Yahoo Finance FTSE 100 Live: Pearson and Rightmove post results, bitcoin price slides
Education publisher Pearson today said it beat expectations in 2022 after an 11% rise in underlying operating profits to £456 million.
The FTSE 100-listed company posted sales growth of 5% and expects a further improvement in the low to mid-single digits for this year.
In other results, Rightmove lifted operating profits by 7% to £241.3 million and said it is not materially impacted by the property market cycle.
FTSE 100 Live Friday
More crypto jitters hit bitcoin price
Rightmove traffic ‘resilient’ in market slowdown
Pearson sales to grow low-to-mid single digits
Barclays CEO in remission after cancer treatment
13:39 , Simon Hunt
The CEO of Barclays has said he is now in remission after undergoing cancer treatment.
In a memo to staff at the bank, boss C S Ventakrishnan said: “Over the coming weeks, I plan to be working more from the office, and ultimately resuming travel.”
Ventakrishnan had been receiving treatment for lymphoma since November and decided to stay in post as CEO, rather than take a leave of absence.
City Comment: Why must big City firms always fall for scams like FTX?
13:01 , Simon Hunt
There must be some very awkward meetings taking place across the City and Wall Street right now. The sort of encounters where people bang tables and demand explanations, where they look at PowerPoints and Excels, and gasp.
This is the ongoing fallout from the collapse of FTX, the once fast-growing, seemingly all-conquering crypto exchange. If you thought the impact of the firm’s bankruptcy was only confined to the distant world of TechUSA, think again.
The published 116-page “FTX Creditor Matrix” makes for illuminating and yes, depressing, reading. Among the banks caught up in the implosion are Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Deutsche, HSBC and MUFG. Also included in the thousands of entries are leading law firms, including London’s Slaughter and May, Linklaters, Hogan Lovells, Ashurst, Lewis Silkin, and Baker & McKenzie. PwC and other accountants crop up as well.
London Metal Exchange faces probe after chaos in nickel market
12:21 , Michael Hunter
The way in which the London Metal Exchange handled a dizzying spike in the price of nickel last year is at the centre of an investigation opened by regulators today.
Controversy surrounded the LME’s decision to cancel trades worth around $4 billion (£3.3 billion) in the industrial metal after the price surged 250% in just 24 hours in March last year. Commodities markets were in chaos as investors reacted to the implications of sanctions against Russia and rising demand after the end of Covid restrictions.
The wild swing was thought to be part of a series of short trades introduced during Asian trading hours, when the number of trades can be lower and have more of an impact on prices.
London loses Arm wrestle with New York as tech giant heads to the US in blow to the City
11:55 , Simon Hunt
The failure of the London stock market to secure the multi-billion dollar re-listing of Arm Holdings left the City reeling today, from its second hammer blow in days.
Arm, once one of the FTSE 100’s biggest tech stocks, became the second major company this week to shun London in favour of New York, after Irish building products giant CRH turned its back on the UK.
The brace of big-name setbacks sent shockwaves through the Square Mile and Westminster, raising questions about the decline in fortunes of the UK stock market as a venue for major listings.
Comment: The simple solution to London’s undervalued market: buy some shares
11:19 , Simon Hunt
If you believe the naysayers, the London stock market is finished as a modern home to growth companies.
We don’t back risk-takers, we don’t “get” big tech. We’re dinosaurs.
There is no doubt the move by Arm Holdings to head to New York rather than London is a shame, but perhaps it was inevitable.
Bankers might think that the Government should have wooed Arm’s owners SoftBank more than they did, but it seems they gave it a fair go.
This week CRH said it would move its primary listing to the US too. There is more liquidity there and higher stock valuations. But that could just mean US shares are overpriced, that the market is frothy.
Recent London tech floats have not exactly gone well. Deliveroo shares are down 70% since floating. Is that because London doesn’t understand technology or because the company has been found out?
Securing high prices on flotations is good for founders and bankers, but not necessarily a great thing for anyone else.
Like expensive footballers, it gives companies a value they have to live up to. They have to score constantly to make the price tag seem worth it.
Better that a company floats cheaply and grows steadily over many decades.
The City of London isn’t, or shouldn’t, be about the rapid enrichment of a small few. Its aim is for all of us to get richer, slowly.
Lufthansa results lift airline sector
10:08 , Graeme Evans
A bullish Lufthansa boosted resurgent airline stocks today by revealing “particularly robust” demand for Easter and summer trips.
The German carrier also posted a better-than-expected operating profit of 1.5 billion euros (£1.3 billion) and said momentum was continuing with high average ticket yields.
Its chief executive Carsten Spohr added: "Lufthansa is back. In just one year, we have achieved an unprecedented financial turnaround.”
The top two stocks in the FTSE 250 index were easyJet and Wizz Air as the low-cost operators added another 4% following rises of 17.5p to 502.5p and 100p to 2831p respectively.
Both are up by around 50% so far this year as the sector finally enjoys some favourable tailwinds. British Airways and Iberia owner IAG was also cheered by the Lufthansa update as its shares added 2.4p to 153.64 in the FTSE 100 index.
The top flight stood 22.55 points higher at 7966.59, with sentiment lifted by Thursday’s positive session on Wall Street after a leading Federal Reserve policymaker said he favoured a pause in interest rate rises by the summer.
