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London’s blue chip index edged marginally lower on Monday in another shortened trading week as FTSE 250 company International Personal Finance agreed to a £543 million takeover. The FTSE 100 index closed down 4.15 points at 9,866.53. The FTSE 250 index ended up 93.01 points, 0.4%, at 22,407.51, and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.09 points at 760.14. The Cboe UK 100 was down slightly at 988.70, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 19,492.24, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 1.1% at 17,568.23. In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed up 0.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended 0.1% higher. The pound was quoted at $1.3491 at the time of the London equities close on Monday, down from $1.3510 at the time of the early London equities close on Wednesday. The euro was lower at $1.1757 from $1.1790. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP¥156.04, up from JP¥155.92. Late Friday, around the time of the closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange, the pound traded at $1.3504, the euro at $1.1780, and the dollar bought JP¥156.50. London’s financial markets opened on Monday for the first time since last Wednesday, after closing for Christmas Day and Boxing Day. The markets will close early this Wednesday, before the New Year’s Day holiday on Thursday. The market reopens on Friday for a full trading day. This week’s global economic calendar has minutes from the December Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Tuesday, before a swathe of manufacturing PMI readings on Friday. Stocks in New York were lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5%, the S&P 500 index retreated 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.7%. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.12%, narrowing from 4.16% on Wednesday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.80%, slimmed from 4.82%. Pending home sales in the US grew by more than expected in November. According to the National Association of Realtors, pending home sales rose 3.3% on-month in November. This figure surpassed the FXStreet-cited consensus, which had projected a rise of 1.0% during the month. On a year-over-year basis, pending home sales increased by 2.6%. According to NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, ‘Homebuyer momentum is building. The data shows the strongest performance of the year after accounting for seasonal factors, and the best performance in nearly three years, dating back to February 2023.’ Brent oil was down at $61.48 a barrel at the time of the London equities close on Monday from $62.58 at the time of the early London equities close on Wednesday. However, it was up from $60.32 at the time of the New York equities close on Friday. Gold bought $4,336.60 an ounce at Monday’s close, down from $4,492.58 on Wednesday and from $4,528.06 on Friday. Gold had hit a record high above $4,549 an ounce on Friday. In London, International Personal Finance led the way on the FTSE 250 index as its shares jumped 5.9%. The firm said it has agreed a £543 million all-cash takeover by BasePoint Capital, with the acquisition expected to complete in the third quarter of 2026. Under the terms of the offer, IPF shareholders will receive 235 pence in cash for each share, valuing the provider of credit products and insurance services at around £543 million. IPF shares closed at 220.00p on Wednesday. The offer represents a premium of around 31% to IPF’s closing share price of 179.2 pence on July 29, the last trading day before the company entered an offer period. The agreed offer follows a series of approaches from BasePoint earlier this year. In September, IPF said it had received an improved indicative proposal of 235p per share, raised from an initial 220p approach made in July, and indicated at the time that its board would be minded to recommend the offer if a firm bid were made. IPF’s board has unanimously recommended the offer, and completion of the acquisition is subject to shareholder approval. Chair Stuart Sinclair said: ‘Whilst the board continues to believe in the strategy and long-term prospects of IPF on a standalone basis, we recognise that the acquisition allows IPF shareholders to monetise their entire investment for cash at a fair price. We believe that the business will benefit from BasePoint’s ownership and its commitment to fulfil IPF’s purpose of building a better world through financial inclusion.’ Elsewhere, Everyman Media shares closed flat after Chief Executive Officer Alex Scrimgeour stepped down with immediate effect, as analysts said ‘time had run out’ for the CEO after a profit warning and the resignation of the finance director earlier this month. Scrimgeour’s departure follows Finance Director Will Worsdell’s resignation two weeks ago, who is leaving at the end of March. The London-based premium cinema chain has appointed Farah Golant, currently non-executive director, as the interim CEO. ‘Farah has extensive experience across the global creative, entertainment, and media industries, and a track record of accelerating growth and cultivating high performance, results-oriented organisations,’ said Philip Jacobson, the company’s non-executive chair. ‘Everyman has now lost both its chief executive and its finance director over the past fortnight,’ said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell. ‘That’s unfortunate timing and means the pressure is on to find a new leadership team fast.’ ‘The share price fell by 76% during his tenure and time had run out,’ he added. Scrimgeour has stepped down after Everyman’s profit warning earlier this month, where it said it was ‘operating in a challenging economic environment’ with recent UK box office performance ‘weaker than anticipated’. ‘It’s fair to say that 2025 wasn’t a golden year for new film releases, making matters worse for Everyman. Its recent profit warning was blamed on a weak fourth quarter film state, and the release schedule for the next few months doesn’t instil much optimism,’ said AJ Bell’s Coatsworth. The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Fresnillo, up 82.00 pence at 3,282.00p, Glencore, up 8.30p at 402.60p, Convatec, up 5.00p at 243.00p, Anglo American, up 57.00p at 3,069.00p, and Entain, up 14.00p at 764.60p. The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Babcock International, down 33.00p at 1,227.00p, Hiscox, down 21.00p at 1,407.00p, British American Tobacco, down 60.00p at 4,155.00p, BT Group, down 2.50p at 182.30p, and Halma, down 43.80p at 3,524.20p. On Friday’s economic calendar are minutes from the latest meeting of the US Federal Open Market Committee as well as house price index figures for the US. There are no events scheduled on Tuesday’s local corporate calendar. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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