UK's FTSE Ends Higher; Segro Leads Gainers After Rejecting Prologis Bid
British equities gained on Wednesday, with the FTSE 100 closing 0.31% in the green, as investors digested a series of corporate updates.Shares in Segro (SGRO.L) jumped 17.44%, leading blue-chip gainers, after the UK warehouse landlord rejected a 12.6 billion-pound-sterling takeover approach from US-based industrial real estate investment trust Prologis (0KOD.L).Segro said the proposal "falls a long way short of" its own views on value, adding that the offer was "opportunistically timed and sought to take advantage of the clear dislocation" between its current share price and its underlying business.Housebuilder Berkeley Group (BKG.L) rose 8.36% even as profit after tax attributable to shareholders for the 12 months ended April 30 declined to 318.3 million pounds from 382 million pounds a year ago, while revenue dropped to 2.38 billion pounds from 2.49 billion pounds."Berkeley reported FY26 PBT (April year-end) in line with consensus and guidance, and reiterated their 4-year PBT guidance over FY27-30 for GBP1.40bn ([Visible Alpha] cons. GBP1.46bn)," RBC Capital Markets noted. "Management continued to strike a cautious tone, with the housing market post-Middle East conflict being 'characterised by caution and lacking in urgency.'"British wealth manager St. James's Place (STJ.L) climbed 3.71% after Deutsche Bank Research raised its price target to 20.5 pounds from 20 pounds and maintained its buy rating."SJP shares have been weak so far in 2026 (-16% TSR YTD vs. FTSE Allshare +7%)," analysts said. "This is a disappointing outcome for us given it was, and remains, our top pick. We think there are three primary drivers of the weakness: 1) Concerns on AI persists amongst some investors, 2) Q1 flows were at the softer end (importantly though still adequate to deliver the earnings growth expected) and 3) the share price was strong in 2025, in part driven by momentum focused investors, many of whom have at least paused for now given #1 and #2."In geopolitical news, the US Senate passed a war powers resolution by 50-48 in an effort to restrict President Donald Trump's authority to resume military operations against Iran without congressional approval. "Although its legal force is disputed, the vote signals growing bipartisan scepticism over the administration's Iran policy," Danske Bank said.
