Klarna secures investor approval for UK holding company in step toward IPO
Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna, speaking at a fintech event in London on Monday, April 4, 2022.
Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg via Getty Images
Swedish financial technology company Klarna on Tuesday said it’s secured backing from shareholders for a new U.K. holding company, clearing a key hurdle toward on eventual initial public offering for the firm.
“Following our announcement last year, yesterday we notified investors that we have received the necessary investor and regulatory approvals necessary to set up a new UK based holding company,” a Klarna spokesperson said in a statement shared with CNBC via email.
Sky News earlier reported that the company was eyeing up the first quarter of 2025 — after the next U.S. presidential election — as the most likely window for a public listing to take place. Klarna’s spokesperson said the firm has nothing new to share on the timing of its IPO.
Klarna has previously said that setting up a U.K. holding company is a step towards a potential IPO, but has insisted that conversations around a market flotation remain at the “very early days.”
The move will see Klarna’s shareholders convert their shares in Klarna Holding Ab, the company’s Swedish-registered business, to a newly created holding company, Klarna Group plc.
– Ryan Browne
Grifols shares fall on fresh report from short seller Gotham City Research
Shares of Spanish pharmaceuticals company Grifols fell more than 5% Tuesday after short seller Gotham City Research released a fresh report accusing the company of improperly moving funds from its shareholders to a vehicle held by former executives.
The stock pared losses slightly to trade down 2.3% by 1:00 p.m. London time.
Gotham City has been targeting Grifols since January, when it released a report that called into question the company’s accounting and debt ratio.
In a statement to CNBC, a Grifols spokesperson said the company has “provided full details of all its transactions in its financial statements and in specific reports.”
“All the information is public and has been verified by both the Spanish regulator and our auditors,” the spokesperson added.
— Karen Gilchrist
Stocks on the move: Vodafone up 3.5%, Rheinmetall down 3.1%
A pedestrian walks past a Vodafone store in central London on May 16, 2023. British mobile giant Vodafone is to axe 11,000 jobs over three years in the latest cull to hit the tech sector, as new boss Margherita Della Valle slammed recent performance.
Adrian Dennis | AFP | Getty Images
Vodafone shares rose 3.5% after the telecoms company reported a 2.2% rise in annual organic adjusted earnings led by gains in Britain and Germany.
On the other end, German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall fell 3.1% after reporting a below-estimates increase in first-quarter profits.
— Karen Gilchrist
Delivery Hero shares jump on $1.25 billion Foodpanda sale
The logo of German food delivery service Delivery Hero.
Sean Gallup | Getty Images
Shares of Delivery Hero jumped 19% in early trade after it announced that Uber would buy its Foodpanda business in Taiwan and buy new shares in the German company in a $1.25 billion deal.
Delivery Hero said in a statement that the deal would allow it to focus its resources on other parts of its global footprint.
— Karen Gilchrist
Anglo American explores options to offload steelmaking coal, nickel and other units
Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Anglo American outlined a strategy update on Tuesday, which it said would simply its business, even as it remains wrapped up in a takeover bid by BHP Group.
The simplification strategy includes options for offloading its steelmaking coal, nickel and platinum businesses, the company said.
“We expect that a radically simpler business will deliver sustainable incremental value creation through a step change in operational performance and cost reduction,” chief executive Duncan Wanblad said in a statement.
It comes a day after Anglo American rejected a raised takeover offer from BHP saying it continued to significantly undervalue the company.
— Karen Gilchrist
UK unemployment rate ticks up slightly
U.K. unemployment rose to 4.3% in the three months to March, new data from the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday. The rate was in line with analyst expectations and slightly up from the 4.2% recorded in the previous period to February.
Wages excluding bonuses also increased by a stronger-than-expected 6.0% in the three-month period from the same time last year. Analysts had forecast wage growth of 5.9%.
The Bank of England will be closely monitoring labor data and its impact on inflation even as it signaled that a rate cut could come at its next meeting in June.
— Karen Gilchrist
Markets experiencing a ‘Goldilocks-style rally,’ says HSBC
Last week’s equity rally following a rocky period in April indicates the market is moving past its pullback, according to HSBC.
“The dip in risk assets is increasingly in the rear-view mirror as many major equity indices re-approach their year-to-date highs,” strategist Duncan Toms wrote in a Monday note. “These broad-based gains once again resemble a Goldilocks-style rally.”
With investors looking toward Wednesday’s CPI report, Toms believes “the bar for ever more hawkish surprises is getting higher.” Consequentially, the strategist believes even in-line expectations could be another catalyst for risk assets to climb higher.
— Hakyung Kim
CNBC Pro: 14 analysts upgraded this global AI chip stock in the past 2 weeks
There’s been so much love for one global chip stock that as many as 14 analysts upgraded it in the past two weeks.
The stock’s been soaring on the artificial intelligence boom. It’s up around 35% so far this year, and 60% since a year ago.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Weizhen Tan
U.S. growth and large-cap stocks have an improved outlook, Barclays says
While value stocks continue to outperform in Europe, growth stocks are currently benefiting from improving forward guidance in the U.S., according to Barclays.
“Rates fell from their recent highs after Fed’s dovish turn, further boosting the outlook for Growth,” strategist Venu Krishna wrote. “We remain Positive on Growth in the US, while being Neutral on Value across both regions given that peak rates are behind us.”
Krishna also reiterated his positive position on U.S. large caps over their smaller counterparts.
“In the U.S., Large caps’ exposure to Quality and Sales/EPS Growth styles (themes we are positive on) along with the interest rate risks facing highly levered small caps lead us to maintain our Positive view on large over small,” he added.
— Lisa Kailai Han
CNBC Pro: These 3 ETFs have risen by double-digits every year for the past 5 years
Only three ETFs worldwide have produced double-digit annual returns over the past five years, CNBC Pro research has found.
The three funds stood out among 8,300 equity ETFs worldwide screened by CNBC Pro using FactSet data.
Analysts also expect two of the three ETFs to rise by double-digits again over the next 12 months.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Ganesh Rao
European markets: Here are the opening calls
European markets are expected to open in negative territory Tuesday.
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 17 points lower at 8,393, Germany’s DAX down 18 points at 18,718, France’s CAC 5 points lower at 8,199 and Italy’s FTSE MIB down 31 points at 34,451, according to data from IG.
Earnings are due from Euronext, Eutelsat, Hannover Re, Bayer, Porsche and Vodafone.
— Holly Ellyatt