The FTSE 100 closes Thursday up 0.76%, with stocks taking the front foot despite rate hikes from the Bank of England. U.K. domestic stocks in particular benefited from the prospect that a lackluster 2023 might bring potentially swifter actions from the central bank, IG Group PLC senior market analyst Joshua Mahony said in a market comment. Rising interest rates and elevated prices have certainly brought significant hurdles for the U.K. economy to overcome, but that will force the bank to take swift action, and there is growing confidence that inflation has peaked, Mahony says. "While the central bankers will focus on the innate risks ahead for the economy, market price action brings clear confidence that this is the time to buy the dip ahead of the rip," Mahony says.
Companies News:
Airtel Africa 3Q Pretax Profit Fell on Rising Costs
Airtel Africa PLC said Thursday that third-quarter pretax profit fell despite a revenue increase, due to inflationary pressures across its markets.
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Superdry CEO Julian Dunkerton Has No Plans to Take Company Private
Superdry PLC founder and Chief Executive Officer Julian Dunkerton said Thursday that he has no plans to take the company private.
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BT Group Nine-Month Pretax Profit Fell Depreciation Offset Ebitda Growth
BT Group PLC said Thursday that nine-month pretax profit fell due to increased depreciation that offset earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization growth.
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Shell Joins US Oil Majors in Posting Record 2022 Profit
LONDON--Shell PLC became the latest oil giant to post record annual profit last year, joining U.S. peers in surging back from early pandemic losses on soaring energy prices.
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Cranswick Says 3Q Revenue Grew; Sees In-Line FY 2023 Outlook
Cranswick PLC on Thursday said its full-year outlook remains in line with the board's expectations as it saw revenue growth accelerating in the third quarter of fiscal 2023.
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Shell Joins U.S. Oil Majors in Posting Record 2022 Profit -- WSJ
By Jenny Strasburg
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JTC Sees Double-Digit 2022 Revenue Growth; Ebitda at Top End of Market Views
JTC PLC said Thursday that for 2022 it booked double-digit net organic revenue growth and that underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization will be at the top end of the range of market expectations
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James Halstead Sees 1H Pretax Profit Slipping But Remains Positive for FY 2023
James Halstead PLC said Thursday that it expects profit for the first half of fiscal 2023 to be slightly hit by continued though improving headwinds, and expectations for the full-year performance remain positive.
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ScS Group 10-Weeks Order Intake Rose; To Meet FY 2023 Market Views
ScS Group PLC said Thursday that like-for-like order intake rose in the last 10 weeks and that it is on track to meet fiscal 2023 market expectations.
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Hotel Chocolat Appoints Jon Akehurst as CFO
Hotel Chocolat Group PLC said Thursday that it has appointed Jon Akehurst as chief financial officer with effect in May 2023.
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Safestyle Sees 2022 Swing to Underlying Pretax Loss, Revenue Rising
Safestyle UK PLC said Thursday that it expects to swing to an underlying pretax loss for the year ended Jan. 1, in-line with market expectations, and revenue to rise.
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Shell Adds $41 Billion in Profit to Record Annual Haul From Oil Majors -- WSJ
By Jenny Strasburg
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BT Group Nine-Month Pretax Profit Fell as Depreciation Offset Ebitda Growth -- Update
BT Group PLC said Thursday that nine-month pretax profit fell due to increased depreciation that offset earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization growth.
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Renishaw 1H Pretax Profit Fell on Higher Costs
Renishaw PLC said Thursday that pretax profit fell for the first half of fiscal 2023 after it higher costs, and that weaker demand in the semiconductor and electronics sectors was offset by revenue growth from strategic priorities.
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Dillistone Expects to Report 2022 Revenue Growth on Improving Performance
Dillistone Group PLC said Thursday that it expects to report full-year revenue growth for 2022 after improving performance trends continued through the second half.
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Altona Rare Earths Now Raise GBP1.3 Mln Ahead of Delayed AIM IPO
Altona Rare Earths PLC said Thursday that it now plans to raise 1.3 million pounds ($1.6 million) through a share placing ahead of a planned initial public offering on London's junior AIM, after a previous fundraise expired.
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Shell 4Q Net Profit Boosted by Higher LNG, Deferred Taxes -- Energy Comment
Shell PLC on Thursday reported a 54% rise in net profit for the fourth quarter compared with the earlier quarter, which it attributed to higher liquefied natural gas trading and optimization results, favorable deferred tax movements and partly offset by lower realized oil and gas prices, and higher operating expenses. Here's what the energy giant had to say:
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PCI-PAL 1H Revenue Rose, Sees FY 2023 in Line With Views
PCI-PAL PLC said Thursday that first-half revenue rose and that adjusted Ebitda loss was better than expected as the group pipeline continues to grow.
