Giving up oil is a ‘fantasy’, says Saudi Aramco chief

Thanks for joining us today. Chris Price will be back in the morning, but I’ll leave you with some of the latest pieces from elsewhere at The Telegraph:

• Heathrow has lost its status as a global transport hub, says Dubai Airports boss
• Cut borrowing or face debt crisis, warns top central banker
• Don’t use ‘threatening’ tone when chasing debts to protect borrowers’ mental health, companies told

Cocktail bar operator Nightcap has revealed higher losses and cautioned over “challenging” trading since the start of the year.

Its boss, the former Dragons’ Den panellist Sarah Willingham, said conditions will remain challenging for the next few months. But she predicted it will see a gradual recovery later this year after expected reductions in inflation, energy costs and interest rates.

The group, which owns Cocktail Club and Dirty Martini venues, revealed sales of £33.4m for the six months to December 31, compared with £23.5m over the same period a year earlier.

Sales were boosted by the group’s continued expansion through acquisitions.

Nightcap also confirmed that it dropped to a £1.8m pre-tax loss for the past half-year, from a £0.9m loss a year earlier.

Mike Lynch, former chief executive of  Autonomy, pictured, has arrived at a Federal court in San Francisco today.

Mr Lynch has been charged with 16 counts of fraud related to the sale of Autonomy, the former FTSE 100 software company, to Hewlett Packard in 2011. He denies the charges.

The Silicon Valley company wrote down almost all the value of the £7bn deal a year later and claimed accounting improprieties.

US prosecutors allege that Autonomy executives inflated the company’s value with illegal accounting practices, while Mr Lynch has insisted that HP destroyed value by mismanaging the company.

Ditching oil and gas is a “fantasy” amid increasing demand, one of the world’s most powerful oil and gas bosses has said.

Amin Nasser, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, said the transition to net zero is “visibly failing” with oil demand set to rise for “some time to come”.

“The current discourse on energy transition ignores this reality,” he told the CERAWeek conference in Texas.

“The world should abandon the fantasy of phasing out oil and gas.”

Rising demand from developing economies could feed oil demand growth through 2045, he said.

This forecast for long-term demand growth is in line with forecasts from Opec and in contrast to the 2030 forecast for peak demand from the West’s energy watchdog, the International Energy Agency.

The two are far apart on both short-term and long-term demand forecasts, in part because of their contrasting views on the energy transition.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from hydrocarbons through carbon capture and other technologies achieves better results than alternative energies, Nasser said.

New energy sources and technologies should only be introduced when they are genuinely ready, and economically competitive, he added.

Without government subsidies, electric vehicles are as much as 50pc more expensive than internal-combustion cars, he added. “They cannot be subsidised forever.”

The FTSE 100 closed down 0.06pc today. Insurer Beazley was the biggest riser, up 2.97pc, followed by British American Tobacco, up 2.50pc. The biggest faller was pensions firm Phoenix, down 4.50pc, followed by Vodafone, down 3.61pc.

The FTSE 250 was down 0.14pc. The biggest riser was Currys, up 6.01pc, followed by PPHE Hotel Group, up 5.99pc. The biggest faller was landscaping products seller Marshalls, down 8.53pc, followed by software supplier Bytes Technology, down 7.50pc.

EasyJet expects to grow “more than any other European airline this summer,” and bookings for the busy travel period are strong, chief executive Johan Lundgren has claimed.

The British carrier is still on track to grow 8pc this summer, he said.

Passenger capacity at EasyJet is set to return to pre-pandemic levels later this year, while business travel is picking up quickly and could potentially reach 2019 levels as well, he added.

EasyJet has managed to avoid the delivery delays and aircraft shortages that have dogged customers of Boeing, as well as Airbus operators that use Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engines on its A320-series jets. 

“It is a difficult environment, but certainly I think we will be better off than any competitor,” Lundgren said.

Low-cost leader Ryanair was forced to reduce its annual passenger forecast this year due to Boeing 737 Max delays. Another budget rival, Wizz Air, has had to ground some of its A320-family planes because of issues with Pratt turbines.

EasyJet’s all-Airbus fleet is powered by engines from CFM International and hasn’t been hit by those snags.

EasyJet on Monday opened its first UK base in more than a decade at Birmingham Airport.

Apple is in advanced negotiations with Google to adopt its powerful Gemini AI models for the iPhone, which has sent Google’s share price up 5.6pc today. Apple shares are up 1.5pc.

