Premarket London: WPP Announces Buyback; Ocado/M&S JV Sales Strong

Investing.com -- Here is a summary of the most important regulatory news releases from the London Stock Exchange on Thursday, 12th December. Please refresh for updates.

Advertising group WPP (LON:WPP) said it had instructed Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) to buy back up to 300 million pounds worth of its stock.

That’s just less than 2.5% of the company’s outstanding shares and represents a quarter of what has been authorized by WPP (LON:WPP) shareholders.

Marks & Spencer's (LON:MKS) joint venture with Ocado (LON:OCDO) said it raised revenue by 10.8% in year-on-year terms in the 13 weeks to Dec.

The average order size was stable at 104.90 pounds ($136)

The company noted that its new customer fulfilment center at Erith outside London has ramped up to 70,000 orders per week, with better efficiency than its one in Hatfield. Further increases in capacity are planned.

Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) said it would consider its options after Australia’s Takeover Panel struck down its proposal to pay for the clean-up of a uranium mine site in the country’s Northern Territory. Rio had proposed to underwrite an offer to raise A$476 million ($324 million) for the clean up, but the panel argued that the terms of the issue amounted to a highly dilutive deal aimed at making it easier for Rio to squeeze out minorities. Under the terms of its license, Energy Resources of Australia is required to end mining and processing activities at the Ranger mine by January 2021 and complete final rehabilitation by January 2026.

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