Britain’s Rightmove rejects £6.1bn offer from Murdoch’s REA; Chinese stocks extend rally – business live

The Co-op Group, which owns Britain’s seventh-biggest supermarket chain, is back in the black, as growth in membership and its quick commerce business offset rising costs.

The Co-op, which is owned by its members, said the number of members had grown by 20% to 5.5 million, putting it on target to reach 8 million by 2030.

The group has a partnership with Uber Direct, allowing shoppers to order groceries on the Co-op website with delivery through the Uber Eats’ network.

It plans to open 120 new food stores by the end of next year. The 180-year-old group runs almost 2,400 supermarkets as well as funeral, insurance and legal services businesses. Food sales grew by 3.2% while legal services posted 35% revenue growth, the fastest-growing division.

The Co-op made a profit before tax of £58m in the first half of the year, compared with a loss of £33m a year earlier. The group credited lower interest payments and strong Funeralcare investment returns. Revenues rose by £100m to £5.6bn.

Shirine Khoury-Haq, the chief executive, said:

We have delivered a strong performance for the first six months of this year as our strategy starts to gain real momentum. Although the external environment remains challenging, it is testament to the underlying strength of our Co-op that we have outperformed in all our markets while significantly increasing our investments in our colleagues, pricing and in the growth of our businesses.

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.

The British online property portal Rightmove has rejected an improved £6.1bn takeover proposal from billionaire Rupert Murdoch’s REA Group, saying it undervalued the company.

The Australian group said on Monday that it had made a third offer for the company, worth £6.1bn. But Rightmove said the increased proposal “continues to be unattractive and materially undervalues the company and its future prospects”.

REA responded swiftly, saying it was “disappointed” by the latest rejection, and “frustrated” that the rejections aside, “REA has still had no substantive engagement with Rightmove”. It added:

REA urges Rightmove shareholders to encourage the board of directors of Rightmove to engage in constructive discussions with REA to work towards a recommended transaction,

ahead of next Monday’s “put up or shut up” deadline.

Chinese stocks have rallied for a second day, fuelled by Beijing’s stimulus, while the rest of Asia is more mixed.

The mainland China CSI 300 index rose by 1.68% following a 4.3% jump the day before, while Hong Kong’s Hang Sing added nearly 1% after Tuesday’s 4.1% leap. Japan’s Nikkei slipped by 0.26% while South Korea’s Kospi lost 1%.

The People’s Bank of China launched a blitz of stimulus measures to support its economy, cutting the amount of cash banks must hold on their books, lowering several key interest rates and unveiling more support for the property market.

The news lifted stocks around the world. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 celebrated its 41st record high yesterday.

However, Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, cautioned:

The problem is, the stimulus measures will take time to show in the economic data. And more worryingly, they won’t do much to fix the country’s deepest issues – they won’t reverse local governments’ heavy debt burden, China’s aging population, and will hardly boost the demand-led growth. As such long-term investors appreciate the efforts but prefer to watch from a distance for now.

The Agenda

• 8.30am BST: Sweden Riskbank interest rate decision

• 12pm BST: US MBA Mortgage applications

• 3pm BST: US New Home sales for August