But according to Colin Sebastian, an analyst at Baird, this risks concentrating power in Google’s hands. He said:

For Google, any hypothetical deal with Apple could mean they essentially “own” generative AI on mobile devices (Android and iOS).

It also means Apple may not be in a position to catch-up to GenAI leaders, at least not in the next generation of devices.

China’s property crisis deepened last month as housing sales plunged and builders cut back on new developments. Deputy economics editor Tim Wallace reports:

Challenges across the country’s real estate sector were laid bare in new figures for February that revealed properties sold fell by more than a fifth year-on-year.

This led to a 9pc drop-off in overall investment across the real estate sector, which continues to struggle under the weight of an underwhelming recovery from Covid.

The amount of floorspace under construction in China was also down 29.7pc year-on-year.

Lynn Song, economist at ING, said confidence in the industry remains weak, as he warned that the property market will keep shrinking through 2024.

“The sentiment index has yet to bottom out as well, falling further from 93.34 at the end of 2023 to 92.13 in February, a new all-time low,” he said.

“With little sign of a turnaround in sentiment so far, we expect property to remain a major drag on growth this year.”

The data came as Hui Ka Yan, the founder and former chairman of property giant Evergrande, was given a lifetime ban from participating in China’s stock markets.

Read the full story...

Global demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) is picking up due to a recent fall in prices, Shell chief Wael Sawan said today at a conference in Houston.

LNG shipping has seen little impact from attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, he said.

The LNG market will be well supplied in the second half of the decade, he added. The boss of rival TotalEnergies meanwhile warned of near-term tightness in the LNG market that would not abate until 2026.

Most high-tech growth stocks have jumped today, with Google-owner Alphabet gaining 8.8pc after a report that Apple is in talks to build Google’s Gemini AI engine into the iPhone.

Tesla rose 5.8pc after the electric carmaker said it would increase the price of its Model Y electric cars in some European countries on March 22, by approximately £1,700.

Focus will also be on AI-darling Nvidia, which kicks off its annual developer conference, with investors focused on potential new chip announcements from chief executive Jensen Huang in a keynote address. The chipmaker climbed 0.8pc.

Rivals Micron Technology and Intel added 1.8pc and 0.21pc, respectively, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor index climbed 0.5pc.

This morning we reported on news that Pfizer plans to sell around 630m shares in Haleon in the coming weeks. This will take Pfizer’s stake in Haleon down to 24pc from 32pc, which follows sell-offs by Pfizer’s joint venture partner GSK.

Hannah Boland has more on how the founders have been selling out:

On its debut, around 45pc of shares in the company were held by GSK and Pfizer, which had created the company in 2019 as a joint venture of their consumer health businesses.

The planned share sale marks the first step in Pfizer’s push to exit its position. It previously said it would do so “in a disciplined manner” to maximise value for its own shareholders.

Haleon owns brands including Centrum vitamins, Sensodyne toothpaste and Panadol pain relief. It recently sold off its Lamisil antifungal cream and Chapstick brands as it focuses on reducing its debt pile. By the end of 2023, it had reduced its debt by more than £2bn since its spin-off from GSK.

GSK has already started selling down its position in Haleon. Last May, it sold 240m shares, taking its stake from 13pc down to 10.3pc . In October, it offloaded another 270m worth of shares and cut its position to 4.2pc in January this year.

Pfizer’s decision to start paring its stake back comes as it looks to focus more on its medicines and vaccines.

The US drugmaker is currently battling to bolster its pipeline of treatments after the end of a boost from the Covid pandemic, when it sold billions of dollars worth of its jabs.

Soho House, the group of private members clubs, could be taken private, according to report. 

Reuters said that CC Capital is one of the suitors in talks to take the group private.

Shares in Soho House, which is listed in New York, are up more than 15pc today. 

Reuters reported that the talks with CC Capital have been on and off since late last year, and a deal is uncertain, the sources said.

Soho Executive Chairman Ron Burkle’s investment firm Yucaipa and Soho founder Nick Jones collectively own about three-quarters of the company.

Mr Burkle, in an open letter to Soho shareholders on Monday, reportedly said the stock market, which values Soho at about $1.8bn (£1.4bn), including debt, is not giving the company its true worth. Soho’s stock has lost more than 50pc of its value since the company floated its shares in 2021.

