8.7% to GBP106.2 million from GBP97.7 million. The interim dividend increases 9.1% to 2.4 pence per share from 2.2p a year ago. "The group delivered both record revenue and profit in the first half, reflecting disciplined execution and the strength and resilience of Porvair's diversified portfolio against mixed conditions across the group's end markets. Strength in aerospace, nuclear, life sciences, aluminium and superalloys was partially offset by expected weakness in petrochemicals and certain industrial end markets," says Chief Executive Officer Hooman Caman Javvi. "While we continue to monitor the developments in the Middle East, we note that the group's manufacturing footprint mainly serves local customers, and its decentralised management structure provides flexibility, agility and resilience in navigating volatile trading conditions, enabling key commercial decisions to be made close to customers and suppliers. The board's expectations for the full year remain unchanged (excluding the part-year contributions from GV and Carekem), supported by the group's diversified customer base, strong recurring revenue streams and disciplined operational management."
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Smiths News secures a new long-term contract with Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and the i. The Swindon, England-based newspaper wholesaler says the deal is on improved commercial terms. It expands the territories in which Smiths News is Associated Newspaper's exclusive wholesale distribution. Smiths News says it effectively secures national distribution of Associated Newspaper's leading titles across all of Great Britain from January 2028. It also extends the contract term through to July 2037. Smiths News says the contract represents an incremental uplift in revenue from the expanded territories of around GBP105 million per year from January 2028. This comes after the News UK contract award earlier this month. In combination, the two contracts mean Smiths News secures around 36% of the national newspapers and magazines market from 2028. "Today's announcement continues to reinforce our position as a trusted partner for our industry and further secures a sustainable future for print news distribution, reflecting our shared commitment to supporting the industry over the long term," says Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Bunting.
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By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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Related Shares:
Coca-Cola HBCGlaxosmithklineBTRelxForesight Group HoldingsPlus500PorvairSmiths NewsAstrazeneca