Yahoo Finance FTSE 100 Live: Taylor Wimpey and Flutter post results, CRH plans US listing
ITV, housebuilder Taylor Wimpey and gambling group Flutter Entertainment are among the leading companies reporting today.
Taylor WImpey reported a 22% rise in annual profits to £827.9 million and said current trading showed some signs of improvement from the fourth quarter.
At ITV, chief executive Carolyn McCall said the business had started the year with strong momentum and is on track to meet long-term targets.
FTSE 100 Live Thursday
CRH plans switch to New York listing
Taylor Wimpey profits rise
WH Smith hit by cyber attack
US stocks fall as labour market data adds to rate hike fears
14:44 , Simon Hunt
Stocks fell in the opening minutes of trading on Wall Street today as labour market data raised investor fears that Federal Reserve interest rate rises would show no signs of slowing down.
US Initial jobless claims came in at 190,000, a fall of 2000 from last week and beating consensus expectations of 195,000, indicating the labour market was more resilient than expected.
That’s on top of Eurozone data out this morning which showed inflation came in higher than expected, putting pressure on the European Central Bank to enact more aggressive rate rises.
The S&P 500 fell 0..5%, while the Nasdaq fell 0.9%. The pound fell 0.8% to $1.1928.
Tom Hopkins, Portfolio Manager at BRI Wealth Management, said: “This figure marks the seventh consecutive week of the jobless figures being under 200,000. Today’s figure gives further evidence that the US labour market remains tight.
“This could force employers to raise wages to attract and retain staff, adding further inflationary pressure to the US.
“The Fed wants a much slower economy and higher unemployment. But with the increasingly strong macro data, economists have changed their outlook from a recessionary ‘hard landing’ to ‘soft landing.’“
Stella Artois brewer AB InBev sells less beer despite World Cup
13:57 , Simon Hunt
The world’s largest brewer, AB InBev, has posted its first slump in beer volumes since the pandemic over the past quarter despite the benefit of the football world cup.
The Stella Artois and Budweiser maker said bad weather impacted its US business, while its Chinese operation was still impacted by Covid-19 restrictions.
It revealed that volumes decreased by 0.6% over the final quarter of 2022, compared against the same period last year.
However, profits were slightly higher than expected after price increases offset the dip in volumes.
Underlying profit hit 1.7 billion US dollars (£1.4 billion) for the quarter despite continued pressure from cost inflation.
FTSE 100 down 10 points: lunchtime update
12:52 , Simon Hunt
Halfway through today’s trading session in London, the FTSE 100 is down 10 points to 7,905.
Building materials giant CRH is the biggest riser so far today, jumping almost 8% as investors were wooed by the firm’s decision to proceed with a listing in the US.
Fallers included the Lloyd’s of London insurer Beazley, which posted a 50% fall in net profit due to investment losses and challenging geopolitical environment.
Shares in the FTSE 100 newcomer have dropped 8.8%, despite continued strong growth for its market-leading division offering insurance against cyber attacks.
City Comment: Act now to stem the flow of floats over the Atlantic
11:54 , Simon Hunt
How worried should we be about the apparent stream of major quoted companies plumping for Wall Street over the City when it comes to the location of their primary share listings?
On one level perhaps it should not be that surprising. The FTSE-100 has been dominated by businesses that make most of their earnings in dollars for some time.
That is why a fall in the value of sterling is often accompanied by a surge in the index.So, as CRH and Flutter both explained today, it makes commercial sense to list in the US too.
But even so, no one could say it is a good look for London. And the competition for listings is only going to get more intense as Asian exchanges such as Hong Kong and Singapore ramp up their charm offences.
There is no doubt that the global reputation of London and indeed the UK generally has been badly hurt by the years of chaos and turmoil unleashed by the Brexit referendum vote that culminated in last autumn’s political equivalent of a nervous breakdown.
London does still retain some world class competitive advantages as a financial centre — the English language, the time zone position between the USA and Asia, and a vast pool of talent being just three.
