Master Investor

A busy week of buyouts has finished with the management at ZPG (LON:ZPG), formerly known as Zoopla Property Group, recommending an offer from private equity outfit Silver Lake. An all-cash bid of £2.2 billion has been made by the US-based technology specialist for ZPG, which owns not only the eponymous property platform but also PrimeLocation…

The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee has kept interest rates stable at 0.5% for another month. Governor Mark Carney said that weak first quarter output statistics had been a key factor in the decision, but was confident that positive momentum would reassert itself in time. However, the Bank cut its GDP growth forecasts for…

Morrisons (LON:MRW) beat tough retail industry conditions and analyst forecasts to deliver like-for-like non-fuel sales growth of 3.6% during the 13 weeks to 6th May. However, a major contributor to this improvement was a considerable strengthening of the group’s wholesale arm through a new programme supplying McColl’s outlets. Transaction numbers in the retail operation grew…

FTSE 100 tobacco giant Imperial Brands (LON:IMB) beat forecasts as it announced its first-half results this morning. While net revenues fell by 5% to £3.5 billion, the company outperformed the wider industry, and volumes in its growth brands were up by 6.3%. Total revenues fell by just 0.1%, partly due to investments in alternative products…

The UK high street has failed to bounce back strongly in April after poor weather kept consumers at home in March. According to the latest British Retail Consortium figures, like-for-like sales are down by 4.2% relative to April last year. Some of this can be linked to the timing of Easter and the volatile weather…

UK house prices posted their largest monthly fall in eight years during April, according to Halifax’s House Price Index. While prices were up by 2.2% year-on-year, they fell by 3.1% relative to March and 0.1% against the previous quarter. To a degree, this drop could represent increased pricing volatility in the monthly measure as sales…

The board of FTSE 100 drug firm Shire (LON:SHP) has recommended that shareholders accept Takeda’s takeover bid. The offer of $33.03 in cash and 0.839 New Takeda shares values the company at approximately £46 billion. The Dublin-based outfit had received five prior offers since March from its Japanese rival. Shire management rejected the prior bids…