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(Alliance News) - The Irish government on Tuesday confirmed it has reduced its stake in AIB Group, though it still retains a majority holding following the taxpayer bailout of the Dublin-based bank during the financial crisis over a decade ago.
The Irish Department of Finance said it sold 133.9 million AIB shares, or a 5% stake, at a price of EUR2.28 per share,worth EUR304.8 million in total. The placing was run by Goldman Sachs and Goodbody Stockbrokers as joint bookrunners.
AIB shares were down 6.4% at 198.50 pence per share in London early Tuesday.
This brings the Irish state's shareholding down to 63.5%.
"It is an important development in the process of returning the state's investment in the group and a normalisation of the share register. AIB owes the Irish taxpayer an immense debt of gratitude for its support during the financial crisis," AIB Chief Executive Colin Hunt said.
Last week, the UK government said it will continue to sell down its own stake in NatWest Group for another year. Similar to AIB, NatWest, then Royal Bank of Scotland Group, was bailed out by taxpayers in 2008. The UK government is further along in its exit, however, currently holding a 48.5% stake.
NatWest shares were up 0.9% early Tuesday.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 1.1% at 7,334.49
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Hang Seng: up 0.8% at 22,407.97
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.7% at 27,049.47
S&P/ASX 200: closed up 0.9% at 6,763.60
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DJIA: closed down 62.42 points, or 0.2%, at 31,438.26
S&P 500: closed down 0.3% at 3,900.11
Nasdaq Composite: closed down 0.7% at 11,524.55
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EUR: down at USD1.0595 (USD1.0608)
GBP: down at USD1.2290 (USD1.2303)
USD: up at JPY135.50 (JPY135.19)
Gold: up at USD1,828.10 per ounce (USD1,822.51)
Oil (Brent): up at USD116.80 a barrel (USD114.74)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Tuesday's key economic events still to come
G7 summit in Germany concludes.
1100 BST Ireland retail sales
0855 EDT US API weekly statistical bulletin
1000 EDT US consumer confidence survey
1630 EDT US Johnson Redbook retail sales index
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to meet Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto in Madrid on Tuesday to discuss the stalled Swedish and Finnish bids to join the NATO alliance. Erdogan, who is currently blocking both bids, has accused the two countries of supporting terrorist groups that are banned in Turkey and showed no readiness to compromise on Turkey's position ahead of the talks. "Tomorrow we will go to the NATO summit in Spain and do everything necessary in accordance with the rights and interests of our country," Erdogan said on Monday, according to government sources.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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JPMorgan cuts Severn Trent to 'underweight' (neutral) - price target 2,700 (2,675) pence
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JPMorgan starts abrdn with 'neutral' - price target 187 pence
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JPMorgan cuts Trustpilot price target to 135 (168) pence - 'neutral'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Power utility SSE said its thermal power generation subsidiary SSE Thermal, together with Equinor, have entered into an agreement to acquire Triton Power Holdings from Energy Capital Partners for a total of GBP341 million, shared equally between the two partners. SSE said the joint venture is intended to drive decarbonisation of the UK's power system whilst contributing to security of supply and grid stability through "flexible power generation in the shorter term". Following completion, SSE Thermal and Equinor will jointly own and run Triton Power on a 50:50 basis. Triton Power operates the Saltend power station, which is a 1.2 gigawatt combined cycle gas turbine and combined heat and power station located on the north of the Humber Estuary in East Yorkshire. Catherine Raw, managing director of SSE Thermal, said: "Flexible energy will be absolutely essential as renewable energy scales up over the coming years, providing vital back-up while protecting security of supply. But the real prize will be how we decarbonise that flexible energy over the longer term, and we are excited, in particular, by the hydrogen and carbon capture opportunities at Saltend. Together with Equinor, we will explore every avenue to decarbonise Saltend and create new opportunities at other assets so they can play a continued role in a net zero future."
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Speciality chemicals firm Croda International said it has entered into an agreement with the US government. The agreement will see Washington provide up to USD75 million to expand Croda's US manufacturing capacity of ingredients for lipid systems used in novel therapeutic drugs, such as mRNA vaccines. Croda said it will invest up to USD58 million itself, bringing the total project investment to up to USD133 million. This spend is included within the company's existing capital expenditure programme, outlined in the 2021 annual results, it noted. The award was by the US Biomedical Advanced Research & Development Authority, which sits within the US Department of Health & Human Services. Lipid systems offer potential as the delivery system for a wide range of nucleic acid applications, including novel mRNA-based therapeutics, such as flu vaccines and cancer treatments.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Jupiter Fund Management said Chief Executive Officer Andrew Formica is to retire from his role and the board on October 1. Formica will be succeeded by Chief Investment Officer Matthew Beesley at that time. Jupiter said Beesley will be appointed to the board and promoted to deputy CEO with immediate effect and will retain his CIO responsibilities during the transition.
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COMPANIES - SMALL CAP
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International money transfer provider Wise reported a 7.1% rise in pretax profit, to GBP43.9 million in the financial year that ended March 31 from GBP41.1 million the year before, as revenue jumped by 33% to GBP559.9 million from GBP421.0 million. Profit was held back by an even larger rise in administrative expenses, up 48% to GBP321.4 million from GBP217.5 million. Wise said it expects revenue to grow by between 30% and 35% in the new financial year. Wise on Monday had said the UK Financial Conduct Authority has opened an investigation into Co-Founder & Chief Executive Kristo Kaarmann after a tax breach.
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COMPANIES - GLOBAL
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Algerian state energy firm Sonatrach announced the discovery of an "important" deposit of gas condensate in the Hassi R'mel field in the Sahara desert. "Sonatrach announced today that it has identified a significant potential of hydrocarbons...at the level of the Hassi R'mel exploitation perimeter," a statement by the firm said. The deposit is estimated to have between 100 and 340 billion cubic metres of gas condensate, the statement said. "These volumes constitute one of the largest revaluations of reserves in the last 20 years," it added. Sonatrach plans to start operating the field in November, with production expected to reach 10 million cubic metres per day. Algeria has proven natural gas reserves of about 2.4 trillion cubic metres and supplies Europe with about 11% of its gas imports. Sonatrach said in February that it was prepared to increase supplies to Europe in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In May, the Algerian firm signed a memorandum of understanding with Italy's Eni to boost gas exploration in the North African country.
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Tuesday's shareholder meetings
4D Pharma PLC - AGM
Acceler8 Ventures PLC - AGM
Airtel Africa PLC - AGM
Alina Holdings PLC - AGM
Aquila Energy Efficiency Trust PLC - AGM
Attraqt Group PLC - AGM
Bay Capital PLC - AGM
Capital & Counties Properties PLC - AGM
CMO Group PLC - AGM
Corre Energy BV - AGM
Creo Medical Group PLC - AGM
Futura Medical PLC - AGM
Gama Aviation PLC - AGM
ICG Enterprise Trust PLC - AGM
ImmuPharma PLC - AGM
IQE PLC - AGM
Katoro Gold PLC - AGM
Rockhopper Exploration PLC - AGM
Sound Energy PLC - AGM
TP Group PLC - AGM
UK Oil & Gas PLC - AGM
Volvere PLC - AGM
Zegona Communications PLC - AGM
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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