UK Service Sector Growth Slumps, Manchester United Files for IPO

Arthi Gupta
04 Jul, 2012
New York City

The UK indexes declined after service sector growth slumped to an eight month low and shop price inflation eased in June. Manchester United filed for a New York listing. Tullow estimates record revenues in the first-half.

[R]1:30 PM London – The UK indexes declined after service sector growth slumped to an eight month low and shop price inflation eased in June. Manchester United filed for a New York listing. Tullow estimates record revenues in the first-half.[/R]

The UK indexes dipped after the service sector activity slowed and shop price inflation eased in June in light trading.

Irish service sector activity gained in June.

In London, the benchmark index FTSE 100 declined 7.18 or 0.1% to 5,680.58 and the pound edged lower to $1.5643.

UK Shop Prices Inflation Eases

Shop price inflation rose 1.1% from a year ago in June following the 1.5% fall in May, the British Retail Consortium said today. This was the slowest rate of increase since November 2009.

On a monthly basis, shop prices climbed 0.1% in June.

Food prices dropped 0.2% on a monthly basis and non-food prices gained 0.4% in May.

UK Service Sector Growth Slumps, Housing Equity Injections Rise

The UK service sector continued to grow during June, albeit at a slower rate, data from a survey by Markit Economics and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply showed.

The seasonally adjusted purchasing managers'' index for the service sector dropped to 51.3 in June from 53.3 in May.

Separately, British households injected £8.81 billion housing equity in the first quarter compared to the £8.55 billion injection in the prior quarter, the Bank of England said today.

Irish Service Sector Gains

There was a fractional decline in Irish services activity during June as new business grows only marginally, data from a survey by Markit Economics and HSBC Bank showed today.

The seasonally adjusted purchasing managers'' index for the service sector rose to 49.7 in June from 48.9 in May, signalling that services activity decreased for the second consecutive month amid weak client confidence.

Manchester United Files for IPO

Manchester United Limited, the soccer club plans for an initial public offering in the U.S. The club will reportedly raise $100 million in the IPO and intends to use the net proceeds from offering to reduce its £423.3 million debt.

The company in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission intends to apply to list Class A ordinary shares on the New York Stock Exchange. However, the firm did not mention the intended stock symbol, price range or number of shares in the offering.

Manchester has selected Jefferies, Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan, BofA Merrill Lynch, and Deutsche Bank Securities as its underwriters.

Gainers & Losers

Bunzl plc dipped 0.1% to 1,068 pence after the distribution and outsourcing company acquired MMH Holding AG and its subsidiaries from Markus Meier, Daniel Meier and Reto Hofmann.

Tullow Oil plc fell 2% to 1,500 pence after the oil and gas explorer said estimates revenues in the first half of $1.15 billion.

Vodafone Group plc rose 0.8% to 181 pence after the mobile communications operator is in advanced talks with Hutchison Whampoa for a merger of the two companies'' Irish telecoms infrastructure, the Financial Times reported.

WPP Plc dipped 0.3% to 807.50 pence after the advertising agency’s wholly-owned operating network Kantar agreed to acquire 87% of the share capital of Press Index S.A. in France at €6.81 a share.