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(Alliance News) - Gaming software provider Playtech on Thursday confirmed it has received a preliminary takeover approach from JKO Play, further complicating an existing deal with Australia's Aristocrat Leisure.
JKO is a company controlled by Eddie Jordan and Keith O'Loughlin. Sky News late Wednesday had first reported on the third approach for Playtech.
JKO has been provided with access to due diligence information, and talks are ongoing, Playtech said, though they are at an early stage. As such, there can be no guarantee JKO will make an offer for the company, it said.
In mid-October, Playtech agreed to be bought by Sydney-listed Aristocrat in a deal worth 680 pence per share or GBP2.1 billion in total. Then earlier this month, Playtech revealed that it also had received an initial approach from Gopher Investments. It said on Thursday that talks with Gopher continue.
Playtech shares were up 3.5% at 766.73 pence early Thursday.
Aristocrat in a response on Thursday said: "Aristocrat and Playtech are continuing to work together to implement the recommended acquisition. The regulatory approval process is on track with the timetable previously announced, and Aristocrat is focussed on progressing this quickly." It noted it has financing and gambling licenses in place.
Sydney-based manufactures gambling machines and casino management systems and also publishes mobile games. It shares closed down 3.6% on the ASX on Thursday.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.3% at 7,270.22
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Hang Seng: down 1.4% at 25,282.97
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.3% at 29,598.66
DJIA: closed down 211.17 points, or 0.6%, at 35,931.05
S&P 500: closed down 12.23 points, or 0.3%, at 4,688.67
Nasdaq Composite: closed down 52.28 points, or 0.3%, at 15,921.57
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EUR: up at USD1.1337 (USD1.1309)
GBP: up at USD1.3511 (USD1.3465)
USD: down at JPY114.01 (JPY114.51)
Gold: up at USD1,867.98 per ounce (USD1,864.44)
Oil (Brent): down at USD79.45 a barrel (USD81.58)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Thursday's Key Economic Events still to come
0830 EST US jobless claims
1000 EST US leading indicators
1030 EST US EIA weekly natural gas storage report
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The US threw its support behind negotiations on a treaty to curb plastic pollution, ending a key hold-up in international efforts to clean up the planet's oceans and save marine life. On a visit to the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US would back talks in the Kenyan capital in February on a treaty to address plastic. About eight million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans each year, killing or injuring one million birds and more than 100,000 marine mammals, according to UN figures. Blinken's statement is the latest US effort to ramp up environmental protection under President Joe Biden, who has made the fight against climate change a key domestic priority.
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The leaders of Germany's 16 states and Chancellor Angela Merkel are to hold hotly awaited pandemic talks on Thursday as the country's infection rates flare up again. The state premiers are seeking a unified approach to coronavirus rules and restrictions, amid a patchwork of strategies across the country. They are expected to debate issues such as rules on who can access public services, hospital capacity alert thresholds and how to boost Germany's current vaccination quota of around 68%. Neighbouring Austria recently began enforcing a lockdown only for unvaccinated individuals in response to surging infection rates.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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CITIGROUP INITIATES WAG PAYMENT SOLUTIONS WITH 'NEUTRAL' - TARGET 148 PENCE
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JEFFERIES INITIATES WAG PAYMENT SOLUTIONS WITH 'BUY' - TARGET 220 PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Royal Mail reported a surge in interim profit but warned on rising costs. Revenue for the half-year to September 26 rose 7.1% to GBP6.07 billion and pretax profit multiplied to GBP315 million from just GBP17 million year-on-year. Adjusted operating profit jumped to GBP404 million from GBP37 million. The parcels and letters delivery firm saw a recovery in profitability in its domestic unit and continued to benefit from a structural shift in parcel volumes from the Covid-19 pandemic. The company declared an interim dividend of 6.7p, having paid none last year. It also will pay a special dividend worth GBP200 million in total and also will start a GBP200 million share buyback immediately. It didn't provide the per-share amount of the special dividend. However, Royal Mail warned that inflationary pressures are set to persist. It flagged an increase in employer national insurance contributions and costs of the shorter working week, adding that fuel and energy hedges will start to unwind.