Soho House has been approached for comment. CC Capital declined to comment.

Global stocks have jumped today, while Treasury yields crept higher, as investors looked ahead to a raft of central bank meetings this week that could see the end of free money in Japan and a blueprint for US rate cuts this year.

Upbeat industrial output and retail sales data from China have also helped.

In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen 0.41pc, the S&P 500 gained 0.92pc, and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.28pc.

Tuesday could see Japan end the longest run of negative interest rates in history, after its companies decided on the biggest pay hikes in 33 years.

However, there is a chance the Bank of Japan might wait for its April meeting, given it will be issuing updated economic forecasts then.

Japan’s Nikkei closed up 2.7pc, while Shanghai’s blue chip index finished up about 1pc.

I’m heading off now and Alex Singleton will be typing like the wind as he keeps you up to speed with the latest.

Speaking of which, Sir James Dyson has unveiled his company’s new Supersonic Nural hair dryer which will be unveiled soon.

It will not come cheap, mind you, retailing at £399.99 soon.

More than half of the money allocated to government heat pump grants so far has gone unspent as installers battle red tape and lower-than-expected demand from households. 

Our industry editor Matt Oliver has the latest:

Through the boiler upgrade scheme, consumers can claim a voucher worth £7,500 towards the cost of getting a heat pump fitted in their home. 

But despite the scheme getting a budget of £300m for its first two financial years, 58pc of the cash remains unspent after demand fell short of expectations.

From the boiler upgrade scheme’s launch in May 2022 to the end of February this year, just £127m of vouchers have been redeemed, according to official figures published on Friday. 

That was after 35,700 voucher applications were received but only 22,300 redeemed. 

With just one month left before the end of the scheme’s second financial year, the numbers fall far short of the 60,000 vouchers the scheme was designed to have funded by this point. 

It also comes after the Government increased the amount of money available in October, from £5,000 per household to £7,500. 

The boss of the world’s largest oil company has said the switch to renewable sources of energy is “visibly failing” and the governments should “abandon the fantasy of phasing out oil and gas”.

Saudi Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser told the fossil fuels conference CERAWeek that a peak in worldwide oil demand is unlikely for “for some time to come, let alone 2030,” as forecast by the International Energy Agency.

He said crude demand would reach an all-time high during the second half of this year, with significant growth potential in developing countries.

He added that without government subsidies, electric vehicles are as much as 50pc more expensive than internal-combustion cars,

He said: “They cannot be subsidised forever.”

He told the conference in Houston: 

We should abandon the fantasy of phasing out oil and gas, and instead invest in them adequately, reflecting realistic demand assumptions. 

We should phase in new energy sources and technologies when they are genuinely ready, economically competitive.

One of the most “hawkish” policymakers at the Bank of England who has consistently voted for interest rate increases has been reappointed to her position.

Catherine Mann will serve a second three-year term on the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) which sets interest rates, the Treasury announced.

Her first term was due to end later this summer, and she will now remain in place on the nine-member MPC until the end of August 2027.

Ms Mann, a former chief economist at the OECD and Citibank, was one of two interest rate setters who still voted to increase borrowing costs further in February, even as another colleague voted for cuts in a three-way split. 

The Bank of England held interest rates steady at 5.25pc and makes its next decision on Thursday.

Rishi Sunak has set out plans to support female entrepreneurs, cut red tape for businesses, and boost apprenticeships.

The Prime Minister said he wants the UK to be the “best place in the world” for women to start a business.

He also pledged to create up to 20,000 more apprenticeships with plans to fully fund training for young people.

Speaking at a business event in Coventry, Mr Sunak said: 

Female founders receive just 2pc of equity investment and that figure hasn’t budged in a decade.

So, to change that, we’re announcing a new Invest In Women taskforce led by Hannah Bernard from Barclays and serial entrepreneur Debbie Wosskow. It’s going to raise a female-focused investment fund to address that gap directly.

We’re going to make the UK the best place in the world to be a female founder.

So, lower taxes, less admin, better access to finance - that’s how we’re backing our small businesses.

Asked whether he ever abuses his ketamine prescription, Elon Musk said: “I don’t think so.”

He told Don Lemon:

If you use too much ketamine you can’t really get work done. I have a lot of work.

I typically put in 16-hour days. That’s normal for me. It’s rare for me to even take off a weekend day.

