BUSINESS LIVE: Ryanair profits soar; AstraZeneca builds Singapore facility; British Land sells Meadowhall stake

(PA) – UK interest rates could be cut by the Bank of England as soon as this summer, according to its deputy governor.

Ben Broadbent, deputy governor of the central bank, said in a speech on Monday morning that it is “possible” borrowing costs will come down this summer if the economy evolves as expected.

The UK interest rate currently sits at a 16-year-high of 5.25% after it had been increased by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) over the past two years in a bid to tackle inflation.

CPI (Consumer Prices Index) inflation has since dropped to 3.2% for March, compared with the previous year, and is predicted to drop towards the 2% target rate in the coming months.

The economist said the Bank’s nine-strong MPC, which votes on potential interest rate increases, must assess how potential persistence around wage and services inflation are continuing to develop.

He added: “Whatever the priors of its individual members the MPC will continue to learn from the incoming data and, if things continue to evolve with its forecasts – forecasts that suggest policy will have to become less restrictive at some point – then it’s possible the bank rate could be cut some time over the summer.”

Legal and professional services firm Knights Group expects to report double-digit profit growth for the last financial year.

The London-listed company said its underlying pre-tax profits are set to have grown by 16 per cent to at least £25million for the year ending April, while revenue is anticipated to have increased by 6 per cent to around £150million.

Victorian Plumbing shares jumped on Monday after the group revealed the acquisition of arch rival Victoria Plum.

The deal, which is worth £22.5million, comes less than seven months after Doncaster-based Victoria Plum fell into administration.

Renting out a holiday home can give owners a decent income, but investing in six must-have extras can add a pre-tax value of £20,000 a year, experts reveal.

Research by holiday rental company Sykes Holiday Cottages says the average holiday let earns £24,500 a year, before tax.

London-listed video game services business Keywords Studios has confirmed it is in discussions regarding a potential £2.2billion takeover by EQT Group.

The Irish company has received a £35.50 per share offer from EQT, having rejected four previous proposals by the Swedish private equity firm.

British Land has sold its 50 per cent stake in Sheffield’s Meadowhall for £360million, bringing an end to its 25 year ownership of the shopping centre.

The landlord, which is one of Britain’s biggest property developers, sold the stake to joint venture partner Norges Bank Investment Management as it shifts its portfolio away from covered shopping centres in favour of investing in retail parks.

Millions of households will endure steep hikes of up to 7.9 per cent in the price of their broadband and mobile phone deals this year.

These mid-contract price increases take place from March to May, and see broadband and mobile firms pass on cost rises linked to inflation – often with an extra charge on top.

Last year, Britain’s biggest building society handed out £340million to 3.4million customers.

Ryanair profits soared to a record high last year as the low-cost carrier expressed ‘cautious optimism’ that peak summer fares would be flat to modestly ahead of last year.

Europe’s largest airline said profits for the year to March rose by 34 per cent to €1.92billion (£1.64billion), slightly ahead of analysts’ forecasts of €1.905billion.

House asking prices edged up in the last month according to Rightmove, as buyers and sellers ramped up activity in the busiest period in the home selling calendar.

The property website reported an 0.8 per cent uptick in May, meaning the typical asking price is now £375,131.

AstraZeneca plans to build a $1.5billion manufacturing plant in Singapore dedicated to making antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).

The pharmaceutical giant said the intended site, which it hopes will emit zero carbon from day one, will begin design and construction later this year and be ‘operationally ready’ by 2029.

FTSE 100-listed AstraZeneca’s first ever end-to-end ADC production facility, which is supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board, follows strong demand for the drugmaker’s oncology offering.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown:

‘The defensive nature of the FTSE 100 has come to the fore, with the index rising in early trade amid fresh uncertainty in the Middle East.

‘Oil and gold have been rising in tandem, following the confirmation of the death of Iran’s President, and the health of King Salman of Saudi Arabia, being the subject of speculation. Mining stocks and energy giants are on the front foot in early trade, while shares in defence contractors have also edged up.

‘Nervousness about the direction of geopolitics has pushed gold to fresh record highs, reaching $2,438 per ounce. Demand for the safe-haven asset has surged as investors have been digesting news of the death of Iran’s

‘President Ebrahim Raisi who is believed to have been killed with others including foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash.

‘Demand for the metal has also likely to have been pushed up by renewed speculation that the Federal Reserve will be minded to cut interest rates a couple of times this year.

‘Recent data is indicating inflation is staying on the right downwards trajectory, and there are other signs of demand being drawn out of the economy, such as retail sales coming in softer.

