Royal Mail leads the blue-chips, why BT Group and Vodafone are on bid alert, oh, and a knee in the groin for Hochschild Mining PLC

1 – Hochschild Mining receives knee to groin from Peru’s PM

Down 45% at one point, the company has been shown what a small dose of Marxism can do, says Alastair Ford, Proactive’s columnist and mining guru.

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2 – BT and Vodafone in demand as private equity circles sector

KKR’s £28bn bid approach for Telecom Italia lit the blue touchpaper under the sector. Who will be next? And will Patrick Drahi’s Altice follow up on June’s investment, which gave it a 12% stake, with an all-out bid when the non-bid clause lapses on December 10?

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3 – Royal Mail on a run

Shares in the postal group, newly restored to the FTSE 100, are up more than a quarter since their autumn nadir and led the blue-chip index on Monday. John Harrington discusses whether there is further to go.

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4 – FTSE 100 ends the day higher

FTSE 100 closed in the green on Monday while Wall Street also forged higher as markets were boosted by the reappointment of Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair and the continuity that provides. The UK’s blue-chip benchmark finished ahead by almost 32 points, or 0.44%, at 7,255.

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5 – Going, going gone for LV=

Frankly, we’ve been bored rigid by the City soap opera around the private equity takeover of LV=, but we understand that others might be interested and, indeed, have a vested interest in the transaction. The company has defended its decision to sell the company to US private equity firm Bain Capital as it urged shareholders to approve the £530mln takeover at meetings on 10 December.

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And another thing… 

This stock is up more than 700% in 2021 – it doesn’t have a blockchain nor is it an internet meme, rarer still, it is an oil and gas company!

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Elsewhere, we took a closer look at Hostmore PLC (LSE:MORE), the owner of the FRIDAYS American diner chain that’s had a difficult start to life as a listed business. It seems to be a victim of the dreaded stock overhang scenario. Is there an opportunity there? The management might say so.

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The day ahead: Tuesday. November 23

Trading statement: Cranswick PLC (LSE:CWK), CRH PLC (LSE:CRH), Devro PLC (LSE:DVO), Reach PLC (LSE:RCH)

Interims: AO World PLC (LSE:AO.), Caledonia Investments Plc, Pets at Home Group, Severn Trent PLC (LSE:SVT) , Telecom Plus (LSE:TEP) 

Finals: Compass Group PLC (LSE:CPG), Avon Rubber Plc

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