The FTSE 100 closed up 0.9% today as a number of U.K. trading updates suggested the cost-of-living crisis isn't having as big an impact on some sectors as feared, AJ Bell analyst Danni Hewson says in a note. "Housebuilders and retailers have found plenty to be cheery about, if only because things seem to have brightened considerably for the U.K. economy in the last few months," IG analyst Chris Beauchamp says in a note. Furthermore, markets benefited from U.S. inflation numbers coming in on target for December and expectations that the Federal Reserve will slow the pace of interest-rate rises further. Persimmon, Barratt Developments and M&G were the session's biggest risers, up 8.3%, 6.7% and 6.2% respectively. B&M European Value Retail was the day's biggest faller, down 4.4%.
Companies News:
Persimmon 2022 Sales Rate Dropped as Demand Falls; Begins 2023 with Lower Orders
Persimmon PLC said Thursday that its 2022 sales rates fell, particularly in the second half, and it enters 2023 with a lower forward sales position on year.
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Tesco Backs FY 2023 Views After Strong Christmas Performance
Tesco PLC on Thursday backed its adjusted operating profit expectations for fiscal 2023, following a robust performance during Christmas, mainly driven by Central Europe.
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Marks & Spencer 3Q Sales Rose on Year After Strong Christmas Performance
Marks & Spencer Group PLC said Thursday that its performance over the Christmas period was strong, with a rise in third-quarter sales.
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Centrica Raises 2022 Adjusted EPS Guidance After Strong Performance
British Gas owner Centrica PLC on Thursday raised its full-year adjusted earnings per share guidance after saying that its operational performance since November has remained strong.
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Centrica Names Russell O'Brien as New Chief Financial Officer
Centrica PLC on Thursday named Shell PLC's Group Treasurer Russell O'Brien as its incoming chief financial officer and executive director, effective March 1, taking over from Kate Ringrose in the role.
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Vodafone Appoints Aldo Bisio as Chief Commercial Officer
Vodafone Group PLC said Thursday that Aldo Bisio has been appointed chief commercial officer, effective immediately.
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Whitbread 3Q Sales Rose 18%; Says It Is Confident on FY 2024
Whitbread PLC on Thursday said its like-for-like group sales grew 18.3% in the third quarter and it expects pricing to remain strong as it looks to fiscal 2024 with confidence.
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Marks & Spencer 3Q Sales Rose on Year After Strong Christmas Performance -- Update
Marks & Spencer Group PLC said Thursday that its performance over the Christmas period was strong, with a rise in third-quarter sales.
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ASOS Backs FY 2023 Guidance as Four-Month Revenue Fell
ASOS PLC on Thursday backed its expectations for fiscal 2023 after reporting a fall in revenue for the first four months of the year due to challenging trading conditions.
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Halfords Cuts FY 2023 Profit Views on Labor Market Disruption; 3Q Revenue Rose
Halfords Group PLC said Thursday that it has cut its fiscal 2023 underlying pretax profit guidance despite like-for-like revenue rising 38% on year in the third quarter.
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Brooks Macdonald 2Q Funds Under Management Rose
Brooks Macdonald Group PLC said Thursday that its funds under management rose 4.5% in the second quarter of fiscal 2023 and that its underlying results are in line with market views.
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Savills 2022 Performance Beat its Expectations but Sees Challenging 2023
Savills PLC said Thursday that its performance in 2022 exceeded its expectations and was substantially ahead of 2019 prepandemic levels, though predictions for the new year have a wide range of outcomes.
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Mitchells & Butlers Like-For-Like Sales Up 10.4% Year to Date
Mitchells & Butlers PLC said Thursday that it experienced strong trading over the holiday season with like-for-like sales for the year to date up 10.4% on year.
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Likewise Group 2022 Sales Boosted By Valley Wholesale Carpets Acquisition
Likewise Group PLC on Thursday said its 2022 sales more than doubled as it benefited from its Valley Wholesale Carpets Ltd. acquisition, and that it is on track to meet market views.
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Trustpilot Sees Rise in 2022 Revenue, Bookings Despite FX Headwinds
Trustpilot Group PLC said Thursday that it expects to report a rise in 2022 revenue and bookings despite significant foreign-exchange headwinds during the period.
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Portmeirion Shares Rise as 2022 Sales, Profit Seen Higher After Strong Christmas Trading
Shares in Portmeirion Group PLC rose 10% Thursday after it said that 2022 sales and pretax profit are expected to be higher on year after it booked a strong Christmas trading period.