It has been prematurely written off many times before. But that is no cause for complacency. Particularly not now.The Government and the City top brass need to redouble their efforts to stop this transatlantic listing leakage before it becomes a torrent.
ITV shrugs off Clarkson controversy
10:59 , Simon English
THE reinvention of ITV under Carolyn McCall continued apace today when the group revealed that less than half of revenues now come from the TV channel famed for Coronation Street, Love Island and Stonehouse.
The rest comes from the digital arm and the studios which make shows such as Line of Duty for the BBC and Queer Eye for Netflix.
McCall’s aim is that by 2026 those parts of the company will be two-thirds of sales.
Today it said revenues for last year rose from £3.5 billion to £3.7 billion, but profits were flat at £519 million.
A series of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire presented by Jeremy Clarkson has been filmed and will be broadcast later this year.
ITV would not commit to saying there will be another series led by Clarkson, but insist he has not been “cancelled” following a controversial article about Meghan Markle.
It said: “As we have said for several weeks, ITV is contractually committed to a further series of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”
A decision on Clarkson’s future will be taken later.
McCall, the former Guardian and easyJet supremo, ITV is now in a position to “take a larger part of the digital advertising market”.
The shares slipped 3p to 85p.
FTSE 100 lower, National Express shares accelerate
10:24 , Graeme Evans
National Express shares surged 13% today as the coach operator confirmed the resumption of dividend payments.
The group’s reinstated 5p a share award came after a faster-than-expected recovery in demand led to UK operating profits of £48 million in 2022, even though the first quarter saw a near complete network shutdown due to Omicron.
Across the business, which also provides school transport in the United States and urban bus services in Spain, operating profits doubled to £197.3 million on revenues of £2.8 billion.
The company said the £30 million set aside for April’s dividend payment showed its confidence in the continued recovery of passenger numbers and benefit of new contracts. Its fuel costs are 100% hedged for this year and 56% for 2024.
Shares surged 13% or 15.8p to 139.8p, a level that compares with more than 400p prior to the pandemic, as the FTSE 250 index edged into positive territory with a gain of 1.72 points to 19,872.32.
Other risers in London’s second tier included industrial threads business Coats, up 5.1p to 78.2p following a 15% rise in dividend and 22% jump in annual operating profits.
The FTSE 100 index slipped 23.39 points to 7891.54 after sentiment was hit by a downbeat session on Wall Street and a largely negative reaction to blue-chip results.
Fallers included the Lloyd’s of London insurer Beazley, which posted a 50% fall in net profit due to investment losses and challenging geopolitical environment.
Shares in the FTSE 100 newcomer slid 8% or 52p to 630.5p, despite continued strong growth for its market-leading division offering insurance against cyber attacks.
Other top flight fallers included HSBC, which dropped 27.9p to 612.4p as shares began trading without the right to the banking giant’s most recent dividend award.
In the FTSE All-Share, results by Metro Bank provided the moment for investors to lock in recent big share price gains. A profitable fourth quarter meant the challenger bank narrowed its annual underlying loss to £50 million, but shares fell 4% or 6.2p to 143.8p having rebounded by 75% in the past six months.
WH Smith becomes latest listed firm to suffer cyber attack
10:12 , Simon Hunt
WH Smith has become the latest firm to suffer a cyber attack as it said hackers had obtained illegal access to some company data, including current and former employee data.
In a statement, the firm said: “Upon becoming aware of the incident, we immediately launched an investigation, engaged specialist support services and implemented our incident response plans, which included notifying the relevant authorities.
“WH Smith takes the issue of cyber security extremely seriously and investigations into the incident are ongoing. We are notifying all affected colleagues and have put measures in place to support them.”
The firm said there would be no impact on its trading. Shares fell 1.2% to 1,565p.
Melrose demerger on track
09:52 , Simon English
MELROSE boss Simon Peckham says the company is “beginning to climb the cash mountain” that will follow a successful demerger.
It is on track to spin off its car arm to focus on its aerospace arm, “one of the best businesses we have ever owned” according to the CEO.
