Updates from InterContinental Hotels Group, Petrofac and Hammerson

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savings, tax, stockmarket, pensions, cash, investment FTSE 100, Petrofac, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Hammerson
savings, tax, stockmarket, pensions, cash, investment FTSE 100, Petrofac, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Hammerson

Greek deal optimism fuelled a 1.4% climb for the FTSE 100 on Thursday, ending at 6,581.6. Primark owner Associated British Foods saw the biggest rise, up 5% on better sugar pressures while housebuilders were also back in favour: TaylorWimpey soared almost 5% to 184.90p; Barratt was up 4.35 to 620.50p. Clearly Wednesday's Budget falls were an over-reaction.

In the US the Dow crept up just 33 points to 17,548.6 with worry about Chinese stocks checking further gains. Meanwhile Greece puts forward a new economic reform plan today in a last-ditch attempt to seal a eurozone deal.

First off this morning is news thatInterContinental Hotels Group(IHG) is selling its stake in InterContinental Hong Kong to Supreme Key Limited, a consortium of investors advised by Gaw Capital Partners.

The deal is worth $938m says InterContinental; Supreme Key has paid a cash deposit to IHG of $94m so far, with the remaining sum payable in cash on completion. Supreme has made a further commitment to invest in the refurbishment of the hotel.

"We are," says IHG boss Richard Solomons, "very pleased to be working closely with a highly regarded hotel investor that will be a great partner for IHG and with whom we look forward to building a successful long term relationship."

Next, oil and gas player Petrofac says it has been awarded a $780m project in Kuwait with the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC). The contract is part of Kuwait's plan to up crude production during the next five years.

"Kuwait is, and will continue to be, one of our core markets and is of strategic importance to Petrofac's ambitions in the Middle East," says Petrofac. "We look forward to working with KOC to deliver this project safely and on schedule."

Petrofac saw a Buy rating from Nomura recently while JPMorgan Chase shifted their Neutral rating to Overweight in late June.

Lastly, property and development company Hammerson - given a Buy rating from Panmure Gordon recently - says it has exchanged contracts to sell its interest in Grand Maine shopping centre, south west of Angers, to a French institutional investor for €63.2 million (£45.3 million).

The centre was refurbished by Hammerson in 2013 and, says the company, is let with occupancy of 95%, generating gross rental income of €3.3m (£2.4m).

"This disposal," says David Atkins, Chief Executive of Hammerson, "along with the recent sale of Bercy 2, Paris, represent an opportunity to take advantage of strong investor demand for retail real estate assets and achieve good pricing ahead of book value."

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