Barratt Developments said its impending £2.5bn merger with Redrow should complete later this week despite local competition concerns raised by regulators. Both housebuilders said they are now engaging with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) following the conclusion of its first review earlier this month, which raised concerns about the supply of newbuild private residential housing in just one of the more than 400 local areas where the two companies overlap. Barratt has now waived the CMA condition to the merger, which "removes uncertainty for the employees, supply chain and wider stakeholder groups of both businesses". Barratt shares were up around 1.5% and Redrow had gained nearly 3% by around 9am.

 

Plus 500 has reported strong first half results, with an 8% increase in revenue to $398.2m and a 6% rise in EBITDA to $183.9m. The company's cash balances surpassed $1bn for the first time, enabling significant shareholder returns totalling $185.5m through dividends and share buybacks. Plus500 said it expects its full-year results to exceed current market expectations, reflecting continued growth and strategic progress, particularly in the US market. Plus 500 shares rose nearly 5% in early trading.

 

Intercede has announced a new partnership with Microsoft which will allow customers to bring FIDO passkeys into their authentication solutions. The AIM-listed cybersecurity software group said that a number of its customers have wanted to use FIDO passkeys on behalf of users on devices such as the Yubikey family of devices or smartphones. However, the lack of ability to integrate credential management systems with Microsoft's Entra ID has been a barrier to adoption. Intercede said it is now moving quickly to "bring this partnership to life" and a first version of the implementation will be ready for demonstration within the next two week. Intercede shares had jumped over 10% by around 9am.

 

Headlines we expect on Tuesday

 

ASOS Shareholder meeting

Zoo Digital Final results

This time last year Revenue $90.3m, adjusted EBITDA $15.5m, net cash $11.8m