Barratt agrees future sale of 604 homes, Endeavour offloads mine interests

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 25 points higher on Friday, having closed down 0.38% at 7,471.69 on Thursday.

Stocks to watch

Barratt Developments has agreed the future sale of 604 homes to Citra Living Properties, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lloyds Bank for £168.4m. The housebuilder on Friday said it would recognise revenue and profit on the legal completion of each home under the sale agreement.

Endeavour Mining announced the sale of its 90% interests in the Boungou and Wahgnion mines in Burkina Faso to Lilium Mining for over $300m on Friday. The consideration included upfront and deferred cash payments, as well as net smelter return royalties. Following the sale, Endeavour updated its 2023 production and cost guidance, with a decrease in production but an improvement in all-in sustaining costs.

Newspaper round-up

The Swiss investment bank UBS is reportedly preparing to cut more than half the 45,000 staff it inherited from the takeover of stricken rival Credit Suisse, in a move that is expected to begin as early as next month. Insiders have indicated that between 30,000 and 35,000 staff are likely to leave the combined organisation this year in three rounds of cuts beginning in July, according to Bloomberg News. - Guardian

For over 100 years, the Master Lock plant in Milwaukee manufactured locks and security products. Now, what was for years the last remaining large manufacturing holdout on the north side of Milwaukee’s industrial sector, is being shut down after the company informed employees a phased shutdown will begin on 31 October 2023, with final operations halting by March 2024. - Guardian

One of Britain’s biggest water companies is preparing to unveil a £500m injection from shareholders as suppliers scramble to shore up their finances amid a crisis at Thames Water. Southern Water is closing in on a deal with Australian owner Macquarie to supply extra funds as it grapples with soaring costs and rising interest rates. - Telegraph

Two Italian researchers tasked with turning combustion-engine cars into solar-powered hybrids have died after a prototype vehicle exploded during a road-test. Maria Vittoria Prati, a senior scholar and engineer at Italy’s National Research Council (CNR), and trainee Fulvio Filace were hospitalised with severe burns after the prototype vehicle caught fire in Naples last Friday. - Telegraph

Medical school places will double and students will become doctors quicker under “historic” plans to increase the NHS workforce. Rishi Sunak will promise £2.4 billion over five years for tens of thousands more staff in what he describes as “one of the most significant commitments I will make as prime minister”. After years of wrangling with the Treasury, the NHS has got almost everything it asked for in a plan that largely focuses on the next parliament and beyond. - The Times

A mystery figure from the United Arab Emirates paid Manchester City £30 million, a leaked report has revealed. The Uefa report, produced in 2020 but never published, concludes that the two £15 million payments from 2012 and 2013 were made to cover sums that were supposed to have come from one of their main sponsors. The payments are expected to be part of the 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules that City were charged with in February. - The Times

US close

Wall Street's main stock gauges closed in a mixed state on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.8% at 34,122.42.

The S&P 500 added 0.45% to 4,396.44, and the Nasdaq Composite was flat at 13,591.33.