Top story

Indonesian palm oil producer MP Evans Group has added 1,700 hectares to its estate with the 5% acquisition of its Indonesian subsidiary trading companies.

The acquisition has been made by the group’s wholly owned subsidiary, PT Evans Indonesia, and encompasses the 5% shareholdings in the group’s estates at Kota Bangun, the Pangkatan group, Bumi Mas, Musi Rawas and Simpang Kiri, held by Praba Madhavan PA Madhavan.

The total cost of the purchase was $14m, based on an agreed price of $9,000 per planted hectare and funded from the group’s existing cash resources.

The group’s minority partner has used the majority of the proceeds to repay an outstanding $8m loan from its parent and, as a result, the net cash outflow to the group resulting from the transaction was $6m.

The transaction has grown the gorup’s effective ownership by just over 1,700 hectares, or 4%, in its high-quality planted areas, and will be earnings enhancing.

Following the transaction, the group continues to have a strong balance sheet with low levels of outstanding debt, enabling it to continue to review opportunities for further growth.

MP Evans Group chairman, Peter Hadsley-Chaplin, commented: “This acquisition is yet another step forward in the group’s strategy, securing 100% ownership in almost all our estates to the benefit of all group shareholders.

“Robust yields and strong extraction rates from these properties will continue to support the group’s priority to deliver progressive returns. We are most grateful to Praba Madhavan for his support to the group as our local partner in Indonesia in recent years and wish him well for the future.”

Morning update

Britvic has kicked off a share repurchase programme worth up to £75m.

The buyback scheme has launched today and is expected to end no later than 28 February 2025.

The maximum number of shares that can be purchased under the programme is 24,954,864.

Treatt has confirmed that that David Shannon has joined the group today as CEO and a member of the board.

Pets at Home Group has appointment of a new independent non-executive director.

Garret Turley will be appointed as an independent non-exec director with effect from 12 July 2024 and will become chair of its ESG committee.

Turley is a qualified veterinarian who co-founded and built Pet Doctors, after which he transitioned into private equity at Bridges Ventures where his focus was on health and education investments.

He then joined August Equity as a partner, where his role focused on the healthcare, social care and education sectors through strategic investments.

Pets at Home chair Ian Burke said: “On behalf of the board, I am delighted to welcome Garret Turley to Pets at Home Group plc. Garret has excellent experience in the veterinary sector and will bring strong strategic knowledge in this area, which continues to be a key part of the group’s strategy. The directors and I look forward to Garret joining in July.”

On the markets this morning, the FTSE 100 is up 0.1% to open the week at 8,286.2pts.

Early risers include Pets at Home, up 3.7% to 307.1p, Naked Wines, up 3.1% to 61.9p and THG, up 2.7% to 71p.

Fallers include Ocado, down 1.7% to 367.1p, Deliveroo, down 1.4% to 135p and Wynnstay, down 1.2% to 377.8p.

This week in the City

There is more news flow again in the coming days, following a quieter calendar last week after the Bank Holiday.

Tomorrow brings the monthly BRC-KPMG retail sales data for May.

Wednesday brings the annual results of B&M European Value Retail, while WH Smith will have a third quarter trading update on the same time.

Later that evening the London Stock Exchange will announce its quarterly review of the FTSE index, with Ocado poised to drop out of the FTSE 100.

Internationally, Rémy Cointreau will release its full-year results on Thursday.

Topics