Britain’s FTSE wilts though Worldpay surges, shares reach new high

LONDON: A rally in Worldpay shares to a record high was not enough to offset a broad- based decline among British shares, after a strong start to the second half for the UK’s top share index.

Britain’s blue- chip FTSE 100 index ended down 0.3 per cent at 7,357.23 points, having broken a four-day losing streak in the previous session. Mid caps declined 0.1 per cent. Payment processor Worldpay rocketed 27.7 per cent after news it received competing bids from US credit card technology firm Vantiv and JPMorgan Chase Bank.

Analysts said other companies might now be interested in bidding.

“We believe Worldpay is a unique asset, and the current interest from two US peers could also trigger the intention of parties like Google, Amazon, Apple,” a note from Mediobanca Securities said.

This comes after Danish peer Nets rose in the previous session when it confirmed that it had received an offer from potential buyers.

Tuesday saw banking stocks ease 0.8 per cent, following strong gains in the previous session.

Oil stocks ended flat as oil prices stabilised near US$ 50 a barrel on signs that US crude production may be slowing. Shares in BP fell 0.3 per cent. HSBC and Standard Chartered were 1.1 per cent and 0.6 per cent lower.

Results helped shares in grocer Sainsbury edge around 0.3 per cent higher.

Britain’s second-largest supermarket said sales growth accelerated in its latest quarter, helped by inflation and warm weather.

Shares in peer Morrison nudged 0.4 per cent higher. Tesco was down 0.1 per cent. The impact of inflation, both on wages and on the cost of food imports, has been a cause for concern for British supermarkets since sterling’s drop after Britain voted to leave the European Union last June. — Reuters