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The chief executive of Asia-focused lender HSBC Holdings backed Hong Kong's decision to mirror China's zero-Covid strategy, despite rising concern within the finance industry over the business hub's international isolation. Hong Kong has maintained some of the world's harshest quarantine measures and travel restrictions during the pandemic. The strategy has kept infections low but ensured a business hub that dubs itself "Asia's World City" has been cut off internationally for the past 20 months. HSBC CEO Noel Quinn said he supported that approach. "It's important for Hong Kong to establish what they need to establish with China on reopening," he said in an interview with Bloomberg. "I don't want to do anything that may jeopardise that. I would love to get back to Hong Kong as soon as I can and when the authorities feel it's right for me to go back, I will," he added.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Rotork said order intake has remained strong, but supply chain disruption is set to continue at least in the near-term. Order intake in the four months to October 31 was up a "high single digit percentage" year-on-year on an organic constant currency basis. However, Rotork said component sourcing over the past few months has become difficult, resulting in revenue over the four-month period being down year-on-year and hitting margins. "The growth in order intake seen in the second quarter has continued over the summer and through October, in-line with our expectations. However, we anticipate the supply chain disruption currently being experienced will continue at least in the near term," said Rotork. The maker of flow-control products for energy, water and chemical industries expects second half revenue similar to the first half with adjusted operating margins "slightly ahead" of the first half.
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Housebuilder Crest Nicholson said full-year adjusted pretax profit is expected to be slightly ahead of consensus of GBP101.2 million due to a bigger-than-expected contribution from the Longcross Film Studio. "While the trading environment remains robust, it has been a challenging operational environment for our sector as we have emerged from the pandemic, with disruption to supply chains and the availability of materials. I am delighted that our teams have remained focused on implementing our strategy and have managed to successfully navigate our way through these issues," said Chief Executive Peter Truscott.
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COMPANIES - MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Carlyle Group and Metro Bank have agreed to end talks over a possible takeover offer by the private equity firm for the retail bank. Both parties announced the decision but neither gave a reason. "The board continues to strongly believe in the standalone strategy and future prospects of Metro Bank," the lender said.
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COMPANIES - GLOBAL
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Indian mobile payments giant Paytm lost a quarter of its value on its market debut Thursday, after raising USD2.5 billion in the country's biggest-ever IPO, as traders questioned whether the loss-making firm would ever turn a profit. While Paytm has established a leading position in the fast-growing marketplace for mobile payments, it has lost money in each of the past three years. The company's shares tanked more than 25% from their IPO price of 2,150 rupees within minutes of the open, before recovering slightly.
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Alphabet's Google and Agence France Presse have agreed on a deal for the internet giant to pay the French news agency for online content. The five-year agreement marks the first by a news agency under the 2019 European copyright directive on so-called neighbouring rights, AFP reported. The EU amendment was aimed at updating the bloc's outdated copyright law for the digital age and ensuring authors receive better remuneration for content published online. Google initially refused to pay for republished content, but suffered a defeat at the Paris Court of Appeal in October 2020.
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Amazon.com has banned UK-issued credit cards from Visa due to what it called "high fees", the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. The newspaper said Amazon wrote to some UK customers, advising them to switch to a different payments method and blaming "high fees Visa charges for processing credit card transactions". Amazon's ban is due to come into force at the start of next year. Among the methods suggested are Amazon-branded credit cards from both American Express and Mastercard as well as the Ocean Credit card issued by Capital One Financial. The ban doesn't apply to Visa debit cards or its credit cards issued outside the UK.
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Thursday's Shareholder Meetings
Avast PLC - GM re takeover by NortonLifeLock
Avingtrans PLC - AGM
Close Brothers Group PLC - AGM
Eagle Eye Solutions Group PLC - AGM
Finsbury Food Group PLC - AGM
FirstGroup PLC - GM re tender offer
Fonix Mobile PLC - AGM
FW Thorpe PLC - AGM
IronRidge Resources Ltd - AGM re gold demerger, name change
James Halstead PLC - AGM
JD Wetherspoon PLC - AGM
Litigation Capital Management Ltd - AGM
Maestrano Group PLC - AGM
Omni Egis PLC - GM - re cancellation of AQSE listing
Panthera Resources PLC - AGM
President Energy PLC - GM re dividend in specie of shares in Atome Energy
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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