The London Report: UK-Listed Tobacco Groups Join Slump

Source from:  Financial Times 04/27/2018

British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands slumped after Philip Morris said sales growth had slowed for its heated tobacco pipe, which raised fresh doubts about whether the companies’ next-generation products can compensate for declining cigarette sales.

Shire led the FTSE 100 gainers after Takeda confirmed that it had made a £42bn takeover proposal, which the drugmaker rejected while keeping talks live. US peer Allergan said it had been examining a potential counter offer.

Ultra Electronics slipped after the defence engineer called in the Serious Fraud Office to investigate “suspected corruption” at its Algerian arm.

WPP rallied after French advertising group Publicis reported unexpectedly strong organic sales growth for March.

A Credit Suisse upgrade to “neutral” helped lift HSBC. An analysts’ tour of Asia suggested the region’s strong results in 2017 were not exceptional, with growth drvein by franchise improvements rather than markets, the Swiss bank said.

Intu Properties fell for a second day in the wake of Hammerson trying to scrap its bid to buy the shopping centre group. Barclays, cutting Intu to “underweight”, said a rival bidder was unlikely to emerge.
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