BUSINESS LIVE: AstraZeneca hikes dividend; Shurgard to buy Lok’nstore; Darktrace lifts guidance

London-listed stocks are treading water in early trading as investors shift their focus from yesterday’s hotter-than-expected US inflation data to the European Central Bank’s interest rate decision later today.

Industrial metal miners have added 1 per cent as copper prices tick higher, supported by firm market fundamentals and a retreat in the US dollar.

Markets expect the ECB to maintain its current peak borrowing costs in its monetary policy meeting later in the day, though it could signal that an interest rate cut is coming as soon as June.

Among individual stocks, Darktrace has surged 8.8 per cent after the cybersecurity company raised its annual revenue and margin forecasts for the third time this year.

Lok’NStore has jumped 16.9 per cent after rival Shurgard agreed to acquire the self-storage company in a deal valued at £378million.

AstraZeneca has hiked its annual dividend by 7 per cent to $3.10 per share, as the London-listed drugmaker bets on its blockbuster cancer drugs to deliver strong performance and cash generation.

The dividend boost comes as shareholders gear up to vote on the firm’s chief executive’s controversial bumper pay package at its annual general meeting later on Thursday.

Chair Michel Demaré, said: ‘This uplift is in line with our progressive dividend policy, which remains unchanged, and reflects the continuing strength of AstraZeneca’s investment proposition for shareholders.’

And the FTSE 250 is up 2.61 points to 19,804.36.

Joost van Leenders, senior investment strategist at Van Lanschot Kempen:

‘We expect a relatively uneventful ECB meeting today, with the ECB leaving interest rates unchanged.

‘The ECB has clearly signaled that it wants to see more evidence of moderating wage growth before it is ready to cut interest rates. With this in mind, it expects to have enough evidence by the June meeting, so a first cut by then is still the most likely scenario for us.

‘ECB President Lagarde will surely get questions about the disappointing US inflation numbers for March, which make a Fed cut in June unlikely, but she will point out that the ECB is focused only on the eurozone.

‘More interesting will be what the ECB has to say about inflation in the eurozone. According to the seasonally adjusted CPI the ECB publishes, core inflation has accelerated this year – yet another reason to keep rates unchanged at this meeting and wait until June to see how this will develop.’

Darktrace has boosted its annual revenue and margin forecasts for the third time this year after the British cybersecurity company’s third-quarter revenue jumped nearly 27 per cent.

The London-listed firm has benefited from demand for its services due to an increase in digital attacks, as well as the artificial intelligence boom. It expects revenue from new customers to grow as the economic environment begins to improve.

‘We believe the markets in which we operate are emerging from a period of relative economic uncertainty and moving to an environment where organisations can prioritise proactive cyber defense,’ Chief financial officer Cathy Graham said.

Accounting giant KPMG received the biggest fine ever handed out by the US audit watchdog after senior partners and managers cheated on professional exams.

The Big Four’s Dutch division was fined £20million after hundreds of its staff were found to have improperly shared answers in mandatory training courses between 2017 and 2022.

European self-storage company Shurgard has agreed to buy UK-listed rival Lok’nStore in a deal worth £378million.

Shurgard has agreed to spend £11.10 in cash for each Lok’n Store share, which it said represents a 15.9 per cent premium to the London-listed firm’s closing price on 10 April.

Andrew Jacobs, chair of Lok’nStore, said:

‘Lok’nStore’s board believes the offer represents significant value for Lok’nStore’s shareholders, recognising the quality of Lok’nStore’s real estate portfolio and operational strength.

Over the years Lok’nStore has built a unique portfolio of purpose-built self-storage assets.

‘We believe that integrating Lok’nStore’s assets and operations into Shurgard is highly complementary considering Lok’nStore’s asset locations and positioning in its markets.

‘I would like to take the opportunity to highlight the contribution of Lok’nStore’s team over the years, whose commitment has enabled building the business to its high standards and unique asset quality it is recognised for today and ensuring leading positioning in the markets in which it operates.’

Interest rate cut hopes faded on both sides of the Atlantic yesterday after US inflation rose to a higher-than-expected 3.5 per cent.

The figures wreaked havoc on financial markets as bond yields soared, Wall Street stocks tumbled, and the pound fell sharply.

Paul Ashworth, chief North America economist at Capital Economics, said that the data ‘pretty much kills off hopes of a June rate cut’ from the Federal Reserve.

AstraZeneca has hiked its annual dividend by 7 per cent to $3.10 per share, as the London-listed drugmaker bets on its blockbuster cancer drugs to deliver strong performance and cash generation.

The Anglo-Swedish pharma firm said it expects total revenue and core earnings per share to increase by percentages in the low double-digits to low-teens this year

‘This uplift is in line with our progressive dividend policy, which remains unchanged, and reflects the continuing strength of AstraZeneca’s investment proposition for shareholders,’ Chair Michel Demaré said.