Urban Logistics FY net rental income rises, Grainger to forward fund Bristol development

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was being called to open 19.8 points lower ahead of the bell on Thursday after closing 0.88% lower in the previous session at 7,089.22.

Stocks to watch

Real estate investment trust Urban Logistics saw net rental income grow over the twelve months ended 31 March amid "significant" capital deployment and a 25.4% increase in the group's property valuation to £153.0m.

Urban Logistics said on Thursday that net rental income had surged 59.8% to £36.5m, leading to a total property return of 30.3%, up from 17.1% a year earlier, and an IFRS pre-tax profit of £172.0m. The FTSE 250-listed company added that it had spent £282.0m on acquisitions throughout the year, at a weighted average net initial yield of 5.3%.

UK residential landlord Grainger said on Thursday that it has agreed to forward fund and buy the build-to-rent element of a Bristol development for £128.0m.

The "Redcliff Quarter" comprises 374 private rental homes, as well as 94 affordable homes and six commercial units, said Grainger.

Newspaper round-up

Almost a third of shoppers who use buy now, pay later credit say repayments on the loans have become "unmanageable", with the cost of living crisis pushing them into a debt spiral, new research has found. Consumers are spending more via the controversial form of credit, with shoppers who use BNPL now paying off an average of 4.8 purchases – almost double the 2.6 purchases in February, the research found. The average BNPL user's outstanding balance currently stands at £254. - Guardian

Cross-party MPs are forming a special group to scrutinise post-Brexit rules for City firms, amid concerns that the overhaul could result in a regulatory race to the bottom. The new subcommittee, which will be run by Treasury committee members and advised by a panel of experts, is meant to make up for the fact that new rules are no longer being dissected by politicians from the European parliament’s economic and monetary affairs committee, after the UK's exit from the EU. - Guardian

A British electric car battery maker is targeting Tesla as a client by developing power cells designed to appeal to Elon Musk. Britishvolt, which is building a gigafactory in Blyth after raising £1.7bn, is working on lighter, cheaper batteries similar to the prototype 4680 cells that Mr Musk's company ordered earlier this year from Panasonic. A source said that if Britishvolt could provide performance batteries to Tesla it would be a "win for the UK" and its battery research. - Telegraph

A group of senior Democratic politicians has urged America's Department of Justice to closely scrutinise and even consider suing to block the potential sale of Reckitt Benckiser's infant formula business. The FTSE 100 consumer goods group "could shallow out the market" by offloading its baby formula business following widespread shortages in the United States, according to Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Cory Booker. In a letter, they warned antitrust officials that a private equity takeover of the country's second-biggest manufacturer would pose a threat to competition and risk exacerbating existing issues for consumers. - The Times

Rolls-Royce has said that it can only deliver its first "mini" nuclear plant by its 2029 target date if the government commits this year to deploying the technology — years before it even gets safety approval. The small modular reactor consortium led by the FTSE 100 group has made an audacious pitch to ministers to fast-track the technology in Britain despite its early stage of development. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed lower on Wednesday as market participants digested comments made by Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell in front of Congress.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.15% at 30,483.13, while the S&P 500 lost 0.13% to 3,759.89 and the Nasdaq Composite was off 0.15% at 11,053.08.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com