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Virgin Wines Shares Fall 20% After 1H Revenue Drop
Virgin Wines UK PLC shares fell on Thursday after the company said it expects revenue for fiscal 2023 to be below the prior year after its first-half performance was impacted by events such as the postal strike, bad weather and the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
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Distil Shares Fall on Revenue Warning, FY 2023 Ebitda Loss
Shares of Distil PLC fell as much as 57% in early trade on Thursday after the company said it will miss market revenue forecasts and that it will make an Ebitda loss for fiscal 2023.
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N. Brown Sees FY 2023 Adjusted Earnings in Line With Market Views
N. Brown Group PLC said Thursday that it expects adjusted earnings for fiscal 2023 to meet market views, and that revenue fell 7.6% on year in the third quarter.
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John Wood Sees 2022 Revenue, Adjusted Earnings Meeting Its Expectations
John Wood Group PLC said Thursday that 2022 revenue and adjusted Ebitda were in line with its expectations.
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Gym Group 2022 Revenue Jumped; CEO Steps Down
Gym Group PLC said Thursday that revenue jumped on year in 2022 and that it is looking for a new chief executive after it was agreed that Richard Darwin would step down.
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Hilton Food Sees 2022 in Line With Views After Positive Christmas Trading
Hilton Food Group PLC said Thursday that it expects its 2022 performance to be in line with the board's expectations, supported by continued revenue growth and positive trading during Christmas.
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Big Yellow 3Q Revenue Rose on Higher Rent Despite Slip in Occupancy
Big Yellow Group PLC said Thursday that it expects to report a rise in revenue for the third quarter on higher average rent, despite a slip in like-for-like closing occupancy.
Market Talk:
Persimmon's Worsening Sales Seen as Unsurprising
1138 GMT - Persimmon is the latest house builder to deliver a weak 2022 update with worsening sales rates in recent weeks set to persist in 2023, Goodbody says. The softening sales rates and uncertain outlook is largely unsurprising though given recent updates from sector peers, Goodbody analyst Shane Carberry says in a note. "Indeed, the weaker sale rate from Persimmon relative to peers would be expected given that its end customer would generally be more sensitive to rate rises and group over exposure to [the government program] Help to Buy relative to peers," the Irish brokerage says. Goodbody retains its buy recommendation on the U.K. house builder's stock. (joseph.hoppe@wsj.com)
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Persimmon Faces Risks Despite Positive Update
1136 GMT - Persimmon faces market pressures despite positives, analysts say following the U.K. house-builder's end-of-year trading update. News that the company's new-home sale completions in 2022 were towards the upper end of its guidance, together with a higher average private selling price, helped to lift shares towards the top of the FTSE 100 Thursday, Interactive Investor says. Still, Persimmon warned about housing-market weakness, macro-economic pressures weighing on demand and uncertainty about the timing of any recovery, Interactive says. "Persimmon's stock-market valuation has almost halved over a one-year period, under-performing rivals Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments and Bellway," Interactive head of investment Victoria Scholar writes. "There's a rather pessimistic view on the stock from the analyst community." (philip.waller@wsj.com)
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ProCook's Stock Is Good Value For Money, says Peel Hunt
1129 GMT - ProCook festive season sales figures provide some cheer and the stock is cheap, says Peel Hunt in a note after the kitchenware brand's 3Q update. The brokerage flags strong like-for-like retail sales--"a not uncommon story this Christmas"--and a return to in-store on-year growth after being in negative territory for most of the year. "Forecast momentum has not been great since the float but we have always maintained that this is a fine business that is winning market share and disrupting the sub-sector with its impressive value for money offer," Peel Hunt analysts write, keeping buy rating on the stock and target price at 75 pence. Shares are up 5.3% at 30.0 pence. (elena.vardon@wsj.com)
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ASOS Still Has Long Way to Restore Investor Confidence
1106 GMT - ASOS's cost savings and profit optimization plans were welcomed by investors as shares rise 15% on Thursday, but the current share value shows that the company still has a long way to restore investor confidence, head of investment at Interactive Investor Victoria Scholar says in a note. "Even after today's jump, shares in ASOS have still slumped by more than 70% over the last year and are down more than 90% over a five-year period," she says. The online fashion retailer is also facing a challenging postpandemic recovery amid tough competition, inflation, cost-of-living pressures on the consumer and parcel delivery problems, Scholar adds. (michael.susin@wsj.com)
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Marks & Spencer Books Impressive 3Q With Menswear Tailwind
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01-12-23 1245ET
