John Laing agrees £2bn KKR takeover, Experian makes strong start to year

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 69 points lower on Wednesday, having closed up 0.02% to 7,034.24 on Tuesday.

Stocks to watch

British infrastructure group John Laing has agreed to a £2bn takeover by US buyout firm KKR. The two firms on Wednesday said KKR would pay 403p a share for Laing, a hefty premium to Tuesday’s closing price of 360p, and the UK company’s board planned to recommend the deal to shareholders. John Laing invests in transport, social and environmental public-private partnership programmes worldwide. It has also invested in the rollout of high-speed fibres in Germany with two small takeovers of regional telecoms businesses.

Experian said it made a strong start to the current financial year as the company reported a 14% increase in annual profit and fourth-quarter revenue growth at the top of guidance. Pretax profit rose to $1.08bn (£0.76bn) from $942m in the year to the end of March as statutory revenue increased 4% to $5.37bn. Organic revenue growth was 5% in the final quarter of the year. Experian said it made a strong start to the current year and expected organic revenue growth of 15-20% in the first quarter. The company held its annual dividend at 47 cents a share.

Ferguson reported “strong” revenue growth of 24.5% in its third quarter on Wednesday, to $5.92bn (£4.17bn), including 20.1% organic growth in the United States as market demand there accelerated through the quarter. The FTSE 100 company said gross margins were up 110 basis points year-on-year at 30.9%, as it passed through price in a period of “acute” inflation and channel mix improvement. It said its cost control measures ensured an underlying trading profit of $560m for the period, up $227m.

Newspaper round-up

Shell has faced a significant shareholder rebellion on a vote calling for the oil company to set firm targets to wind down fossil fuel production. A shareholder resolution calling for the Anglo-Dutch company to set binding carbon emissions reduction targets received 30% of votes at the oil company’s annual meeting on Tuesday. - Guardian

The New York attorney general’s office has opened a criminal investigation into Donald Trump’s company, increasing the legal risk for the former president and his family. Attorney general Letitia James has been investigating whether the Trump Organization falsely reported property values to secure loans and obtain economic and tax benefits. - Guardian

Transport for London has been given a stay of execution as bailout talks reach a deadlock over the £150m cost to reopen Hammersmith bridge. Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, granted TfL a 10-day extension after the most recent taxpayer funding expired. He said it would allow “for a longer-term offer to be made to move TfL onto a more financially sustainable footing”. - Telegraph

One of the City’s most successful bankers has reduced his legal claim against Santander to about €67 million, down from the €112 million he initially demanded after it rescinded a job offer. Andrea Orcel, 58, will appear in a court in Madrid today to bring a case against the Spanish bank, arguing that it had wrongly reversed its decision to make him chief executive two years ago. The hearing has been highly anticipated as Ana Botín, Santander’s executive chairwoman and one of the most senior figures in international finance, will appear as a witness. Roberto di Bernardini, Santander’s chief talent officer, also will give evidence. - The Times

Standard Life Aberdeen has set out plans to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by having its employees monitor their carbon footprint while working from home. The fund management group said that home working by staff had become its single biggest source of emissions after most of its employees switched to remote working because of the pandemic. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed weaker on Tuesday, even after some solid earnings from big-box retailers including Walmart, Home Depot and Macy's.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.78% at 34,060.66, while the S&P 500 lost 0.85% to 4,127.83 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.56% to 13,303.64.

The Dow closed 267.13 points lower on Tuesday, extending losses recorded in the previous session.

On the macro front, US homebuilders broke ground on far fewer new homes than expected last month, according to the Department of Commerce, with housing starts falling at a month-on-month clip of 9.5% to reach an annualised pace of 1.56m.

That was lower than consensus expectations for 1.70m.