💼 Cracks Appear in Hiring Markets

Top Stories

💼  Recruiter Robert Walters warned of cracks in hiring markets

London-listed recruiter Robert Walters saw shares drop 2.5% on Thursday as it warned of a “slower start” to 2023 amid uncertainty in the hiring markets. Poor performance in the UK and US was driven by continued layoffs in the technology sector, whilst China saw a 44% drop in fee income owing to pandemic disruption. On a more positive note, European markets held strong and the recruiter said that global market fundamentals such as vacancy levels and salary inflation “remained robust”. (Official)

📣  KKR eyes stake in $1.4bn UK-owned PR firm

Buyout fund KKR is reportedly nearing a deal to acquire 30% of PR firm FGS, valuing it at around $1.4bn. FGS, a subsidiary of UK advertising giant WPP (which own 57%), focusses on clients in the financial services sector (of which KKR is one) and was a leading M&A adviser in 2022. KKR will acquire the stake from a number of FGS employees as well as from WPP itself; the FT reported that WPP is expected to remain a majority shareholder.

🏠 Halifax report bucks trend to show an increase in house prices

Halifax’s monthly housing report revealed a contradictory view last week, which showed prices increased 0.8% between February to March (a 1.6% annualised increase from March 2022). The data contrasted with rival Nationwide, who reported a 3.1% annualised fall to March, with some suggesting a sharp decline in mortgage approvals is adding to volatility (both Halifax and Nationwide prepare house price data based on mortgage approvals).

The S&P construction PMI also painted a different picture, with the monthly survey showing the steepest decline in housebuilding activity since the height of the pandemic in May 2020, amid lower demand.

What Else Happened?

Economics / Politics / General

Amazon finds itself in the crosshairs of the Competition and Markets Authority again, this time in scrutiny of its $1.7bn acquisition of iRobot.

Rent collection dipped for the first time since December 2020 in a worrying sign for the commercial real estate market.

Deals

Durham-based fintech Atom Bank is preparing to launch a £100m pre-IPO funding round, with Jefferies appointed as advisers.

The CEO of Canadian mining company Teck Resources called Glencore’s bid a “non-starter”, urging shareholders to vote in favour of the group’s restructuring instead.

Customer-owned, ‘shoppable’ social network WeShop is reconsidering plans to list on the NASDAQ following the pullback in tech valuations.

World Chess completed its IPO on the London Stock Exchange, valued at around £40m; the £3m raised as part of the listing will be used to further develop its online playing platform.

London bagged a small win in the fight for talent as US-based rights management software firm Fadel Partners listed on the LSE in £30m IPO.

Company News / Trading Updates

A day of ups and downs for THG - the eCommerce group’s shares rose 2% as it announced a 10-year strategic partnership with beauty retailer Maximo Group; Separately, the group announced it would close its OnDemand business after a strategic review, putting 180 jobs at risk.

Holiday company TUI saw a 12% jump in shares on Thursday as it hailed a return to pre-pandemic activity, with customers looking for “guaranteed” Easter sun. (Official)

🌎 Global Snapshot

New Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said the central bank would stick to its ultra-loose monetary policy for now, but admitted it must also avoid being too late in normalising; the Yen dropped in response

The US labour market remains tight as the unemployment rate ticked back down to 3.5% in March (from 3.6%), with the economy adding 236k nonfarm payrolls, in line with expectations; markets remain confident the Fed will raise rates again in May

Ride hailing app Careem (owned by Uber) is planning a $400m spinout of its non-ride services into a separate company, with UAE tech giant e& taking a 50% stake

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