Company News in Brief

Oil prices plunge and shares jump on US-Iran ceasefire plan

Global oil prices have fallen sharply and stock markets have jumped after the US and Iran agreed to a conditional two-week ceasefire deal that includes the reopening of the key Strait of Hormuz waterway.

The price of benchmark Brent crude fell by about 13% to $94.80 (£70.73) a barrel, while US-traded oil was more than 15% lower at $95.75.

But oil prices remain higher than before the conflict started on 28 February. At the time, it was trading at around $70 a barrel.

The cost of energy has jumped as oil and gas supplies from the Middle East have been severely disrupted after Iran threatened to attack ships trying to use the strait in retaliation to US and Israeli airstrikes.

-BBC News

Music giant Universal gets $64bn takeover offer

Universal Music Group, the entertainment giant behind acts such as Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter and Kendrick Lamar, has received a takeover offer estimated to be worth $64.3bn (£48bn).

US investment company Pershing Square is offering to buy Universal in a merger that would see the new company listed in America, its billionaire chief executive Bill Ackman said.

As well as representing a huge list of artists, the world's largest music company also runs Abbey Road studios and owns labels such as EMI and Island Records.

Pershing Square, which already owns a stake in Universal, also has holdings in Google, Meta and Amazon, as well as Restaurant Brands International, which includes Burger King.

Universal said it had received Pershing's proposal and would assess its implications for shareholders, employees, artists, songwriters and other stakeholders.

The company's board also expressed full confidence in chief executive Sir Lucian Grainge, his management team and strategy.

-BBC News

Brexit for FirstRand

FirstRand is preparing to exit its UK consumer finance business, saying it will work towards an “orderly ownership transition” of Aldermore Group after a sharp increase in expected compensation costs related to motor finance lending.

The lender issued a voluntary update to shareholders late on Tuesday, following the publication of a final redress scheme by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 30 March.

FirstRand says the FCA’s redress scheme necessitates a further provision of £510 million (about R11.9 billion), bringing its total provision to £750 million (R17.7 billion).

The magnitude of the provision and the regulatory environment have significantly altered the investment case for its UK operations.

“[The] UK as a consumer finance jurisdiction will not deliver the returns the group requires,” it notes, adding that “the business case for FirstRand to own and operate a UK consumer finance entity … is not within the group’s risk appetite”.

While FirstRand stopped short of formally confirming an exit, Keagan Higgins, investment analyst at Anchor Capital, says the direction is clear. “While FirstRand did not outright state their exit plans for Aldermore – it looks like they’re effectively exiting it and, more broadly, UK consumer finance.”

The group previously warned that the outcome of the FCA process would determine its future in the UK.

Chief executive Mary Vilakazi told Bloomberg earlier this year that if key concerns were not addressed, the lender’s business “is not going to have the capital resources that are needed to support lending in motors”.

-Moneyweb