So I don’t really have a situation where I can be not mentally acute for an extended period of time. 

I can’t really get wasted because I can’t get my work done.

He said he takes a “small amount” once every other week.

The main US stock indexes opened higher amid a rally in megacap growth stocks and chipmakers ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s meeting this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 112.16 points, or 0.3pc, at the open to 38,826.93.

The S&P 500 opened higher by 37.68 points, or 0.7pc, at 5,154.77, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 181.75 points, or 1.1pc, to 16,154.92 at the opening bell.

Elon Musk did not rule out endorsing Donald Trump to be the next US president after admitting that the Republican nominee met him for breakfast at a friend’s house.

Mr Musk said Mr Trump “did most of the talking” but he did not recall him saying “anything he hasn’t said publicly”.

He stold former CNN anchor Don Lemon in an interview on YouTube that he would not make a donation to any candidate in the US presidential elections and the Republican nominee did not ask him for one.

He said he is not paying Mr Trump’s legal bills “in any way, shape or form”.

He said: 

I may in the final stretch endorse a candidate but I don’t know yet. 

I want to make a considered decision before the election and if I do decide to endorse a candidate then I will explain exactly why.

Tesla chief exectuve Elon Musk has defended his use of ketamine, saying it is in the best interests of the shareholders in the electric vehicle maker and the other companies that he runs.

The billionaire entrepreneur, who also leads SpaceX, said that for investors on Wall Street “what matters is execution”.

Mr Musk said he takes the drug on prescription to treat what he described as “chemical tides” that lead to depression-like symptoms.

He told former CNN anchor Don Lemon in an interview on YouTube: “There are times when I have a negative chemical state in my brain, like depression I guess, or depression that’s not linked to any negative news, and ketamine is helpful for getting one out of a negative frame of mind.”

He added: “From an investor standpoint, if there is something I’m taking, we should keep taking it.” 

An article in the Wall Street Journal in January said that executives at Tesla and SpaceX had grown concerned about his recreational drug use.

Google and Apple are in talks over a deal that could see the search engine’s chatbot technology installed on every iPhone, despite a row over the system’s excessive efforts to promote diversity.

Our technology editor James Titcomb has the details:

The two tech giants are in discussions over licensing parts of Google’s Gemini bot for the iPhone’s built-in AI tools such as its Siri assistant, Bloomberg reported.

A deal would be a major boost to Google, whose chatbot has been under fire for returning allegedly biased answers to questions and for publishing “diverse” images of historical figures by depicting white figures such as Nazi soldiers and Vikings as black.

Apple has been developing its own AI features for the next version of the iPhone’s operating system, including a version of Siri powered by “generative AI” technology similar to chatbots such as Gemini and ChatGPT.

Read why a partnership with Google could raise concerns.

EasyJet has said its first new UK base in more than a decade will give passengers more travel options and could reduce fares.

The airline’s new operation at Birmingham Airport will also create 140 direct jobs for pilots and crew, and support a further 1,200 indirect jobs, according to the carrier.

It is easyJet’s first new UK base since it launched at Southend Airport in 2012.

EasyJet has previously operated flights to and from Birmingham Airport using planes based elsewhere.

Basing three planes at the West Midlands airport will allow the airline to launch 16 new routes this summer to destinations such as Antalya in Turkey, the Greek island of Kos, and Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt.

It will also increase frequencies on its existing network, equating to more than 50pc additional flights each week.

Speaking at a press conference at the airport, easyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said: “This is going to provide a huge amount of additional connectivity, which not only will serve the holidays community, but also a very critical part of the business community as well.”

US stock indexes gained in premarket trading ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s meeting this week, where policymakers are expected to keep borrowing costs steady.

Stronger-than-expected inflation figures last week have prompted investors to rethink when and by how much the Fed will lower rates this year.

Traders have been pulling back bets of a June rate cut to around 59pc from 71pc last Monday, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Nevertheless, Wall Street, led by optimism around artificial intelligence (AI), hit fresh all-time highs in March, before pulling back some gains last week.

Meanwhile, exchange operator Nasdaq said it has resolved an issue related to connectivity and stock orders after more than two hours.

Ahead of the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2pc, the S&P 500 had gained 0.8pc and the Nasdaq 100 was up 1.2pc.

Cocoa prices have doubled since the start of the year as shoppers prepare for large price increases for chocolate eggs this Easter.

