¹û¶³´«Ã½

FTSE 100 insurer Standard Life (SDLF), which rebranded from Phoenix last month, grew annual profits in 2025 but hotter pension risk transfer (PRT) competition weighed on investor sentiment.

For the year to 31 December, adjusted operating profit rose 15 per cent on improved performances from pensions and savings and retirement solutions. Operating cash generation was up 13 per cent to £396mn.

However, PRT volumes were £3.9bn, compared to £5.1bn the year before. The group, which has £1.6bn-worth of PRT completed or at an exclusive stage so far this year, expects a “continuation of the competitive landscape� in the near term.

Management said the business was “firmly on track� to hit its 2026 financial targets and deliver around £500mn of excess cash this year.

The shares were down more than 2 per cent in early trading.

Scottish Mortgage (SMT) has proposed slightly looser rules around private market investments, which can be harder to shift quickly than listed holdings. 

There is currently a 30 per cent cap on unlisted holdings as a proportion of the total portfolio, although SpaceX’s recent valuation lift has taken this to 35 per cent. 

Manager Baillie Gifford has now proposed an additional £250mn in possible investment once the 30 per cent cap is already breached. This will allow the “flexibility to facilitate a small number of new and follow-on investments in private companiesâ€�. 

The manager argued that significant revaluations could quickly take the unlisted proportion higher and lock them out of further investments. 

Shareholders will vote on the proposal on 10 April.

Read more: The trusts profiting by mixing public and private stocks

The board of CAB Payments (CABP) is reviewing a potential takeover bid from trading platform StoneX (US:SNEX) of 95p a share, valuing the company at £241mn.

The bid is at an 11 per cent premium to the $1.15 (85p) offer made to shareholders by main shareholder Helios Investment Partners to take the company private. CAB Payments’ board has argued the Helios offer “fundamentally undervalues� the cross-border payments company.

StoneX, which had previously backed away from a bid of 145p a share for CAB Payments in November 2024, said its all-cash bid was a premium of around a third to the 72p that the shares were trading at in January before Helios’ offer became public. It argued that its bid could create “a leading global specialist in emerging markets payments�.

CAB Payments’ board said it “is currently evaluating� StoneX’s bid. Securing the necessary support could prove difficult, though, given Helios owns 45 per cent of CAB Payments’ shares, and that it secured support from Eurocomm Holding, which holds a further 5.2 per cent.

CAB Payments’ shares rose by 13 per cent to 89p a share.

There’s been a flurry of activity among the UK’s Reits to start the week. 

Shares in Segro (SEGR) rose 2 per cent after the warehouse landlord agreed to develop a 300,000 square foot data centre in Slough for one of its existing data centre customers. It also received planning approval for its £1bn joint venture with Pure DC. 

Great Portland Estates (GPE) announced the sale of an office building in Fitzrovia to Feldberg Capital for £172mn, ahead of its September 2025 book value. Shares rose 1 per cent.

Derwent London (DLN), meanwhile, has announced the pre-let of the entirety of its Network building, also in Fitzrovia, to Databricks. Shares were flat.

The UK housing market appears to be holding steady in the face of wider geopolitical uncertainty. Average asking prices rose 0.8 per cent, or £3,000, in March to £371,042, according to Rightmove (RMV).

The number of homes for sale at this time of year is still at its highest level for 11 years, while the number of sales agreed was just 2 per cent below the prior year, when the housing market was performing strongly ahead of the end of a stamp duty holiday.

“‘Steady rather than strong’ is how I’d describe the start of this year’s spring market,� said property expert Colleen Babcock. “That said, uncertainty is never helpful for market activity.�

SigmaRoc (SRC) is realising the benefits of its 2024 acquisition of CRH’s (CRH) European lime and limestone assets sooner than expected. 

The lime and minerals group achieved its €40mn (£35mn) synergies target two years ahead of schedule, which supported a 17 per cent year on year increase in underlying Ebitda to £262mn.

Headline revenues rose only 4 per cent to £1bn, with higher pricing and a more favourable sales mix offsetting lower volumes. 

The company did not provide explicit 2026 guidance, but noted that extreme weather conditions had delayed the construction season in some of its geographies. Shares fell 2 per cent in early trading.