Annual profits rise at Bunzl, Aggreko declares dividend as markets recover

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 73 points higher on Monday, having closed down 2.53% on Friday at 6,483.43.

Stocks to watch

Distribution group Bunzl reported a rise in annual profit and increased its dividend as deliveries of Covid safety equipment offset a fall in business from the food and retail sectors. The company on Monday said pre-tax profits for the year to December 31 rose 22.6% to £555.7m and the total dividend was lifted 5.5% to 54.1p a share.

Aggreko announced a final dividend as the power generator supplier said its markets were recovering after reporting an annual loss. Pretax loss for the year to the end of December was £73m compared with a £199m profit a year earlier as revenue fell 15% to £1.37bn. Underlying pretax profit before exceptional items fell to £102m from £109n. Aggreko proposed a final dividend of 10p a share, taking the annual payout to 15p compared with 9.38p in 2019 when it paid an interim dividend only. The company said it had positive momentum so far in 2021 and its finances were strong.

Electrocomponents announced the acquisition of industrial safety and personal protective equipment supplier John Liscome for £11m on Monday. The FTSE 250 company said combined with its Needlers operation, Liscombe would “significantly” expand its PPE expertise across more customer verticals, and help accelerate growth in the Europe, Middle East and Africa geography. It said the cash-free and debt-free acquisition was accretive to adjusted earnings per share, “comfortably” covering its group cost of capital within the first year.

Newspaper round-up

Uber has been accused of using “loaded questions” in a consultation with drivers, after a landmark court ruling handed workers rights to improved conditions. The firm may have to pay out over £100m in compensation to 10,000 drivers, after the UK supreme court ruled last week they are entitled to holiday pay, a company pension and the national minimum wage. Uber has previously argued that its 60,000 UK drivers are self-employed independent contractors with limited employment rights. - Guardian

A British private investigator and security consultant whose company has just completed a four-year contract to protect the UK’s embassy in Tel Aviv is linked to a string of telecommunications hacking complaints dating back more than 20 years, according to high court judgments. A court judgment that touches on the career history of Stuart Page – the 69-year-old founder of the private security and intelligence firm Page Group – noted last May that the businessman “operates in a world of covert surveillance in which agents acquire confidential information unlawfully”. - Guardian

The delayed reopening of hospitality will cost the sector £9bn, bosses have warned, as MPs demanded the Chancellor ramp up support for businesses at the Budget on Wednesday. In a letter sent to Rishi Sunak, a group of 80 MPs warned that pubs, restaurants and hotels have been “ravaged” by the coronavirus crisis and urged the Chancellor to invest in the sector to support the recovery. New figures by trade body UKHospitality revealed that the delayed reopening of businesses would cost £9bn in lost sales and other costs compared with reopening from April 1 and lifting all restrictions by June 21. - Telegraph

AstraZeneca has sold its stake in Moderna for more than $1 billion after the American biotechnology company’s shares soared on the back of its coronavirus vaccine breakthrough. The British-based drugs company has disposed of its 7.7 per cent holding, which had made it Moderna’s second largest investor last year. - The Times

Warren Buffett’s right-hand man has had enough of Wall Street’s latest craze. The world “would be better off without” blank-cheque companies, Charlie Munger declared last week. No matter that the boom surrounding such special purpose acquisition companies — “Spacs” in the vernacular — is continuing, with more shell vehicles landing on the American stock market every day. - The Times

US close

Stocks finished mixed on Wall Street on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing down 1.5% at 30,932.37.

The S&P 500 was 0.48% weaker at 3,811.15, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.56% higher at 13,192.35.