Contracts for the crop in New York have risen to $8,394 a metric ton, the highest on record as yields in West Africa have been battered by disease and extreme weather.

Last month Cadbury, the market leader for Easter eggs which has been producing them since 1875, has warned that it may have to raise prices or shrink its products “as a last resort”. Nestle has warned the same.

While manufacturers buy cocoa beans months ahead of time, the surge in prices is beginning to bite.

Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, said he expects manufacturers will increasingly resort to making their products smaller to cut costs, sparking another wave of so-called “shrinkflation”.

Martin Hug, chief financial officer at chocolate maker Lindt, said this month:

There are lots of players who have already announced price increases. We are also part of that group. 

It is very difficult to predict at the moment what will happen with the cocoa market. But I think we have controlled it as well as we can.

The level of bets on strong gains for the pound has reached its highest point in 17 years as the Bank of England is expected to keep interest rates at 16-year highs until the late summer.

Hedge funds are backing sterling to move higher and cutting back positions on falls in the currency amid expectations that the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank will reduce interest rates more quickly than in Britain.

It has taken overall bets in favour of the pound to the most since July 2007, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for the week to March 12. 

The pound has been the best performer among the so-called G10 group of the world’s major currencies since the start of the year.

Money markets are pricing in a first interest rate cut by the Bank of England in August and only one more quarter of a point cut by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve is priced in to make a first cut in July, with a 50.4pc chance of a June cut.

However, Goldman Sachs said the Bank of England could cut rates earlier if inflation falls faster than expected when figures are published on Wednesday.

Roberto Cobo Garcia, head of G-10 FX strategy at Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, added:

Current positioning suggests the pound upside potential is limited and that any negative news could trigger a correction. 

If inflation or employment data weakens in spring, the pound would trade in lower levels into the summer.

Three Tory MPs have been found to have broken Ofcom’s broadcasting rules on due impartiality during programmes on GB News.

The watchdog’s investigation involved five episodes of shows presented separately by former House of Commons leader Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and minister without portfolio Esther McVey, and backbencher Philip Davies.

A further episode of Sir Jacob’s State Of The Nation was not investigated because it did not raise issues under the rules, according to Ofcom.

Married couple Ms McVey and Mr Davies are no longer part of the GB News line-up, and last hosted programmes on the channel last year.

Ofcom said: “We found that two episodes of Jacob Rees-Mogg’s State Of The Nation, two episodes of Friday Morning With Esther And Phil, and one episode of Saturday Morning With Esther And Phil, broadcast during May and June 2023, failed to comply with Rules 5.1 and 5.3 of the Broadcasting Code.”

The media watchdog said that because the politicians “acted as newsreaders, news interviewers or news reporters in sequences which clearly constituted news - including reporting breaking news events - without exceptional justification, news was, therefore, not presented with due impartiality”.

Oil prices have hit a fresh four-month high amid optimism about China’s industrial output.

Global benchmark Brent rose 0.6pc towards $86 a barrel after gaining 4pc last week, while West Texas Intermediate was up 0.8pc and heading in the direction of $82. 

It comes after China’s factory output and investment grew more strongly than expected at the start of the year., In refining, output hit a record.

Meanwhile, Russian oil refineries were hit by drone strikes over weekend, just as Vladimir Putin strolled to victory in a presidential election which Defence Secretary Grant Shapps accused Putin of stealing.

European natural gas prices have risen for a fourth day amid concerns about global energy supplies.

The benchmark contract on the continent jumped as much as 7.7pc in its biggest intraday jump since January 3. 

Prices have rallied for the longest period since the end of January after plunging as much as 30pc since the start of the year.

Outages at global gas liquefaction facilities — from Malaysia to the US — are sending jitters through the market. 

Colder-than-normal temperatures are also expected across parts of northern Europe next week before heading higher.

Dutch front-month futures, Europe’s gas benchmark, were last up 5.1pc to more than €28 per megawatt-hour. The UK equivalent contract was up 5.3pc to more than 71p per therm.

The world’s largest solar power manufacturer is poised to announce plans to cut nearly a third of its workforce as costs rise for the net zero industry.

Longi plans to reduce staff levels by as much as 30pc as it ramps up a reduction in its headcount which began in November, according to Bloomberg News.

The Chinese company employed about 80,000 people at its peak last year but has suffered amid a wider downturn in the country’s solar industry.

