20th Jul 2026 08:00
(Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 was called to open lower on Monday, after the US and Iran exchanged further strikes and as Andy Burnham prepares to officially succeed Keir Starmer as prime minister.
In corporate news, Big Yellow posted single-digit-percentage revenue growth for its first quarter, while Ryanair reported a drop in quarterly profit and noted that the unhedged 20% of its energy costs have more than doubled in price due to the Strait of Hormuz's closure.
Here is what you need to know before the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: called down 32.6 points, 0.3% at 10,567.77
GBP: higher at USD1.3462 (USD1.3453 at previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS
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Annual producer price inflation in Germany decelerated in June, data published by Destatis shows. The producer price index showed a 0.3% month-on-month decrease for June, flipping from a 0.3% rise in May and surpassing the FXStreet-cited consensus for a 0.2% decrease. Energy prices fell by 1.8% on a monthly basis, while the prices of mineral oil products fell by 7.4% but increased by 23.7% from June, 2025. Also on an annual basis, prices increased by 1.8%, slowing from a 2.2% rise. Intermediate goods prices rose by 5.1%, which Destatis mainly attributes to metal prices rising by 12%, with precious metals surging by 44%. Capital goods cost 2.1% more, and durable consumer goods cost 1.8% more. Energy prices, however, were "only slightly higher" with a 0.4% rise.
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UK house prices fell at a faster pace than what is usual for July, a Rightmove tracker shows, with homes available for sale on the decline, while warm weather and a summer of sport served to "distract" would-be movers. Rightmove says house prices fell 1.0% in July from June. It is a sharper decline than the average July drop of 0.2% over the past 10 years. Prices had fallen 0.6% in June from May. On an annual basis, house prices were down 0.4% in July, easing from a 0.5% fall in June. Rightmove explains that the number of available homes for sale is "1% below this time last year", though still very close to a 12-year high for the time of year. The average two-year fixed mortgage rate stood at 4.92% in July, down from 5.07% in June but higher than 4.25% in February, before the war between the US and Iran began. The property portal also noted that the "World Cup and unusually hot summer have added to the traditional summer holiday season to distract home-movers". "Market activity levels remain below this time last year, with this year's mortgage rate increases as a result of the unexpected war in Iran contributing to challenging conditions in the first half of the year," Rightmove adds.
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The Chinese company which owned British Steel prior to its nationalisation last week has demanded compensation from the UK government. On Thursday, the government announced British Steel had been brought under public ownership to protect "the future of steel production". China's government said it was "strongly dissatisfied" with the decision and now previous owner Jingye Group has threatened legal action. The company had previously planned to close its Scunthorpe blast furnaces in North Lincolnshire before the government took operational control after Parliament intervened in April last year to approve special measures legislation to keep the plant open. Jingye Group said in a WeChat statement that the nationalisation tarnished the government's credibility and would damage the future chances of securing international investment. It also demanded that the government stop "trampling on international investment rules".
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BROKER RATINGS
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Berenberg raises Computacenter to 'buy' (hold) - price target 5,300 (3,450) pence
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RBC raises Atalaya Mining to 'outperform' (sector perform) - price target 1,100 (1,000) pence
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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ProLogis has made a third takeover approach for London-based fellow warehouse landlord Segro, offering 0.0890 new ProLogis shares for each Segro share and a partial cash alternative of up to GBP2.7 billion at a fixed price of 1,000 pence per Segro share. Says the proposal values Segro shares at 993p each, representing a 9.7% premium to Segro's adjusted net asset value of 905p per share at June 30, and valued Segro's share capital at approximately GBP13.5 billion. ProLogis also confirms plans to explore the feasibility of a secondary listing of its own shares on the London Stock Exchange, if it sees sufficient investor demand. It expects Segro board engagement to be necessary for this.
