Imperial on the slide
Oscar Williams-Grut with all the latest market news
EXECUTIVES at Imperial Tobacco would be forgiven for sneaking a sly nervous fag.
Top brass from the UK cigarettes giant will this week meet with members of the Federal Trade Commission in the US, along side management from American tobacco giants Reynolds and Lorillard. The three are hoping to convince the competition regulator to rubber-stamp the blockbuster tie-up of Reynolds and Lorillard.
Imperial is set to snap up assets sold off in the deal, including brands such as Winston, Maverick and Kool, as well as e-cigarette brand blu. Imperial said the £4.2 billion purchase would “transform” its US business when it first revealed the plan last year. Fears it could fall at the final hurdle sent Imperial Tobacco sliding 71p to 2998.5p.
Things weren’t helped by the release today of a study calling for tighter regulation and scrutiny of e-cigarettes. While much less profitable than traditional cigs, the electronic versions are seen as a potential growth area for the industry. British American Tobacco also slipped 56.5p to 3537.25p.
The first quarter of the year draws to a close, with the FTSE 100 on track for its best quarterly rise in more than two years. The index has risen around 5% since the start of 2015 and smashed through to record highs. But there was scant sign of this optimism, with the Footsie off 25.79 points to 6865.64.
Meggitt dropped 14p to 549.25p as Exane said the aerospace engineer’s value has been unjustly inflated by bid speculation. Brokers were left impressed by defence giant Babcock’s presentations to analysts and investors yesterday. Positive notes from Exane, JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank and Jefferies helped propel it 26.5p up to 989.5p.
Antofagasta jumped 2% at the open after a flat denial it is in talks to merge with Canadian metal company Teck Resources. The rumoured deal had left analysts scratching their heads over what the rationale behind it could be. But it quickly fell back, flat at 739p.
New SuperGroup boss Euan Sutherland is stocking up on shares. Sutherland has bought just over £99,000 worth of shares in the Superdry owner, up 11p at 983p.
Card Factory’s private-equity owner has cashed out. Charterhouse, which floated the business at 225p a share last May, has sold its remaining 60.6 million shares to institutions.
No prices were given but shares have been trading close to all-time highs. Charterhouse would have likely netted around £175 million. Card Factory rose 3.4p to 300.9p. @OscarWGrut