SSE subsidiary secures £1bn bank facility, Balfour Beatty sells Foundry Courtyard

LONDON PRE-OPEN

The FTSE 100 was expected to open 25.3 points higher ahead of the bell on Friday after wrapping up the previous session 0.65% higher at 9,837.77.

STOCKS TO WATCH

Electricity infrastructure firm SSE said on Friday that its majority owned subsidiary SSEN Transmission has inked a £1bn bank facility backed by an £800m financial guarantee from the UK Government's National Wealth Fund. SSE, which owns 75% of SSEN Transmission, said the 12-year bank facility would support four major grid upgrade projects under way in the north of Scotland and has been syndicated to a group of SSEN's relationship banks, led by Bank of America, and including BBVA, HSBC, JP Morgan, Lloyds, MUFG, NatWest and Santander.

Infrastructure group Balfour Beatty said on Friday that it has sold Foundry Courtyard, a 536-bed student accommodation building in Glasgow to an undisclosed buyer. After allowing for debt repayment and normal adjusting items, net disposal proceeds to Balfour Beatty were £26m, with the sale generating a profit on disposal of £24m.

High street retailer Next has upped its proposed cash return to shareholders but will be doing so by way of a B share scheme, as opposed to a special dividend. Next announced in October that it would return surplus cash with a 310p-per-share special dividend by the end of January, but has now proposed a 360p-per-share B share scheme, giving shareholders the option to redeem shares for cash of keep them.

NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP

TikTok has signed a deal to sell its US business to three American investors – Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX – ensuring the popular social video platform can continue operating in the United States. The deal is expected to close on 22 January, according to an internal memo seen by he Associated Press and Reuters. The TikTok chief executive officer, Shou Zi Chew, said in the memo that ByteDance and TikTok have signed binding agreements with the three investors. – Guardian

Britain's roads and runways will take a festive pounding on Friday as traffic peaks before Christmas and record numbers head to the skies. Motoring organisations are forecasting exceptionally busy roads, with getaways expected to peak on Saturday and Christmas Eve. However, they say the mix of commuter travel, shopping trips and early departures will make Friday the most congested day. – Guardian

BP's new chief executive must abandon net zero and steer the company decisively back to oil and gas, shareholders have said. Investors said the shock departure of chief executive Murray Auchincloss should prompt the BP to refocus on "what it does best". The British oil giant shocked the world by announcing the departure of Mr Auchincloss late on Wednesday evening. He is to be replaced by Meg O'Neill, a 55-year-old American who currently heads up the Australian oil and gas company Woodside Energy. - Telegraph

Hogan Lovells, Britain's sixth highest-earning law firm, is to merge with the oldest legal practice on Wall Street in a deal creating a business with annual revenue of £2.7bn. In an announcement on Thursday evening, partners in London said that they had struck an agreement with their opposite numbers at Cadwalader in what is expected to result in the creation of the fifth biggest law firm in the world by revenue. – The Times

The American investment firm that owns Waterstones and Barnes & Noble is reported to be gearing up to float the booksellers in London or New York next year. Elliott Management has approached potential advisers about a possible multibillion-pound initial public offering and could appoint investment banks in early next year, according to the Financial Times. – The Times

US CLOSE

Major indices closed higher on Thursday as market participants digested last month's cooler-than-expected consumer price index reading.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.14% at 47,951.85, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.79% to 6,774.76 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.38% firmer at 23,006.36.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com