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Rentokil shares rose after a member of Nelson Peltz’s hedge fund was given a seat on the royal rat-catcher’s board of directors.
The FTSE 100 pest control firm, which won contracts at Buckingham Palace in the 1960s, said Trian research chief Brian Baldwin would join from October, lifting its stock by 4.5 per cent, or 16.1p, to 376.7p.
The New York activist investor, which was co-founded by billionaire Peltz, owns a 2.26 per cent stake in Rentokil. Peltz, whose daughter Nicola is married to Brooklyn Beckham, sits on the board of Unilever, the owner of Magnum, and hopes his company can exert influence over another blue-chip firm.
Baldwin said Rentokil has “significant potential” for growth.
Influence: Rentokil, which won contracts at Buckingham Palace in the 1960s, said Trian research chief Brian Baldwin would join from October.
The FTSE 100 fell 0.2 percent, or 14.06 points, to 8,268.70, while the FTSE 250 was down 0.1 percent, or 14.68 points, at 20,755.44. Oil prices fell as traders worried about global demand.
Brent crude fell more than 2 percent to $73 a barrel, sending BP down 2.4 percent, or 9.9 pence, to 400.25 pence, while Shell shed 1.6 percent, or 40 pence, to 2,532 pence.
A bumper summer helped On the Beach report a record value of vacations booked.
Bookings rose 15 per cent to £1.2bn in the year to the end of September, but there were “significant one-off costs” linked to its new partnership with Ryanair, and they fell 2.9 per cent, or 4.2p, to 140.8p.
Meanwhile, DFS reported resilient results as consumers reined in spending.
Orders at the furniture retailer, which fell 1.8 percent in the 12 months to the end of June, rose in the first 12 weeks of the new financial year.
Shares gained 6.6 percent, or 7.6 pence, to 122.6 pence.
Observatory of actions – Cirata
Cirata fell 15.2 percent, or 4.4 pence, to 24.5 pence after its finance chief revealed he would be leaving after less than two years in the job.
Ijoma Maluza, who joined the data specialist in April 2023, was hired to help turn the company around.
He will leave office in December and will be replaced by Ricardo Moura, who will join next week.
Cirata, formerly known as Wandisco, underwent a major rebrand following last year’s accounting scandal.
Dialight rose again 1.7 percent, or 3 pence, to 182 pence, a day after the conclusion of its litigation with its former manufacturing partner.
A jury has awarded the London-listed LED manufacturer £670,000 in damages for Sanmina’s breach of contract.
But Dialight also announced it was “considering possible post-trial motions” after the trial ruled it must pay £6.5m in damages to Sanmina. Dialight fell 28.4 per cent on Tuesday.
Raspberry Pi extended its gains a day after the Cambridge computer business revealed its profits rose 55 per cent to £16m in the first half of 2024.
The shares, which rose 6.6 percent on Tuesday, added 5 percent, or 18.4 pence, to 389.6 pence yesterday.
Tekcapital reported an excellent first half, with assets up 46 per cent to £52m.
The investment group said Microsalt’s retail distribution expansion and Guident’s second grant from Space Florida boosted its portfolio, which rose 6.8 percent, or 0.43 pence, to 6.75 pence.
Funding Circle co-founder and former CEO Samir Desai will step down from the board next month.
He set up the small business lending platform in 2010 and has been a non-executive director for three years, a role he took on after handing the reins to Lisa Jacobs.
He said he would step down on October 25, when his three-year term ends, but would remain a shareholder in the peer-to-peer lender. Shares fell 2 percent, or 2.5 pence, to 124.5 pence.
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