More signs of improving demand in China helped the mining sector gain ground, led by rises of 139p to 6157p for Rio Tinto and 11.7p to 522.7p for Glencore.
Investors were cheered by Beijing’s latest services sector update, which showed the fastest pace of expansion in activity since last August as the country reopens after a long period of Covid lockdowns.
Elsewhere in the top flight, grocery warehouse business Ocado finished a difficult week on the front foot by recovering 17.6p to 544.2p and London Stock Exchange recouped yesterday’s results-day losses by rallying 232p to 7656p.
In the FTSE 250 index, shares in precision engineer IMI initially rose after a third consecutive year of profit and margin growth led to a 10% hike in dividend to 17.4p a share. The company, which employs 10,000 people in 50 countries, later fell back to stand 3p lower at 1580p.
Further crypto jitters as Silvergate weighs viability
09:49 , Simon Hunt
The biggest players in the crypto market are rushing to avert another major industry crisis today after Silvergate Capital, a US bank which runs the payments network on which a number of digital assets firms rely, said it was considering whether it was still viable amid a probe by the US Justice Department.
Scores of crypto trading platforms, including Gemini, Galaxy Digital and New York-listed Coinbase, said they would no longer accept or initiate payments through Silvergate as they scrambled to put measures in place to mitigate contagion effects from the bank’s potential collapse. $15 billion dollar market cap Coinbase said it made the move “In light of recent developments & out of an abundance of caution.”
Shares in California-based Silvergate plunged 58% last night, sending jitters through the crypto market, with Bitcoin prices down 4.4% to two-week lows of $22,380. The firm has yet to publish its overdue annual report, citing auditor inquiries.
Arm to be pitched at $30-$70 billion valuation in IPO
08:12 , Simon Hunt
The planned US IPO for Arm is being pitched by Wall Street bankers at a valuation anywhere between $30 billion and $70 billion, according to reports by Bloomberg, in signs the volatility of the semiconductor market is making it difficult to price the tech giant.
Parent Softbank confirmed earlier this morning reports that it would be seeking a US listing, in a blow to the UK government which tried to lobby Softbank to get Arm listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Banks are set to be appointed to organise the flotation as soon as this month, with Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Barclays looking like the favourites.
Rightmove traffic ‘resilient’ in housing market slowdown as would-be buyers keep looking
08:04 , Michael Hunter
Rightmove, the property website that is often where house purchases begin, said its traffic was “resilient” in 2022, even as the market was “ significantly less frenetic” than in 2021, when it was coming out of Covid lockdowns.
House hunters spent 16.3 billion minutes on the site in 2022, down by around two billion minutes a year ago.
Profit for the year came in at over £241 million, from revenue of almost £333 million, up 9%. It increased its final dividend to by 8% to 5.2p, making its total payout for the year 8.5p. up 9%. It returned £197.7 million to shareholders for 2022.
BoE uses powers over nickel market meltdown
08:03 , Graeme Evans
The Bank of England is to place LME Clear under independent supervision as part of steps to rebuild confidence after last year’s nickel market chaos.
The central bank’s move comes after it said an independent review found several shortcomings across LME Clear’s governance, management and risk management capabilities.
The Bank said today it is using its statutory powers to appoint a skilled person to independently monitor, assess and report regularly on LME Clear’s implementation progress against remedial actions.
On 8 March last year, London Metal Exchange had to suspend nickel trading due to a disorderly market.
FTSE 100 seen higher, US rates outlook dominates
07:42 , Graeme Evans
London’s FTSE 100 index is forecast by CMC Markets to open 24 points higher at 7968, having recovered from yesterday’s weak start to finish 0.4% stronger.
Yesterday’s improvement came despite a eurozone inflation reading of 8.5% for February, down only slightly from 8.6%.
Concern over the need for more US interest rate rises also continued to hang over markets following the release of another robust weekly initial jobless claims figure.
This was later offset by comments from Federal Reserve policymaker Raphael Bostic, who indicated he would be in favour of a rate pause by the summer. Wall Street finished the session in positive territory, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1%.
Pearson expects revenue decline in higher education and virtual learning
07:39 , Simon Hunt
Education giant Pearson said it expected revenue decline in both its virtual learning and higher education units amid an unwinding from Covid learning patterns and the loss of a major school.
The firm posted underlying sales growth of 5% to £3.8 billion in 2022, and said it forecast continued growth of low-to-mid single digits in 2023, fuelled by continued uptake in its English language learning services.
Pearson CEO Andy Bird said an economic downturn could be helpful for growth. “Historically it’s been a positive impact on enrolment in college but in this stage of the year it’s too early to call,” he said.
Recap: Yesterday’s top stories
06:48 , Graeme Evans
Good morning. Here’s a look at our top stories from yesterday.
Building materials firm CRH said it plans to move its listing from London to New York in another blow to the UK markets. It came just hours after reports tech firm Arm would also be considering a US listing.
Construction giant Taylor Wimpey said it expects the number of homes it completes this year will fall by a third amid a knock to first time buyers’ finances caused by the disastrous mini-Budget last year.
Pre-tax profits at insurer Beazley fell by almost 50% to $191 million amid a drop in the value of its investments as the firm looked to cyber crime protection as a key area of growth.
Paddy Power owner Flutter said it expects to be the only profitable betting operator in the US in 2023 as the firm eyed a New York listing.
Today we’re expecting results from:
Pearson
Rightmove