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GSK says the European Medicines Agency has accepted a submission to update the label for Bexsero to include a single dose booster for people aged 10 and older who previously had the vaccination. "If adopted, a booster could help reduce the overall burden of invasive meningococcal disease in countries with established infant MenB programmes," GSK says. It says the submission is supported by a phase 3b, open-label, multi-centre study in 10- to 20-year-old patients, showing that a single dose was effective in boosting the immune responses of those vaccinated as infants.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Big Yellow Group issues a trading update for the first quarter ended June 30. Total revenue increases 3% to GBP53.2 million from GBP51.5 million for the same period in 2025. Like-for-like store revenue increases 2% to GBP52.2 million from GBP51.1 million. Closing net rent per square foot increased by the same amount to GBP36.45 from GBP35.75, with total occupancy rising by 161,000 square feet from growth of 47,000 square feet the previous year. "We continue to invest in automation, which allows us to not replace certain leavers from the business and thereby reduce our headcount and staff costs without impacting customer service," Big Yellow says. It expects to report a 4% like-for-like increase in store operating expenditure for the first half. Notes that it acquired a freehold site in Acton, London during the quarter and now has 12 pipeline stores, with planning consent granted on nine, and is "on site" at six. Four of these six are due to open in the current financial year. "We recognise that the operating environment may continue to be challenging in the months ahead, given the current fiscal and budgetary uncertainties, which will likely not be clarified until the autumn," Chief Executive Officer Jim Gibson notes.
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OTHER COMPANIES
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Ryanair says profit after tax dropped 34% to EUR538 million in the three months that ended June 30 from EUR820 million a year before. Revenue edged up 0.9% to EUR4.38 billion from EUR4.34 billion, but operating costs grew by 11% to EUR3.81 billion from EUR3.42 billion. The Dublin-based budget airline carried 61.3 million passengers in the recent quarter, up 5.9% from 57.9 million a year before, and with a steady load factor of 94%. However, revenue per passenger slipped by 5%, as average fares fell by 6% and ancillary revenue was flat, amid "consumer hesitancy". Ryanair said 80% of its financial 2027 jet fuel needs are hedged at USD67 per barrel of crude. However, the 20% that isn't hedged more than doubled in price, due to the crimp in supply caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran. The company said it has now hedged 15% of its financial 2028 fuel needs at USD85 a barrel. Looking ahead, Ryanair says traffic remains on track to grow by 4% to 216 million passengers in financial 2027, with a 6% increase in the first half followed by a 2% rise in the second. However, it said pricing is "trending modestly down" in the second quarter, compared to a year before.
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Craneware says it has identified and is responding to a cybersecurity incident involving unauthorised access to a subset of its data environment. The healthcare financial performance solution provider's board has appointed external cybersecurity and forensic specialists, whose investigation is ongoing. "The incident has been contained and there has been no disruption to customer services or to the company's operations," Craneware says. "The external specialists have confirmed that there are no residual indicators of compromise arising from the cyber security incident in the company's systems." It says a significant volume of file names were viewed and exfiltrated, including a subset of customer and partner records and a precentage of employee data. However, it believes that "a large element of the data involved is non-sensitive or already public".
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Gulf Keystone Petroleum says it has temporarily shut-in production operations as a safety precaution due to the developing regional security environment. The Kurdistan-focused oil producer says its assets have not been impacted, and that the latest gross production from the Shaikan Field was above 45,000 barrels of oil per day.
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Alternative Income REIT says AEW UK REIT's possible takeover offer is more attractive for its shareholders than the offer currently being proposed by Glenstone REIT. The company says AEW UK's possible offer has an implied value of 77.4p per Alternative Income share, around 11% higher than the implied value of 70.0p per Alternative Income share from Glenstone's offer. Alternative Income recommends that shareholders who have already accepted the Glenstone offer withdraw their acceptances. AEW UK has until August 28 to either announce a firm intention to make an offer, or walk away.
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By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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RYA.LCranewareGlaxosmithklineBig YellowGulf Keystone PetroleumComputacenterAtalaya MiningSegroAew Uk ReitAlternative Inc