The perpetual buyer and seller of assets says over the next 12 months it is most likely to neither buy nor sell anything as it focusses on the demerger.
“Our job in the next 12 months is getting the aerospace business where it should be,” he said.
Profits for the last 12 months jumped from £194 million last time to £384 million. The new auto business, a parts supplier, will list in London in April under the new dame Dowlais.
Melrose will still own GKN Aerospace. The government has expressed strong interest in making sure GKN and its 4000 workers remain in the UK.
The prospectus for the listing of Dowlais will be out tomorrow. It should be valued at above £3 billion.
Schroders holds divi despite tough market
09:42 , Simon English
SCHRODERS shrugged off so-so stock picking performance today, managed to maintain its dividend and said next year would be better.
The City giant, around since 1804, has faced similar headwinds to other fund managers, with costs eating into returns from share picks.
Profit fell 23% to £587 million in the year, while assets dipped 4% to £737 million.
Chief executive Peter Harrison said: "The market challenges of 2022 provided a stress test for our strategy. I am encouraged by our resilient performance and that our strategy is working.”
Schroders has been diversifying into wealth management and private capital. Scroders Capital had a record year, with £17.5 billion of fundraising.
The total divi is at 21.5p, just up from 21.4p last time. Rivals such as Jupiter and M&G have struggled due to poor fund performance even while the main share indices rallied
Harrison added: “Providing excellent investment performance to our clients through active management is what drives our financial performance.”
PPHE struggled to recruit staff in London after demand surged past pre-pandemic levels
08:39 , Simon Hunt
Boss of Park Plaza owner PPHE decries Brexit-induced staffing shortages as the firm struggled to keep up with a strong recovery in demand for rooms in 2022.
The firm, which operates 8 hotels in London with more openings in the pipeline, said demand had recovered to surpass pre-pandemic levels with a surge in summer bookings. Revenue rose to £217 million, while pre-tax profits hit £8.3 million, turning around a loss of £47.5 million in the previous year.
Speaking to the Standard, CFO Daniel Kos said: “We struggled to get the talent in-house to service demand.
“We see a similar pattern across Europe but the UK was by far the most challenging.
“In other territories we can fly people in from different countries…but during Covid Brexit came into effect so all the people who left the industry to go home can’t come back to the UK.”
PPHE shares rose 2.7% to 1,150p. The hotels business said staffing issues have been resolved in more recent months.
Results flurry fails to lift FTSE 100, CRH up 9%
08:36 , Graeme Evans
The FTSE 100 index is down 20.11 points at 7894.82, with big fallers including Flutter Entertainment and Beazley as their results sent shares more than 5% lower.
Consumer healthcare business Haleon, London Stock Exchange and Schroders also lost more than 2% in the wake of their annual figures.
Building supplies firm CRH led the top flight after its better-than-expected results and 2023 optimism led shares up 9% or 359.5p to 4318p. GKN owner Melrose Industries also improved 6.6p to 160.6p.
The FTSE 250 index fell 57.4 points to 19,813.20, led by ITV after a results-day fall of 3%. National Express moved in the opposite direction, with shares in the coach operator accelerating 14p to 138p as annual results included a return to dividend payments.
Flutter earnings reflect Paddy Power owner’s increasing US focus
07:56 , Daniel O'Boyle
Paddy Power and Sky Bet owner Flutter’s results showed why it aims to list in the US, as its American arm became its largest division in 2022.
The betting operator’s revenue grew by 27% to £7.69bn, with almost all the growth coming in the US.
US revenue - almost all from the FanDuel brand it acquired for $158 million in 2018 - almost doubled to £2.60 billion.
Marketing costs in the country remain high, as betting companies spend big on television ads and free bets to attract customers in states that have recently legalised sports betting. But Flutter’s £250 million loss in the country looks better than its US-based competitors.
The group as a whole made a £1.05 billion profit, with profit from the UK and Ireland coming to £654 million, up by 6%. In the UK, the acquisition of bingo site Tombola and the end of Covid-19 restrictions helped offset the impact of affordability measures introduced in anticipation of the Government’s planned reform of UK gambling laws.