Manufacturers have been forced to sell at or below production costs after prices for solar panels fell to record lows last year. 

Longi, which makes wafers used in solar panels, also had to significantly cut prices last year amdi fierce competition in the sector.

The pound has regained its footing against the dollar after falling 1pc last week. 

Sterling was last flat at $1.27 as traders gear up for the Bank of England’s next interest rate decision on Thursday. 

It was also little changed against the euro at 85p.

The FTSE 100 has inched higher as metal miners rose on upbeat economic data from China.

Base metal miners gained as much as 1pc after the upbeat industrial output and retail sales data from top metal consumer China, which in turn lifted the resource-heavy FTSE 100 by 0.1pc.

Industrial output in the world’s second largest economy rose 7pc from a year earlier in February, better than analysts had forecast. Spending on factories and equipment, known as fixed-asset investments, rose 4.2pc.

London’s benchmark stock index was also boosted by Reckitt Benckiser, which jumped as much as 5.9pc after slumping around 14pc on Friday after the consumer goods giant lost a US legal case claiming its baby formula contributed to the death of a premature child.

Haleon was among the worst performers, down as much as 3.2pc after its top shareholder Pfizer said it would reduce its stake in the toothpaste maker from 32pc to about 24pc, selling shares worth about £2bn.

The mid-cap FTSE 250 edged 0.2pc lower after an 11pc fall in Marshalls as the landscaping and roofing products supplier flagged lower revenue for 2024 on slower-than-expected recovery.

Investors will watch UK inflation figures due on Wednesday, as well as interest rate decisions by the Bank of Japan, the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England.

The Bank is widely expected to keep rates at current levels in the upcoming meeting, although the focus will be on ascertaining the timing of the first rate cut.

Building materials supplier Marshalls has warned it expects the industry to remain “subdued” over the first half of 2024 and see a “slower” recovery than previously expected.

It came as the London-listed company revealed a slump in profits and revenues for last year, and downgraded forecasts for 2024.

Marshalls said it closed and mothballed factories and reduced shifts in other facilities in 2023 in an attempt to cut costs, leading to the loss of 330 jobs during the year. The group said this has helped the business save £11m a year.

Bosses said the builders’ merchant will continue to come under pressure from the weak market, as developers slow down their building work.

New chief executive Matt Pullen said: 

“In the short term, markets are expected to remain challenging, with continued weakness in the first half of the year followed by a progressive recovery in the second half as the macro-economic environment improves.

This recovery is however expected to be slower and more modest than previously anticipated.

As a result, it said sales for the full year are set to be “lower than expected” and profits are now expected to remain roughly flat. Shares dropped by 9.5pc in early trading.

The FTSE 100 was little changed as trading began ahead of interest rate decisions this week from the Bank of Japan, the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England.

The UK’s blue chip index was flat at 7,731.33 while the midcap FTSE 250 down 0.1pc at 19,492.96.

Drugs giant Pfizer has announced plans to sell about £2bn of shares in Centrum vitamins maker Haleon.

The US company, which has said for some time it planned to start selling down its stake, aims to offload 630m shares in the company behind Sensodyne toothpaste, which was the largest business to list in London since 2011 when it floated two years ago.

Haleon, a spin-off from Pfizer’s rival pharmaceutical giant GSK, has agreed to buy £315m worth of the shares off market.

The sales will reduce Pfizer’s stake from 32pc to about 24pc. It is Haleon’s largest shareholder.

Commercial property giant British Land has sold a 50pc stake in a major London office months after Facebook owner Meta paid £149m to forfeit its lease at the site as its staff continue to work from home.

Royal London Asset Management Property will run the eight-storey office on 1 Triton Square, near Regent’s Park, with the FTSE 250 real estate developer under a deal which values the site at £385m.

Silicon Valley giant Meta still had 18 years outstanding on the office lease for the building, which it had never occupied, but paid a break fee amounting to around seven years of rent as it redesigns its offices with more shared work areas and hot-desking. Meta still uses a nearby building on Brock Street.

British Land has marketed the site as a science and innovation building “in the heart of the Regent’s Place campus within London’s Knowledge Quarter”, which is home to leading research institutions including The Francis Crick Institute, The Wellcome Trust, The Alan Turing Institute and University College London.

