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Reckitt Benckiser (RKT) will pay a special dividend to shareholders, while simultaneously proposing to reduce the number of shares in issue, the company has said.

The news comes after the consumer goods giant sold a 70 per cent stake in its ‘Essential Home’ business, which operates across surface cleaning, pest and laundry markets, to private equity firm Advent International for $4.8bn (£3.5bn) at the end of last year. 

As a result of the sale, the Berkshire-headquartered company will return £1.6bn of “excess capital� to shareholders, via a special dividend of 235p per share, to be paid on 30 January.

The board is also proposing a share consolidation, in which investors will receive 24 new shares for every 25 existing shares held. 

Neither proposal will affect Reckitt’s existing share buyback programme and dividend policy, the company said, though they remain subject to approval at Reckitt’s general meeting on 27 January.

US activist Saba Capital has taken its campaign against the board of Edinburgh Worldwide (EWI) up a notch by threatening to “issue proceedings� over the sale of some holdings in SpaceX.

Boaz Weinstein’s Saba issued a letter arguing that Baillie Gifford, which runs Edinburgh Worldwide and Baillie Gifford US Growth (USA), sold a portion of the trusts’ stakes in SpaceX just to facilitate a merger between the two trusts.

Late last year, the two trusts proposed a merger with a partial cash exit, as a way to offer liquidity to shareholders and appease Saba. But the activist, which holds circa 30 per cent stakes in both trusts, blocked the move.

A few weeks after the trusts sold some of their considerable SpaceX stakes, the company’s valuation soared, following a liquidity event which, Saba argues, Baillie Gifford would have likely known was coming. “However, instead of waiting for the revaluation, Baillie Gifford sold a substantial portion of EWI and USA’s stakes in SpaceX in October 2025 – at a valuation that appears to have been materially below the December valuation,� Saba argued.

The merger would have been very difficult without the sale, it said, because the position would have likely breached the 20 per cent limit under the UK investment trust regime.  

“If Saba’s accusation that EWI and USA materially reduced their holdings in SpaceX purely to enable a merger that had not been approved by shareholders is correct, this is indeed a potential concern,â€� said Winterflood’s Emma Bird. But she added that the sale could have feasibly been decided for a number of legitimate reasons, including ensuring portfolio diversification and funding buybacks. 

The activist has requisitioned a general meeting at Edinburgh Worldwide. Shareholders will vote on whether to oust the trust’s board and replace it with directors chosen by Saba on 20 January.

Read more on Saba vs Baillie Gifford here

Western Australian gold miner Greatland Resources (GGP) reported December quarter production of over 86,000 ounces (oz), up 7 per cent on the previous three months. The miner runs the Telfer operation, which it took control of a year ago in a deal with Newmont (US:NEM). Its shares have doubled in value since August, after a fall from a cut to production guidance.

A $46mn (£34mn) stamp duty payment due on the acquisition of Telfer knocked the cash build for the quarter, although this still climbed by almost $200mn to sit at $948mn at the end of the year. A fuller picture of the quarter’s performance will be released on 28 January.

Topps Tiles (TPT) shares enjoyed a modest boost this morning after the company said that its first quarter sales came in higher than last year’s.

“With Topps Tiles results we get our first glimpse of 2026 into the UK’s DIY sector, and it looks like a positive start,� said David Hughes, an analyst at Shore Capital. The broker is taking a “positive read-across from this growth to other players in DIY retail�.

The Leicester-headquartered tile supplier reported a 3.7 per cent rise in revenue for the 13 weeks ended 27 December, supported by growth in its trade business. The figure excludes revenue from its CTD unit, however.

Topps bought tiling business CTD out of administration in summer 2024, though the transaction has been held up by a lengthy Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) probe. The company confirmed that the CMA process has now concluded.

CTD was lossmaking at the end of the last financial year, though management reaffirmed “the group’s plan to deliver a profit in CTD� for FY26.

The trading update also brought the chief executive transition process to an end, with Rob Parker formally retiring in December and Alex Jensen taking full control.