Rentokil soars (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - London, 22 Jul - Shares in London closed higher as markets assessed the impact of US president Joe Biden's withdrawal as the Democratic candidate for November's presidential election.

The move was broadly expected after Biden's underwhelming debate performance against Donald Trump in June, and after polls recently showed the increasing likelihood of an election win by Trump in November.

Among individual stocks, budget airliner Ryanair shares sank after the company said its quarterly profit after tax had fallen 46% in the three months to the end of June and fares will be lower than expected in the summer months.

While shares in Rentokil Initial jumped 7.77% at 482.90 pence after the Sunday Times said that the UK pest control and hygiene company could be the target of a takeover bid. The Sunday newspaper said that former BT chief executive Philip Jansen is working on a private equity-backed offer to take over Rentokil.

The London FTSE 100 closed up 0.53% at 8,198.78 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 22-07-24 18:14:23 (0526) 5 NNNN