Chief executive Simon Carter said: 

We proactively took 1 Triton Square back from Meta to reposition it for science and innovation customers, with the expectation of unlocking significantly higher rents, whilst benefitting from a considerable surrender premium to further improve the economics.

This transaction is another example of how we drive value through establishing innovative JV partnerships, enabling us to flex our balance sheet, share the risk and crystallise the value created from Meta’s surrender premium.

Mark Evans of Royal London Asset Management Property added: “We have long recognised the demand for best-in-class science and innovation space, particularly in the Golden Triangle, and the need for this space in supporting the UK’s economic growth. 

Currys said profits are on track to be slightly better than expected as a bidding war for the electricals retailer came to an end.

Bosses said adjusted profit before tax is expected to be at least £115m, having previously said it would come in between £105m to £115m.

The company remains on track to offload its Greece business in the first half of April, which will leave the company in a net cash position at the end of the financial year.

It comes after Chinese tech giant JD.com announced on Friday it would not make an offer for Currys, days after US investors Elliott Management said it would not submit a third bid to take the UK listed business private.

British manufacturers are facing delays of as long as 90 days for shipments of parts caused by disruption in the Red Sea.

Make UK, the manufacturing trade association, has warned of the enduring effect of attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have been targeting commercial vessels travelling through the Red Sea in protest at Israeli military action in Gaza.

Make UK said in its quarterly report:

Manufacturers are now reporting lead times increasing on average by two to three weeks, and even upwards of 90 days in some cases.

The challenge is that this creates bottlenecks across the supply chain as the delay of one component of even simple products can result in increasing lead times for goods.

It comes as the trade body warned the UK’s manufacturing sector faces two years of “anaemic growth”, with the sector forecasted to grow by just 0.1pc this year and 0.6pc next - half the rate of the broader economy in 2025.

Asking prices have jumped by more than £5,000 so far this month as calm in the mortgage market fosters more confidence in property values.

The average price of a newly marketed house rose by 1.5pc to £368,118 in March, according to figures from Rightmove. That equates to a £5,279 increase, which markets the biggest rise in 10 months.

In a further sign of recovery for the UK housing market, the number of sales being agreed has risen 13pc compared with this time last year.

Tim Bannister, director of property science at Rightmove, said: “The stronger than usual price growth this March indicates that new sellers are feeling much more confident, with some perhaps being over-optimistic, that there is enough buyer activity and affordability in their local market to achieve a higher price.”

London saw the biggest increase in demand for properties compared with this time last year, as slowing inflation, wage increases and a push back to offices among employers made the capital more appealing.

Much of the activity in the housing market has been driven by sales of properties to wealthy buyers for whom mortgage rates are less of an issue. So-called ‘top-of-the-ladder’ sales were up 18pc in March so far compared with last year, Rightmove said.

Despite March’s jump, average asking prices are still £4,776 lower than their peak in May 2023.

Mr Bannister added: 

Despite the above-average price increases in this opening three months of the year, asking prices are still £4,776 below their peak in May 2023. 

For those who can afford to buy and have yet to take action to move this year, this may provide a window of opportunity to buy as we now seem to be past the bottom of the market.

While some sellers are still being overoptimistic with their pricing expectations, there are also more sellers who are aware of the need to be negotiable and realistic, with elevated interest rates compared to recent years still stretching affordability for many buyers.

Thanks for joining us today. An improving mortgage market has given house sellers the confidence to demand an extra £5,000 for their home on average this month compared to February.

Rightmove said the value of newly marketed house has risen by 1.5pc to £368,118.

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What happened overnight 

Asian stocks advanced ahead of policy decisions this week by the Bank of England, Japan’s central bank and the US Federal Reserve.

Chinese data for January-February were mixed, with property investment falling while other indicators showed improvement.

In Tokyo, shares closed sharply higher as investors await a decision by the Bank of Japan on Tuesday on whether to raise its benchmark interest rate for the first time in 17 years. Since 2016, the rate has remained at minus 0.1pc.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index jumped 2.7pc, or 1,032.80 points, to 39,740.44, while the broader Topix index climbed 1.9pc, or 51.19 points, to end at 2,721.99.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was flat at 16,720.40, and the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.5pc to 3,069.67.

Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was unchanged at 7,670.60, while the Kospi in South Korea advanced 0.6pc, to 2,681.26.

In India, the Sensex was unchanged and in Bangkok the SET was up 0.5pc.