Airtel Africa CEO to retire, Diversified sells stake in Appalachia assets

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 20 points higher on Tuesday, having closed up 0.14% on Friday at 7,733.24, before the New Year break.

Stocks to watch

Telecoms operator Airtel Africa said chief executive Olusegun Ogunsanya would be retiring and replaced by Sunil Taldar in the middle of the year. Taldar will be appointed to the board as an executive director and assume the role of CEO on July 1, at which time Segun will retire from the board and the company, Airtel said in a statement on Tuesday.

Diversified Energy Company had completed the sale of producing assets in Appalachia to a special purpose vehicle (SPV), DP Lion Equity Holdco, while retaining a 20% minority interest and operational control, it announced on Tuesday. The transaction generated around $200m in proceeds, allowing the company to reduce its debt by 12% by repaying its sustainability-linked loan, and improving liquidity. It said the implied valuation of the transaction was 5.7 times the expected hedged 2024 EBITDA of $35m, with the sold assets having a PV-10 of $230m and being previously used as collateral for its revolving credit facility.

Infrastructure specialist Balfour Beatty has appointed its brokers to oversee the initial phase of its 2024 share buyback programme of up to £50m by 30 June, it announced on Tuesday. The complete scope of the buyback would be disclosed with its full-year results in March. It said the maximum number of shares to be acquired would be 63,162,140.

Newspaper round-up

The Bank of England is poised to cut interest rates at least twice in 2024, economists polled by The Times have said, as inflation slides to within touching distance of the official 2 per cent target and as economic growth stalls. A majority of the 41 economists who took part in The Times’s seventh annual economists’ survey said that the Bank of England would partly reverse its aggressive tightening of monetary policy amid downtrodden economic growth and weaker price pressures. - The Times

Britain experienced a record number of excess deaths last year amid repeated NHS strikes and the continued cost of the Covid pandemic. Nearly 53,000 more people died in 2023 than normal – the highest figure recorded in a non-pandemic year since the Second World War, Telegraph analysis shows. Doctors went on strike for 38 days last year, and experts fear the disruption contributed to the high number of excess deaths. - Telegraph

More than 70,000 lone-parent households are facing eviction this winter amid warnings that they are “bearing the brunt” of the housing crisis in England, figures reveal. A survey by Shelter has found that one in seven lone parents who rent privately – more than 74,000 people – and their children are facing homelessness within weeks. - Guardian

Months after production of the multi-decade bestselling Ford Fiesta was ended, the American motor group has retaken the top spot in Britain’s car sales league table with its successor model. Despite being about 15 per cent more expensive than the Fiesta, the bulkier Ford Puma is on course to reclaim Ford’s long-held title as the seller of Britain’s favourite car. - The Times

Shop prices continued to rise at 4.3% in December as a price rise on non-food items offset easing costs on food. The increase in the price of goods in stores compared with a year ago was the same rate of inflation as in November and came after several months of easing. Retailers warned that new border checks on EU goods entering the UK, which are due to begin from April, could further push up prices. - Telegraph

US close

Wall Street stocks registered modest losses in the final session of 2023, ending a banner month, quarter, and year for stocks on a somewhat sour note.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.05% at 37,689.54, while the S&P 500 lost 0.28% at 4,769.83 and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.56% weaker at 15,011.35.

The Dow closed 20.56 points lower on Friday, taking a bite out of gains recorded in the previous session and failing to stretch its Santa Claus rally another session.

Despite losses in the previous session, all three major indices delivered their ninth winning week in a row on Friday, driven by a late-year rally and a bounce back from a disappointing third quarter for stocks.

The S&P 500 had entered the session less than 0.5% from its record high and wrapped up 2023 with a 24.2% gain. The Dow Jones and Nasdaq Composite notched a 13.7% and 43.4% gain for the year, respectively.