Telecoms hit by Corbyn plot to nationalise firms

ALMOST £1.6bn was wiped off the value of the UK’s three biggest telecoms companies after Labour’s latest nationalisation pledge.

Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has unveiled plans to create a ‘British Broadband’ public service, which would take BT’s fixed-line network under state control.

It would also mean the Government would have to come to arrangements with broadband providers such as Talk Talk, which use BT’s infrastructure.

BT’s shares had a rollercoaster day before closing 1.2pc, or 2.24p, at 193p, wiping £221m off its market value.

Vodafone dropped 3.1pc, or 4.98p, to 154.6p, losing £1.3bn in the process, while Talk Talk shed 2.8p, or 3p, to close at 105.6p.

Talk Talk boss Charles Dunstone lost more than £10m as the company’s shares stumbled, as he owns a 29.6pc stake in the firm.

As well as causing general alarm, Labour’s plan has stalled discussions Talk Talk has been having with interested parties to buy its

Fibre Nation business. Corbyn’s announcement overshadowed Talk Talk’s half-year results, which showed it swung back into the black with profit of £1m, compared with a £4m loss last year.

Profit warnings sent guarantor loans firm Non-Standard Finance and pub group Fuller, Smith &

Turner into the red. Non-Standard Finance shares dived 18.5pc, or 6.05p, to a record low of 26.6p after a poor third-quarter performance, weighed down by one of its branches in Buckinghamshire, meant its annual profits could be as much as 13pc lower than expected.

Fuller’s, meanwhile, warned the market its full-year profit before tax will be about the same as last year, when it made £31m – far short of forecasts it would make more than £40m this year.

It said the costs associated with selling its brewing business to Japan’s Asahi had been much higher than it anticipated. Shares fell 1pc, or 10p, to 1040p. Defence contractor Babcock

International gained (up 1.6pc, or 8.4p, to 524.4p) after it was officially handed a contract to build the UK’s newest fleet of warships at its Rosyth facility.

Babcock has half-year results out next Wednesday.

There was a mixed but relatively muted reaction from Asia-exposed stocks after Hong Kong confirmed it is in recession, following six months of anti-Government protests. Burberry, whose sales in Hong Kong have fallen sharply, rose 1pc, or 23p, to 2152, as much of the turmoil has largely been priced into its stock now.

Insurer Prudential edged up 0.3pc, or 3.5p, to 1311.5p

Banking giants had varying fortunes with HSBC recovering after early falls to close up 0.6pc, or 3.4p, at 573.7p. Standard Chartered fell 0.1pc, or 0.4p, to 703.2p.

The FTSE 100 rose 0.1pc, or 10.18 points, to 7302.94, while the

FTSE 250 rose 0.9pc, or 172.6 points, to 20404.40.

Wall Street stocks touched record intra-day highs last night as hopes grew that preliminary trade deal will be struck between the US and China.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6pc to 3115.22, the Nasdaq jumped 0.6pc to 8533.56, while the Dow Jones rose 0.6pc to 27935.12.

The mid-cap index was aided by a rally in First Group shares after regulator the Competition and Markets Authority said it could give the transport company’s joint venture the go-ahead to operate the West Coast Main Line rail service if changes are made to the bid. Shares jumped 7.9pc, or 8.3p, to 113.7p. Small- cap miner Pe tra D iamonds sold a 20 carat blue diamond from its Cullinan mine in South Africa for £11.6m. Shares soared 7.4pc, or 0.63p, to 9.13p.