⛽ Supermarket fuel pricing exposed

Good morning. In today’s update - the CMA blasted supermarkets over fuel pricing, AstraZeneca shares slumped after disappointing phase 3 trials and Haleon eyes an $800m sale of its nicotine gum business.

Markets

• Mixed fortunes for London’s markets on Monday as Friday’s momentum failed to carry over into the new week.

  • The large-cap FTSE 100 (-0.1%) finished marginally below the waterline, whilst the FTSE 250 closed up 0.5%.

• Miners provided support to markets after tracking metal prices higher.

  • Anglo American (+4.3%), Glencore (+3.2%) and Antofagasta (+2.5%) were amongst the biggest gainers.

Corporate News

Despite reporting relatively positive results from a phase 3 trial of its new lung cancer drug, AstraZeneca investors were left underwhelmed as shares dropped 8% on Monday; markets are thought to be worried that AZ failed to declare the results “clinically meaningful”, whilst there were also concerns around side effects. (Link, AZ)

Retailbook - the platform providing access to initial public offerings for retail investors - welcomed Crowdcube into the partnership; the crowdfunding platform joins banks including Peel Hunt, Rothschild, Numis and Jefferies, looking to democratise a process generally dominated by large asset managers. (Link, Background)

JD Sports announced its first franchise deal, opening 50 stores in the Middle East in partnership with Dubai-based GMG; CEO Regis Schultz claimed there was “massive untapped potential” in the region. (Link)

Deals

Listed GSK spinout Haleon is eyeing a potential sale of its nicotine gum business - Nicotinell - which is expected to be worth around $800m; the business is thought to be generating interest from both investment firms and other consumer companies. (Link, BBG)

A London-listed proptech bagged £500m in funding from Chetwood Financial, accelerating the origination of mortgages on its platform; LendInvest’s offering is targeted at professional landlords and consumers underserved by the large banks. (Link)

SEC Newgate agreed a $100m deal with private equity group Investcorp, with the Bahrain-based investor taking a majority stake in the business; the deal values the PR firm at $250m, with the capital injection earmarked to fund international expansion plans. (Times, Link)

Free London newspaper City AM has put itself up for sale after failing to raise new funding; the newspaper has struggled with surging input costs and changing commuter habits following the pandemic. (Link)

A Manchester-based medical research company has agreed to be acquired for around £17m, after an offer from diagnostics business Novacyt was recommended to shareholders. (Link)

In today’s VC update:

• Pulplex - a Diageo-backed sustainable materials company that designed the paper-based Johnnie Walker bottle - is set to announce a £20m Series C funding round. (Link)

• Camena Bioscience - a DNA synthesis platform providing synthetic genes to the pharmaceutical industry - raised a $10m Series A funding round led by listed investor Mercia. (Link)

Economy / General

Competition in the UK’s fuel market is “not working as it should”, according to the CMA, after an investigation found that retailers had increased margins by around 6p per litre over the last three years; of note, Asda’s fuel margins in 2023 were triple those of 2019. As part of the government’s proposals, petrol retailers will be forced to provide real-time pricing for consumers to compare. (Link, CMA)

The UK’s manufacturing sector slumped further into contraction during June, despite signs of easing price pressures and supply chain disruption; S&P’s monthly index hit 46.5 in June (below 50 signals contraction), down from 47.1 in May and the lowest level in six months. (Link, S&P)

Central London commercial property volumes slumped during the first half of the year, as rising interest rates had a “material” impact on pricing; data from JLL showed total investment dropped more than 50% compared to a year ago. (Link)

A recent survey showed that business confidence slumped in June, driven by fears over sticky inflation and the impact this would have on borrowing rates; the Institue of Directors survey was taken after the most recent Bank of England rate hike, with the index dropping to -31, from -6 in May. (BBG)

Fancy being cremated in water? Co-Op Funeralcare is looking to offer the service as a sustainable alternative to traditional methods. (Link)

🌎 Global Snapshot

News

Less than 24 hours after Tesla announced it had delivered a record number of vehicles over the last quarter, Rivian followed suit with a forecast-beating update to markets; the US-listed EV maker announced it built just shy of 14k vehicles over the last three months, above the 11k markets were expecting. Rivian shares jumped 17%. (Link)

Apple has been forced to pare back production plans for the newly announced Vision Pro headsets, due to the complexity of the device and the difficulty in assembling it. (Link, FT)

Twitter competitor Bluesky reported “record-high” traffic on Sunday, causing it to temporarily pause new sign-ups after Twitter announced restrictions on the number of tweets users could see. (Link)

A $12 phone is being released in India with the hopes of reaching the vast swathes of under-penetrated consumers; Reliance Jio - the telco unit of giant conglomerate Reliance Industries - will release the phone loaded with 4G and access to its own video and music streaming services. (Link)

Markets

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