LSE hails strong year, plans £750m buyback
07:51 , Graeme Evans
London Stock Exchange today revealed a 38.8% rise in annual profits to £1.24 billion and issued new guidance for income growth on a constant currency basis of 6-8% in 2023.
Adjusting for the negative impact of the Russia/Ukraine war, growth was 6.6% in the previous financial year.
Chief executive David Schwimmer said: “LSEG has had a strong year, successfully integrating Refinitiv and significantly improving its performance, while also delivering strong results in our capital markets and post trade businesses.”
He added that the resilience of the business model and quality of earnings was “becoming increasingly clear”.
LSE also announced plans for a £750 million shares buyback targeted at the holdings of the Blackstone/Thomson Reuters consortium.
Capita mulls first dividend since 2017 as it hails success of years-long turnaround
07:45 , Simon Hunt
Outsourcing giant Capita hailed the success of its turnaround plans as the company mulled issuing its first dividend in six years.
The firm posted adjusted pre-tax profit of £74 million -- ahead of analyst expectations and turning around losses in the previous year. Capita said its new hybrid work patterns had helped slash staff absences -- but warned staff attrition was still as high as 30% in some parts of the business.
Speaking to the Standard, boss Jon Lewis said: “This is pivotal point for us as a company; it’s the first time we’ve generated cashflow in many years [and] we’ve taken our debt down by over £1 billion.
“Bar the potential introduction of a dividend in the future -- which is something we are thinking about in 2023 -- we’ve broken the back on this turnaround.”
Lloyd's of London insurer Beazley’s profit falls by almost half
07:43 , Michael Hunter
Net profit at Beazley, the insurance company, fell by almost 50% for 2022 to $191 million, after losses from investments and “a challenging geopolitical environment”.
But ts Cyber Risks business, which offers insurance against online attacks, has become a market leader, it said, as demand for protection grows “exponentially”
The Lloyd’s of London insurer said a key industry profitability measure, its combined ratio, was at 89%, in line with guidance but down from 93% in 2021.
It filed a net investment loss of $179.1 million, down from income of $116.4 million in 2021.
Adrian Cox, chief executive officer, said: “After raising equity in November, along with a solid January renewal season, we continue to lean into the opportunity we are seeing in the Property market whilst executing on our Cyber growth plans.”
CRH plans switch to New York listing
07:33 , Graeme Evans
FTSE 100 building supplies firm CRH today revealed it is planning to switch its primary stock market listing to New York.
The company generates about 75% of its earnings from the United States and believes the move will bring increased commercial, operational and acquisition opportunities.
It intends to pursue US equity index inclusion as soon as possible, but will remain headquartered, incorporated and tax-resident in Ireland.
The move is another potential blow to the London market after fellow FTSE 100 companies Pershing Square and Flutter Entertainment announced they are considering New York listings.
CRH today announced a 13% rise in underlying earnings to $5.6 billion (£4.7 billion) and said it expected resilient demand and increased pricing in 2023.
Taylor Wimpey profits rise over a fifth in ‘year of two halves’ split by mini-Budget
07:25 , Michael Hunter
Taylor Wimpey, the FTSE 100 housebuilder, has reported profit before tax for 2022 of almost £828 million, up by over a fifth, in what it called “a year of two halves”.
That came from revenue of £4.4 billion, up over 3%, with the group’s overall average selling price up 4% to £313,000. Year-on-year house price inflation of 8% offset build cost inflation, also of 8%.
Taylor said that following the mini budget of September 23, “there was a sharp and significant increase in mortgage rates and this, materially reduced customer confidence and affordability, which inevitably impacted new home sales across the sector.”
With the spring selling season in its early stages, Taylor also said signs of an improvement in the house market were evident from the fourth quarter of last year.
“This improved sales rate follows recent reductions in mortgage rates, early signs of stabilised customer confidence, usual seasonal trading patterns and the benefit of our focused promotional activity,” Taylor added.
