Sky rockets as US media giants eye Fox break-up

SHARES in Sky took off on Friday following reports that Comcast and Verizon were eyeing assets owned by 21st Century Fox, which owns a stake in the telecoms company.

Comcast, which has NBC and Universal Pictures on its roster of brands, is reportedly interested in certain assets owned by Fox, including its 39pc stake in Sky.

Liberum analysts said that if Comcast does bid, it is likely to want 100pc control of the asset so a transfer of ownership still means a full bid occurs.

‘What it also demonstrates is that Fox’s 39pc stake in Sky is still seen as a valuable asset by a number of outside parties,’ Liberum said.

Sky shares soared following the news, to lead the biggest risers in the FTSE 100. Shares were up by 4.1pc, or 37p, taking its price to 940p when trading closed. Liberum has a ‘buy’ rating on Sky and a price target of 1060p.

A downgrade issued by HSBC sent shares in water firm United

Utilities plunging by 4.4pc, or 36.5p, to 798p, to put it among the biggest fallers of the day.

Analysts at the bank said its earnings would be dented by rising inflation. ‘We expect earnings to be adversely affected by the current high levels of RPI as it has 53pc of its total debt index-linked,’ they added.

Pain for shareholders in South African private hospital group

Mediclinic for the second day in a row as investors stomached the news that it had not yet reached a deal for its takeover of UK-based Spire Healthcare Group.

Shares in Mediclinic ended the day at 555.5p, down by 4pc, or 23p, while Spire also traded lower at 269.7p, a fall of 1.4p, or 0.5pc. Building services company

T Clarke was boosted after releasing an upbeat trading statement and announcing the appointment of a non-executive director, Peter Maskell, who joins from Philips Electronics where he was chairman and managing director.

After entering 2017 ‘in an optimistic mood’, a T Clarke spokesman said its positive attitude had paid off, with results for the year ending December 31 due to be in line with expectations.

Analysts have predicted the firm will achieve underlying profit before taxation of £6.5m and revenues in excess of £300m.

Its shares climbed 5.6pc, or 4.12p, to close on 77.25p.

Shares in Petrofac enjoyed a much-needed boost yesterday as it was reported that US oilfield services giants Schlumberger and Halliburton were looking to swoop in on the troubled firm.

Its stock price jumped by 5.9pc, or 24.1p, to close the day at 431p. The rise will be welcomed by investors who have seen Petrofac’s share price plummet in recent months after it was investigated by the Serious Fraud Office for its alleged involvement in the Unaoil bribery scandal. City sources have suggested a price of around 600p per share under a proposed deal, significantly lower than its peak 946p price recorded prior to the SFO probe.

Investors in engineering solutions firm Versarien enjoyed a leap in the company’s share price after it announced a collaboration with one of the world’s largest consumer good groups. Keeping the name of its partner under wraps, Versarien said they would work together on research, development and testing of Versarien’s proprietary Nanene product.

Versarien has also kept its options open for agreements with other companies, adding that advanced negotiations continued with a number of multinational firms. Versarien was up by 12.9pc, or 2.75p, to 24p, as the markets ended trading.

As the markets closed, the FTSE 100 finished the day broadly flat on 7380.68.