Trainline's shares surged as the digital train-booking business made its near-£1.7 billion entrance on to the stock market.

The tech business priced its shares at 350p each in its initial public offering, valuing the firm at £1.68bn.

But Trainline saw its shares jump past 400p per share on Friday.

Trainline employs more than 600 people across its offices in London, Paris and Edinburgh.

The share sale is expected to raise proceeds of around £110 million for the firm backed by private equity giant KKR.

READ MORE: Trainline on track in stock market float

Clare Gilmartin, chief executive officer of Trainline, said: "We believe we are uniquely positioned to capitalise on the vast opportunity ahead and accelerate our expansion for the benefit of our customers, our train and coach company partners and our shareholders."

Shares in the company rose by 18.2 per cent to 413.9p.

Advertising giant WPP has sold a majority stake in its post-production business, which worked on hits including ITV's Downton Abbey and the BBC's Baptise series.

The deal for The Farm, which was bought by US rival Picture Shop, is the latest sell-off from WPP as part of new boss Mark Read's plans to slim down the business.

WPP initially bought its 75% stake in The Farm more than 20 years ago under founder and former chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell.

But since he left following allegations of misconduct, new chief executive Mr Read has vowed to cut "non-core" divisions.

The deal is thought to be worth around £50 million and The Farm was advised by Cavendish.

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WPP said: "The sale is in line with WPP's new strategy as set out in December 2018, a key element of which is to focus on its main areas of business and simplify its operations through the disposal of non-core assets."

The company has seen a major shake-up since Sir Martin left last year, with more than 30 divisions sold, bringing in around £850m.

Meanwhile, Sir Martin also revealed his new advertising business venture, S4 Capital, is set to buy Australia-based marketing tech firm Biztech for an undisclosed sum.

The Government posted a larger-than-expected budget deficit last month, after a jump in spending.

The budget deficit widened to £5.1 billion in May, £1bn higher than the same month last year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed on Friday.

Borrowing over the first two months of the financial year increased to £11.9bn, representing an 18 per cent increase on the same period in 2018.

The ONS said it now expects the Government to borrow more money this year than previously forecast.

It said it now predicts borrowing to rise to £24bn for the financial year, £500 million higher than previously expected, and above Chancellor Philip Hammond's £22.8bn target.