Will Burberry merge with US handbag firm Coach?

A finAnciAl blog sent the rumour mill into overdrive and

Burberry shares soaring when it speculated that the luxury retailer was in talks to merge with US brand coach.

The pair were rumoured to be speaking to financial advisers at investment bank Evercore about the prospect of a deal which would create a £16bn luxury clothing giant. Burberry, which had slipped earlier this week as it reported struggling sales in Asia, climbed as much as 7pc on the rumours.

Shares fell back when one source rebutted the rumours. Another said a merger wouldn’t work because the two company’s strategies were very different.

nicholas Hyett, equity analyst at Hargreaves lansdown, said: ‘i always imagined that if Burberry were to arm itself with a handbag it would be a Mulberry one.

‘if rumours that US bag maker coach is looking at a merger with Burberry do prove true, our dreams of a merger with Mulberry that creates Bur-Bags and Mul-Macks may never come to fruition.’

neither coach nor Burberry commented on the speculation. Bur- berry shares eased off towards the end of the day but still finished 3.1pc higher, or 45p, at 1495p.

Brokers said Acacia Mining had the Midas touch when it reported gold production was up 25pc. The business, which produces gold in Africa, also cut cash costs by 26pc in the third quarter of the year.

At £233.2m, revenue was up 48pc on the same period a year ago. With 206,726 ounces of gold produced over the past three months, Acacia said the full year figure is now expected to be 5pc higher than it had forecast. Shares rose 12.7pc, or 59.8p, to 529p.

The FTSE 100 finished the week above 7000 but was down 0.1pc, or 6.43 points, at 7020.47 on the day.

Anglo American was the highest riser on friday. JP Morgan provided a boost when it increased its target price for the stock. Shares closed up 2.8pc, or 30p, at 1094p. Parcel and logistics company DX

Group announced that an investigation by the competition and Markets Authority had been completed and no further action is being taken.

The regulator had been looking into DX’s acquisition of the assets of The legal Post and first Post limited, a deal which had been completed at the end of May. The cMA wanted to check whether the acquisitions would substantially reduce competition in the sector.

With the all-clear delivered, DX can now get on with integrating the assets into its business. Shares finished flat at 18.75p.

Time Out ticked up as it announced the acquisition of YPlan, an online ticketing platform. YPlan, founded in 2012, is a natural fit for Aim-listed media business Time Out, which is largely known for its listings magazine and website. Time Out said the £1.6m deal would accelerate its monetisation strategy, as YPlan’s advanced technology would allow it to offer more online booking opportunities to its audience.

YPlan recorded a pre-tax loss of £6.2m in 2015, though Time Out said the business had cut its costs and materially reduced its losses in the current year. Time Out advanced 1.8pc, or 2.5p, to 143.5p. Aim-listed brick-maker Michel

mersh plunged as it said prices had fallen. The firm, which had previously expected figures to pick up in the second half of the year, said average selling prices and an increase in competition suggest there will be little or no recovery at the start of 2017.

Michelmersh has revised its annual forecasts and said revenue and profit are likely to be similar to 2015. Shares fell 18.6pc, or 11.75p, to 51.25p. Oxford BioMedica was the highest riser on the index of smaller companies after getting the seal of approval from one broker.

Jefferies has put a ‘buy’ rating on the biotech business with a target price of 8p a share. Analysts said it has established itself as an industry leader. Shares climbed 5.3pc, or 0.16p, to 3.16p.