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Xpediator Shares Rise as 2022 Pretax Profit Seen Ahead of Views
Shares in Xpediator PLC rose 13% on Thursday after the company said that it expects to report 2022 revenue at just below 400 million pounds ($494.9 million) with adjusted pretax profit significantly ahead of previous management guidance of GBP9.0 million.
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Vast Resources Shares Rise on High Court Order for Diamonds Release
Vast Resources PLC shares rose Thursday after it said that the High Court of Zimbabwe has granted a default order against the country's Minister of Mines & Mining Development, relating to historic diamond claims.
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88 Energy Shares Fall on Discounted Share Placing
88 Energy Ltd. shares fell on Thursday after the group said that it expects to raise up to 12.0 million Australian dollars ($8.6 million) via a discounted share placing to strengthen its balance sheet and provide sufficient capital to fund some of its projects.
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Ingenta Sees Increased 2022 Revenue, Earnings on Commercial Division Growth
Ingenta PLC said Thursday that it expects to report increased revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for 2022, in line with market expectations, thanks to growth at the commercial division.
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Esken Sees FY 2023 Ebitda at Renewables Division Below Guidance on Unplanned Outages
Esken Ltd. said Thursday that fiscal 2023 Ebitda for its Esken Renewables division will be below guidance as biomass plant customers have experienced unplanned outages during the winter months.
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Essentra to Return Around GBP150 Mln to Shareholders via Special Dividend, Buyback Program
Essentra PLC said Thursday that it will return around 150 million pounds ($185.6 million) to shareholders via a special dividend and a buyback program.
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Jadestone 2022 Production Slipped but Revenue Rose on High Oil Prices
Jadestone Energy PLC said Thursday that 2022 production slipped, in line with expectations, though it said it expects to report that revenue rose and that it has made a strong start to 2023.
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Iconic Labs Reduces Credit Claims; In Talks Over Acquisitions
Iconic Labs PLC said Thursday that creditor claims were reduced after the group exit from administration and that it is in talks regarding potential acquisitions.
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Shell Posts $41 Billion Profit, Adding to Industry's Record Haul -- Update
By Jenny Strasburg
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NCC Group 1H Revenue, Pretax Profit Rose on Assurance Performance Across Regions
NCC Group PLC said Thursday that pretax profit and revenue rose for the first half of fiscal 2023 after it booked strong North America and U.K. & APAC Assurance performance.
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Immotion Shares Leap on Planned LBE Business Sale, Return to Shareholders
Shares of Immotion Group PLC rose as much as 79% on Thursday after the company said that it is selling its location-based entertainment business for an enterprise value of $25.2 million and that it will return up to 13.5 million pounds ($16.7 million) of the money to shareholders.
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Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye to Step Down
London's Heathrow Airport said Thursday that Chief Executive Officer John Holland-Kaye intends to step down from the board in 2023.
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NCC Group Shares Slide After Company Flags Longer Sales Cycle
Shares of NCC Group PLC fell as much as 20% on Thursday after the company said it has experienced a longer sales cycle since the beginning of the second half of the fiscal year, and now expects to report full-year revenue growth in the single-digits on a constant currency basis.
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Heathrow Airport CEO to Step Down After Turbulent Summer -- Update
By Benjamin Katz
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Shell Posts $41 Billion Profit, Adding to Industry's Record Haul -- 2nd Update
By Jenny Strasburg
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In the Big-Oil Buyback Splurge, Shell Is Especially Generous -- WSJ
By Carol Ryan
Market Talk:
UK Interest Rates to End Year at Current Rate of 4%, Handelsbanken Says
1348 GMT - U.K. interest rates should end the year at 4.0% after the Bank of England decided to raise rates by 50 basis points to that level on Thursday, Daniel Mahoney, U.K. economist at Handelsbanken, says in a note. "We are of the view that interest rates will now remain flat across 2023, or increase by a further 25bp at the next MPC meeting but return to 4% by year end," he says, adding that markets are also pricing in that rates will be at 4% by year end. Handelsbanken estimates that quantitative tightening to date has been the equivalent of a 10-20bp increase in interest rates, and that QT going forward will be the equivalent of a 30-40bp hike in interest rates by mid-2025. (emese.bartha@wsj.com)
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Investors Should Avoid UK Stocks as Economic Woes Weigh, Blackrock Says
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
02-02-23 1236ET
