Market Live Email
Pets At Home FY earnings seen in line, British Land to acquire Life Science REIT
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Wednesday 28 Jan 2026
(Sharecast News) - LONDON PRE-OPEN
The FTSE 100 was expected to open 2.5 points lower ahead of the bell on Wednesday, after wrapping up the previous session 0.58% firmer at 10,207.80.
STOCKS TO WATCH
Pets at Home expects full-year underlying earnings to be in line with expectations of £90m-97m despite a fall in third quarter revenues. The ailing retailer said on Wednesday that retail consumer revenue fell 1.1% in the three months ended 1 January, while its veterinary services business, Vets for Pets, performed strongly with a 5% rise. Group revenue was down 1% to £358m.
British Land has agreed to acquire Life Science REIT as it looks to ramp up its presence in the fast-growing science and technology sector. The deal values Life Science REIT, which announced last autumn that it would pursue a managed wind down, at £150m, a premium of around 21%. Life Science now believes a sale will provide a "superior outcome" for shareholders.
Hospitality real estate firm PPHE Hotel Group said on Wednesday that it had delivered a "solid" fourth quarter trading performance, with full-year results in line with market expectations of £458.4m-469m in revenue and reported underlying earnings of £133.2m-137.8m. PPHE said it had seen "good trading momentum" in Q4, with room revenue growth of 4.9% and a RevPAR increase of 5.0%, despite a "volatile macroeconomic and geopolitical environment".
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
Royal Mail has been criticised for offering an "unacceptable" performance over the crucial Christmas period after it failed to deliver letters and cards on time to about 16m people, Citizens Advice found. The consumer watchdog, which carried out research into Christmas deliveries, said that figure was 50% higher than in 2024, and the highest level over the festive period in five years, excluding when Royal Mail was hit by strike action in the run-up to Christmas four years ago. - Guardian
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's chief executive, approved allowing minors to access artificial intelligence chatbot companions that safety staffers warned were capable of sexual interactions, according to internal Meta documents filed in a New Mexico state court case and made public on Monday. The lawsuit - brought by the state's attorney general, Raul Torrez, and scheduled for trial next month - alleges Meta "failed to stem the tide of damaging sexual material and sexual propositions delivered to children" on Facebook and Instagram. - Guardian
The first and only female president of OPEC accepted cash bribes and luxury perks, a London court has heard. Diezani Alison-Madueke is accused of accepting £40,000 for gardening and Christmas decorations as a bribe when she served as Nigeria's oil minister. The allegation also claims the gifts were from oil tycoons - including a £2m Harrods shopping spree, which included the purchase of two high-end cross trainers worth nearly £11,000 each. - Telegraph
The owners of fast fashion chain Quiz are racing to secure a rescue financing package following "disappointing" Christmas sales. It forms part of radical plans being studied to put the retailer on a firmer footing as it battles an onslaught of cost increases and struggles to compete with the might of Chinese e-commerce giants Shein and Temu. Quiz has more than 40 stores and employs an estimated 1,000 staff. The company's founders are understood to be considering drafting in advisers to draw up a range of options, including new financing and possible store closures, in an effort to secure its future. - Telegraph
The chief executive of Darktrace has been forced out by the board after just 16 months in a surprise move that marks the latest chapter in the British cybersecurity group's turbulent history. Jill Popelka will be replaced with immediate effect by Charles Goodman, Darktrace's chairman, on an interim basis while the former London-listed company searches for a new boss. - The Times
US CLOSE
Major indices delivered a mixed performance on Tuesday as insurers weighed on the Dow and the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting got underway.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.83% at 49,003.41, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.41% to 6,978.60 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.91% firmer at 23,817.10.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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