Market Live Email
Derwent London to sell Tottenham Court Road property, Victrex sees slower start to FY26
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Friday 06 Feb 2026
(Sharecast News) - LONDON PRE-OPEN
The FTSE 100 was expected to open 72.9 points lower ahead of the bell on Friday, after wrapping up the previous session 0.90% softer at 10,309.22.
STOCKS TO WATCH
Derwent London said on Friday that it had exchanged contracts to sell an office and retail property on London's Tottenham Court Road for £32.6m to a joint venture between Purestone Capital and BPS London. The sale was at a premium to June 2025 book value and was scheduled to complete in June this year. The building contains offices across six floors plus four ground floor retail units and generates income of £1.7m, Derwent said.
High-performance polymers business Victrex reported a softer start to the year on Friday, with first‑quarter revenues and volumes declining as strength in its energy and industrials unit was offset by weaker trading in its transport, VARs and medical division. Average selling prices were 2% lower at £73 per kilogram in the three months ended 31 December, with Victrex noting the early part of the year reflected a subdued December and a sales mix that weighed modestly on performance. Q1 volumes fell 4% to 858 tonnes, while revenues slipped 6% to £62.4m.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
Amazon announced plans to spend $200bn on artificial intelligence and robotics this year, the latest tech giant to vow fresh enormous investments in the artificial intelligence arms race. The news of the investment comes one day after the Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, announced it was cutting approximately a third of employees. - Guardian
Barclays has reportedly cut ties with the lobbying firm co-founded by Peter Mandelson, after intense scrutiny of the founders' dealings with the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Vodafone has also said it is reviewing its contract for public affairs services with Global Counsel, which Mandelson co-founded in 2010 after Labour lost the general election. - Guardian
A barrister has been suspended from one of London's most prestigious legal chambers over links to Jeffrey Epstein. Matthieu de Boisséson has been suspended by Littleton Chambers pending an investigation after he appeared in documents released by the US department of justice related to the paedophile financier. Mr de Boisséson denies any wrongdoing. - Telegraph
Two businessmen charged by the Serious Fraud Office in its investigation into suspected fraud at Safe Hands Plans have been accused of agreeing a "dishonest plan" to take control of the customer trust via the Cayman Islands to "enrich themselves". In a hearing on Thursday at Westminster magistrates' court, Richard Wells, 39, a former director of the pre-paid funeral business's holding company, and Neil Debenham, 43, were alleged to have used trust money to buy luxury £1m homes. - The Times
Jeffrey Epstein was introduced to Ghislaine Maxwell by her brother Kevin as part of a plan for the paedophile financier to help the Maxwell family "move money", according to a previously undisclosed account of the origins of the scandal. Kevin Maxwell, once Britain's biggest bankrupt, was "instructed to meet Epstein by his father", Robert Maxwell, according to FBI records of conversations with a former business associate of the Maxwells that have been released by the US Department of Justice. - The Times
US CLOSE
Major indices closed sharply lower on Thursday as market participants assumed a more conservative position, with tech names and cryptocurrency losses accelerating.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.20% at 48,908.72, while the S&P 500 shed 1.23% to 6,798.40, and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.59% weaker at 22,540.59.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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