BUSINESS LIVE: Ryanair profits soar; AstraZeneca builds facility in Singapore; British Land sells its stake in Meadowhall

Swedish private equity firm EQT AB is in advanced talks to buy Dublin-based video games services company KeywordsStudios for £2.2bn, in the latest potential acquisition of a London-listed company.

Keywords told investors this morning: ‘The potential offer follows four previous unsolicited proposals from EQT in recent months, which the Board rejected, and represents a significant increase over the initial proposal.

‘The Board remains confident in the Company’s growth strategy of building the only truly global platform providing solutions to the video game and entertainment industries, both organically and through acquisitions, and EQT supports this strategy.

‘The Board of Keywords Studios has carefully evaluated the potential offer with its financial advisors and concluded that the potential offer has a value that the Board would be willing to recommend to the shareholders of Keywords Studios, should there be a firm intention to make a offer in accordance with Rule 2.7. of the Code will be announced in such financial terms, subject to agreement of all other terms and conditions of an offer.’

Adam Vettese, eToro analyst:

«The pandemic hangover appears to be well and truly over for Ryanair, as the low-cost airline posted a record profit of €1.95 billion. A milder winter and an early Easter helped boost the slow season, as travel demand shows no signs of slowing.

‘The name of the game for Ryanair is low prices and an easing of cost pressures will not only ease domestic tension but will also see more consumers with more cash on hand top up the holiday fund ready to book a cut-price getaway.

‘The company has been a bit cautious in terms of affirming future guidance amid lingering potential issues such as aircraft supply and macroeconomic pressure. Despite this, a major share buyback worth €700 million has been announced, which could well be a catalyst for the shares to start climbing back up to the record level reached earlier this year.

A leading British industrialist has warned that the country’s manufacturing industry is lagging behind that of Germany due to uncompetitive government taxes.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Britain’s fourth-richest man, attacked the Conservatives’ economic strategy and said the country “needs to be a bit smarter” about business.

The billionaire, who runs the Ineos petrochemicals empire, claimed heavy taxes would “kill” oil and gas companies while companies would prosper elsewhere.

British Land has exchanged contracts for the sale of its 50 per cent stake in Meadowhall shopping center to partner Norges Bank Investment Management for £360m.

The divestment is in line with the company’s strategy to focus on retail parks and reduce exposure to indoor shopping centers, Broadgate’s owner said in a statement.

Owner boss Simon Carter said: ‘We have had a successful partnership with Norges for many years and are delighted to continue working alongside them as the centre’s asset managers.

‘Following the sale of Meadowhall, 93% of our portfolio is now in our preferred segments of London business parks, campuses and urban logistics.

‘We will continue to increase our portfolio of business parks; With low capital investment requirements, the parks offer attractive cash returns and with 99% occupancy we are achieving strong rental growth.”

AstraZeneca plans to build a $1.5 billion manufacturing facility in Singapore in an effort to enhance its antibody drug conjugate (ADC) portfolio.

The greenfield facility, which will be the drugmaker’s first end-to-end ADC production site, will be supported by Singapore Economic Development.

ADCs are engineered antibodies that bind to tumor cells and then release chemicals that kill the cells.

“Singapore is one of the world’s most attractive countries for investment given its reputation for excellence in complex manufacturing, and I am excited that AstraZeneca will locate our $1.5 billion ADC manufacturing facility in the country,” said the director. General Pascal Soriot.

Cadbury owner Mondelez will face scrutiny over the sale of chocolate in Russia at its Annual General Meeting this week.

Senior MPs and campaign groups have criticized it for selling off several of its brands, including Milka chocolate and Oreo cookies.

Investor Wespath Benefits and Investments has proposed an independent review of how the US conglomerate is implementing human rights policy in Russia and Ukraine.

Ryanair’s profits soared 34 per cent last year to a record €1.9bn (£1.6bn) and the low-cost airline has expressed “cautious optimism” ahead of the key summer trading season.

The result slightly exceeded analysts’ forecasts. Ryanair cut its after-tax profit forecast to a range of €1.85 billion and €1.95 billion in January after some online travel agencies suddenly stopped selling its flights.

The Irish airline, Europe’s largest by passenger numbers, also said it would be 23 planes short of the number Boeing was due to deliver by the end of July and that there remained a risk – although “unlikely” – that deliveries could still decline. further.