‘The dollar has edged a little lower, which makes gold slightly cheaper for overseas buyers, and a lower rate environment also reduces the profitability of investing in Treasuries, US government bonds, increasing the allure of gold as the opportunity cost of holding it falls.

‘China has been bulk buying gold as well, which has helped support the higher prices, a trend which doesn’t look set to wane any time soon.’

The Australian miner looking to buy Anglo American will this week decide if it is willing to up its £34billion offer.

Melbourne’s BHP has until 5pm on Wednesday to make an offer for the FTSE-100 rival.

Swedish private equity firm EQT AB is in advanced discussions to buy video game services company KeywordsStudios for £2.2billion, in the latest potential takeover of a London-listed company.

Keywords told investors this morning: ‘The Possible Offer follows four previous unsolicited proposals from EQT in recent months, which the Board rejected, and represents a significant increase from the initial proposal.

‘The Board remains confident in the Company’s growth strategy of building the only truly global platform providing solutions to the video games and entertainment industries, both organically and through acquisitions, and EQT is supportive of this strategy.

‘The Board of Keywords Studios has carefully evaluated the Possible Offer with its financial advisers and concluded the Possible Offer is at a value that the Board would be minded to recommend to Keywords Studios shareholders, should a firm intention to make an offer pursuant to Rule 2.7 of the Code be announced on such financial terms, subject to the agreement of all other terms and conditions of an offer.’

Adam Vettese, analyst at eToro:

‘The pandemic hangover seems to be truly over for Ryanair as the low cost carrier posted record profit of €1.95bn. A milder winter and early Easter helped boost the slow season as demand for travel shows no signs of letting up.

‘The name of the game for Ryanair is low prices and an easing of cost pressures will not only take the strain off internally, but also see more consumers with more disposable cash topping up the holiday pot ready to book a cut-price getaway.

‘The firm has been a little cagey in terms of affirming forward guidance amid lingering potential issues such as aircraft supply and macroeconomic pressure. Despite this, a chunky share buyback of €700m has been announced which could well be a catalyst to see shares start to creep back up towards the record high level achieved earlier this year.’

One of Britain’s top industrialists has warned the country’s manufacturing is lagging behind Germany’s due to uncompetitive government taxes.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe – Britain’s fourth wealthiest man – took a swipe at the Conservatives’ economic strategy and said the country ‘does need to get a bit sharper’ on business.

The billionaire, who runs petrochemicals empire Ineos, claimed hefty taxes would ‘kill off’ oil and gas companies while businesses thrived elsewhere.

British Land has exchanged contracts for the sale of its 50 per cent stake in Meadowhall Shopping Centre to its partner Norges Bank Investment Management for £360million.

The divestment is in line with the company’s strategy to focus on retail parks and reduce exposure to covered shopping centres, the Broadgate owner said in a statement.

The landlord’s boss Simon Carter said: ‘We have had a successful partnership with Norges over many years and are delighted to continue to work alongside them as asset managers of the centre.

‘Following the sale of Meadowhall, 93% of our portfolio is now in our preferred segments of retail parks, campuses and London urban logistics.

‘We will continue to grow our retail park portfolio; with low capex requirements parks offer attractive cash returns and at 99% occupancy we are delivering strong rental growth.’

AstraZeneca plans to build a $1.5billion manufacturing facility in Singapore in an effort to enhance its antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) portfolio.

The greenfield facility, which will be the drugmaker’s first end-to-end ADC production site, will be supported by Singapore Economic Development.

ADCs are engineered antibodies that bind to tumour cells and then release cell-killing chemicals.

‘Singapore is one of the world’s most attractive countries for investment given its reputation for excellence in complex manufacturing, and I am excited for AstraZeneca to locate our $1.5 billion ADC manufacturing facility in the country,’ CEO Pascal Soriot said.

Cadbury owner Mondelez will face scrutiny over selling chocolate in Russia at its AGM this week.

Senior MPs and campaign groups have lambasted it for selling a number of its brands including Milka chocolate and Oreo biscuits.

Investor Wespath Benefits and Investments has proposed an independent review of how the US conglomerate is implementing human rights policy in Russia and Ukraine.

Ryanair profits soared 34 per cent last year to a record €1.9billion (£1.6billion) and the budget airline has expressed ‘cautious optimism’ ahead of the key summer trading season.

The result was slightly ahead of analyst forecasts. Ryanair cut its after-tax profit forecast to a range of €1.85billion and €1.95billion in January after some online travel agents suddenly stopped selling its flights.

The Irish airline, Europe’s largest by passenger numbers, also said it would be 23 jets short of the number Boeing was due to deliver by the end of July and there remained a risk – although ‘unlikely’ – that deliveries could slip further.