HS2 confirmed
Contractors’ shares up
The UK government has confirmed that the high-speed HS2 rail project will go ahead. The prime minister said: “I am drawing a clear line under the mismanagement of the past – HS2 must be delivered more efficiently and cost-effectively so that communities feel its benefits more quickly, particularly those in the north.” Shares in contractors Kier (KIE), Costain (COST) and Balfour Beatty (BBY) climbed in response. The prime minister also plans to overhaul the UK’s transport network, with £5bn to improve bus and cycle links outside of London and upgrades to local roads.
FTC delves into tech deals
Examining past acquisitions
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the US is to examine past acquisitions by large tech companies. It has issued special orders to five behemoths in this space – Alphabet (US:GOOGL), Amazon (US:AMZN), Apple (US:APPL), Facebook (US:FB) and Microsoft (US:MSFT) – asking them to provide information about prior acquisitions made between January 2010 and December 2019 that wasn’t reported to the antitrust agencies. The FTC said the orders will help it to deepen its understanding of these companies’ acquisition activity, including whether they are making potentially anti-competitive purchases of nascent or potential competitors.
UK GDP flat
Up on a like-for-like basis
UK gross domestic product (GDP) was flat in the fourth quarter of 2019, after revised growth of 0.5 per cent in the third quarter to September. Year on year, UK GDP rose by 1.1 per cent – down from a revised 1.2 per cent in the previous period. Services and construction made positive contributions to growth, while production output contributed negatively. GDP is estimated to have increased by 1.4 per cent between 2018 and 2019 – a slight improvement on the 1.3 per cent increase between 2017 and 2018.
Calisen in £1.3bn float
Smart-meter company
Calisen (CLSN) – a smart-meter provider – has listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Conditional dealings in the shares began on 7 February, with an admission price of 240p – giving the group a market capitalisation of £1.32bn. Unconditional dealings began on 12 February. The initial public offering (IPO) entailed 125m new shares issued by the group to raise gross proceeds of around £300m, and approximately 12m shares being sold by its majority shareholder, KKR Evergreen Aggregator LP, and other selling shareholders.
Ola launches in London
Uber rival
Ola – one of the world’s largest ride-hailing companies – launched in London on 10 February. Ola has more than 25,000 drivers registered on its platform in the UK capital. It said that it will continue its “collaborative approach” with Transport for London and local authorities, while focusing on safety. The app’s UK debut comes after TfL opted not to grant rival Uber (US:UBER) a new private hire operator’s licence last November, identifying “a pattern of failures by the company including several breaches that placed passengers and their safety at risk”. Uber is appealing the decision.
Sirius/Anglo date is set
3 March vote
Sirius Minerals’ (SXX) shareholders will vote on the Anglo American (AAL) takeover deal on 3 March. The Yorkshire mining hopeful has told investors that the all-cash, 5.5p-a-share offer is the only chance of the Woodsmith polyhalite project going ahead. In the scheme document, the Sirius board said it had looked into both raising the $600m (£464m) needed to keep the development running for two years through both debt and equity, but this would have been too difficult to arrange before the company ran out of cash. Three-quarters of Sirius shareholders have to back the takeover for it to go ahead.
Bernie wins New Hampshire
Narrow victory
Vermont senator Bernie Sanders has won the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary with 25.9 per cent of the vote. He now has 21 delegates, just behind frontrunner Pete Buttigieg’s 23. Another 50 state primaries remain, but Mr Sanders' leftwing platform – which includes free comprehensive medicare coverage and a shift towards renewable energy – means his candidacy could have profound implications for the US economy if he becomes the party’s nominee to challenge President Donald Trump. The next primary takes place in Nevada on 22 February.
The US’s S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both reached record highs this week, ostensibly bolstered by hopes that the coronavirus – now known as Covid-19 – outbreak may reach its peak in the not-too-distant future.
China’s National Health Commission said that 2,015 new cases had been reported as of 11 February, down from 2,478 on 10 February and 3,062 the day before.
But the threat of the illness – both in China and elsewhere – is not over yet. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there were 43,103 confirmed cases globally, with 42,708 cases reported in China as of 11 February. There have been more than 1,000 deaths.
