Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News, The.
Speaker 2: Stock Movers Report, your roundup of companies making moves in
Speaker 2: the stock market, harnessing the power of Bloomberg Data.
Speaker 3: And let's take a look at some stocks on the
Speaker 3: move today in Europe. I'm Stephen Carroll with Caroline Hepger
Speaker 3: and we're joined by Bloomberg's Breaking News editor Louise Moon. Louise,
Speaker 3: let's start with the banks in the UK. We are
Speaker 3: seeing shares lower this morning, and we're looking at this
Speaker 3: in the context of the political instability.
Speaker 1: Indeed, yeah, that's some of the biggest foolers in London
Speaker 1: this morning.
Speaker 4: So we've got the likes of nat West, Barclay's, Lloyd's
Speaker 4: all down over about four percent. And as you say,
Speaker 4: this is all in the back of this political risk
Speaker 4: that's being felt in the UK. A big day for Starmer,
Speaker 4: questions over whether he'll survive. He has just told cabinet
Speaker 4: that he's staying as Prime Minister and he takes responsibility
Speaker 4: for the election result.
Speaker 1: But bank stocks are lower.
Speaker 4: There was a note this morning from JP Morgan and
Speaker 4: List saying that if there is a change in leadership
Speaker 4: or a shift to the left with that change that
Speaker 4: could impact the sector via guilt yields, weaker growth outlook.
Speaker 4: There's also worries about the potential for higher taxation if
Speaker 4: that happens. So they're saying that their base case now
Speaker 4: assumes if that happened, that the UK banking surcharge will
Speaker 4: increase to five percent from the current three percent. So
Speaker 4: worries there and that's being played out across banks this
Speaker 4: morning in London.
Speaker 5: Yeah, okay, so that's interesting on the repercussions. Then for
Speaker 5: the UK. Let's think about m and A though into
Speaker 5: tech rising after the private equity firm.
Speaker 1: EQT made another bid. Tell us about this, Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: another bid.
Speaker 4: So fourth and final bid from EQT for Intertech is
Speaker 4: obviously the foot seat one hundred firm.
Speaker 1: They've said they're considering it.
Speaker 4: They have rejected it three times before for what they
Speaker 4: call undervaluing the firm, but they're coming under more and
Speaker 4: more pressure from their own investors to pursue this deal.
Speaker 4: So one of those key investors pushing for that is
Speaker 4: the activist investor Pallaser Capital. They've built a stake they
Speaker 4: want that takeover to happen. So the latest offer is
Speaker 4: for about sixty pounds a share in cash and it
Speaker 4: would value Intertech at about nine point two billion pounds.
Speaker 4: So it comes less than a week after they rejected
Speaker 4: the last one, so we'll have to wait and see
Speaker 4: whether that comes through. Intertect themselves at the same time
Speaker 4: have been pushing for a strategic review considering splitting the business.
Speaker 4: So two things at play here and ongoing kind of
Speaker 4: potential m and a sagus.
Speaker 1: We're keeping a close eye on that one. Coming back
Speaker 1: to the UK.
Speaker 3: Then for Greggs, the high street baker revealing accelerating growth
Speaker 3: thanks to new menu items.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so it's a good and much needed good news story. Really.
Speaker 4: For Greg's, they're leading gains on the foot seed two
Speaker 4: fifty so sales rising, helped by some of their new offerings,
Speaker 4: as you say, so chicken rolls among them, which they
Speaker 4: called a standout performer. And less is saying this this
Speaker 4: this sales update, it's enough to kind of clear a
Speaker 4: low bar.
Speaker 1: Expectations are very low.
Speaker 4: Greg's has been among some of the most shorted stocks
Speaker 4: in London lately. You know, there's been doubts over its
Speaker 4: expansion plans, in particularly they had big expansion plans. But
Speaker 4: these sales show a pickup in momentum, even if it
Speaker 4: is slightly modest. And then also in terms of the
Speaker 4: Middle East impact, they say that they've got forward buying
Speaker 4: in place for about five months worth of food and packaging,
Speaker 4: and eighty five percent of energy and fuel needs have
Speaker 4: been fixed, so they're sheltered for the moment from those impacts.
Speaker 4: But they did warn of higher cost inflation if the
Speaker 4: conflict continues, so potentially some headwinds ahead, but for the moment,
Speaker 4: sales are positive for Quicks.
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