Vodafone (VOD), Currys (CURY), Segro (SGRO), Halfords (HFD), Reckitt Benckiser (RKT), Just Eat Takeaway (JET), Primary Health Properties (PHP) and Derwent London (DLN)
Telco giant Vodafone (VOD) has agreed an €8bn (£6.8bn) deal to sell its Italian business to Swisscom, which runs the Fastweb broadband provider and has 3-4 per cent of the mobile users in the country.
The sale comes as Vodafone is looking to ramp up profits through consolidation or divestment, selling the Spanish business and joining with Three in the UK. This deal will knock out around 10 per cent of the company’s revenue, as per the third-quarter numbers. Vodafone had flagged “continued price pressure in the mobile value segment” in Italy earlier this month, balanced out somewhat by stronger business demand.
“Vodafone has engaged extensively with several parties to explore market consolidation in Italy and believes this potential transaction delivers the best combination of value creation, upfront cash proceeds and transaction certainty for Vodafone shareholders,” the company said.
Final terms with Swisscom have not yet been agreed. Vodafone shares climbed 4 per cent on the news. AH
Currys turns down another takeover proposal
Currys (CURY) has rejected a second takeover proposal from US activist investor Elliott Advisors because it “significantly undervalued the company and its future prospects”. The electronics retailer said on Tuesday afternoon, 27 February, that Elliott had upped its bid by 8 per cent to 67p per share for the entire business. Elliott’s first proposal earlier in the month was 62p per share, valuing the company at £700mn. Chinese retail group JD.com has also publicly expressed an interest in making a bid for the company, which has struggled with weaker consumer demand and increased competition in the Nordics. CA
Halfords shares punctured by profit warning
Halfords' (HFD) shares plunged by a quarter after the car and bike services and products provider cut its full-year underlying profit before tax guidance from £48mn-£53mn to £35mn-£40mn. The company pointed to the impact of “continued weak consumer confidence and unusually mild and very wet weather” across its markets, along with cycling gross margins being hit by more consumers buying on credit, as drivers of the downgrade.
Halfords had reiterated the previous guidance just a month ago on the proviso that markets “did not weaken further in Q4”. CA
Just Eat posts lower loss but demand weakens
Just Eat Takeaway (JET) revealed a reduced annual loss as it put through a lower impairment charge of €1.54bn (£1.32bn) on past acquisitions, as the food delivery app achieved positive free cash flow in the second half of its financial year. A statutory pre-tax loss of €2.07bn for the year to 31 December compared to a loss of €5.77bn in 2022.
However, there were signs of demand weakness as order numbers fell 9 per cent and active customer numbers were down 6 per cent. The company said it is still looking at a partial or full sale of US unit Grubhub, which it bought in 2021. Investors weren’t convinced by the performance, sending the shares down 6 per cent in early trading. CA
Derwent raises dividend despite rent and value drop
Derwent London (DLN) has raised its final dividend to 79.5p despite a further valuation hit widening the West End office landlord's pre-tax loss and a drop in net rental income.
In its results for the last calendar year, losses before tax ballooned to £476mn from £280mn the previous year as high interest rates coupled with the question around the demand for offices post Covid hurt the values of its assets.
Rental revenue rose, but net rental income, rental revenue minus building running costs before valuation changes, fell as the company spent more money offering a premium office experience to raise headline rent. However, the landlord still opted to increase the dividend as it remains 1.28 times covered by EPRA earnings per share. ML
