Investors dumped Just Eat Takeway.com shares today after New York lawmakers soured the new Grubhub owner’s first taste of life operating in the US market.
London-listed Just Eat only completed its £5.75 billion Grubhub deal two months ago, but any euphoria is likely to have cooled after last night’s decision to permanently cap the commissions firms can charge restaurants in the city.
The move, which will also impact UberEats and DoorDash, came despite Grubhub arguing that price controls have “unprecedented, damaging and long-term consequences” for restaurants by limiting how they promote their business.
Just Eat shares fell 5% or 313p to 6,613p, but are still higher than a fortnight ago. Elsewhere, thin holiday trading volumes left the FTSE 100 index at 7,131.73, a rise of just 6.75 points.
Fears that Tropical Storm Ida might turn into a powerful hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico put pressure on oil prices, with Brent crude futures 1% higher at $71.78 a barrel.
Shares in BP, which is evacuating workers from four platforms in the area, rose 2p to 295.55p amid wider buying in the commodities sector.
Tesco was the biggest FTSE 100 riser, up 3.4p to 256.5p as analysts at UBS said the underperformance of shares was at odds with its continued strong trading.
The bank is now more cautious on Sainsbury’s after shares started the week 15% higher amid speculation of takeover interest from private equity’s Apollo.
UBS said: “We think a lack of statement from Sainsbury’s/Apollo suggests private equity interest may have been exploratory.” It downgraded its target price to 300p, with shares 5.2p lower at 314.6p today.
The FTSE 250 index, meanwhile, added 25.66 points to 23,978.05. Among smaller stocks, Air Partner surged 4.3p to 88.9p after the private jets firm said US bookings were better than before the pandemic.
