1. Barratt strikes deal to buy fellow housebuilder Redrow for £2.5bn
On completion, Redrow shareholders will hold around 33% of the combined group and Barratt shareholders around 67%.
2. Sainsbury’s to boost shareholder returns under new strategy
Under the new three-year plan unveiled in today's statement, the UK’s second-largest supermarket said it is aiming to grow food volumes ahead of the market, improve customer satisfaction and implement £1 billion in cost savings.
3. FTSE 100: Stocks close near lows as Barratt and Sainsbury slide
At the close, London's blue-chip index was down 52.26 points at 7,629 while the FTSE 250 was 66.81 points lower at 19,104.53.
4. Uber hails ‘inflection point’ as earnings beat estimates
Final-quarter revenue totaled $9.9 billion and bookings were $37.6 billion, beating expectations for $9.8 billion and $37.1 billion respectively.
5. De Beers sees natural diamond recovery in 2024 as lab-grown prices crumble
According to StoneAlgo’s lab-grown diamond price tracker, the average price of a one-carat lab-grown diamond fell over 37% in the past 12 months, from more than $1,200 in February 2023 to around $750 today.