Velocys Sees 2022 Meeting Market Views; Confident for Year Ahead

Velocys PLC said Thursday that it expects to meet market expectations for 2022, and that it is confident for the year ahead.

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Flowtech Fluidpower to Report 2022 Revenue Rise; Underlying Profit in Line With Views

Flowtech Fluidpower PLC said Thursday that it expects to report a rise in revenue for 2022, and for underlying profit to be in line with market expectations.

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Aquis Exchange Sees 2022, 2023 In Line With Views

Aquis Exchange Ltd. said on Thursday it expects to report 2022 results in line with market expectations and that it also sees 2023 performance aligned with views.

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Skillcast Expects Higher 2022 Revenue as Recurring Subscriptions Increase

Skillcast Group PLC said Thursday that revenue for 2022 is expected to increase driven by growth in recurring subscriptions, but that it sees adjusted Ebitda swinging to a loss.

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Empresaria 2022 Net Fee Income Rose; Adjusted Pretax Profit Seen in Line With Views

Empresaria Group PLC said Thursday that 2022 net fee income rose 8% on a constant currency basis, and that adjusted pretax profit is expected to be in line with market expectations.

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Hostmore Chairman Gavin Manson to Retire; Stephen Welker Named

Hostmore PLC said Thursday that Chairman Gavin Manson will retire at the annual general meeting in May and that Stephen Welker will replace him in the role.

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Parity Swung to 2022 Pretax Profit Despite Net Fee Income Drop

Parity Group PLC said Thursday it swung to a pretax profit in 2022 on the sale of its trademark, a refocus on recruitment and increasing customer-facing headcount, and despite a fall in net fee income.

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Mode Global Holdings Shares Dive on Wind Down Plan

Shares of Mode Global Holdings PLC fell 56% on Thursday after the company said that it plans to wind down the customer operations for a number of its businesses, including Fibermode Ltd., JGOO Ltd. and Greyfoxx Ltd.

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Chamberlin to Raise GBP650,000 via Discounted Share Placing, Subscription

Chamberlin PLC said Thursday that it will raise around 650,000 pounds ($806,260) via a discounted share placing and a subscription, and that it will use the funds to provide working capital to support its growth strategy and strengthen the balance sheet.

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Diageo's 1H US Sales Misses Market Expectations -- Earnings Review

Diageo PLC reported its first half of fiscal 2023 performance on Thursday. Here's what we watched:

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MGM, Entain to Boost Investment in BetMGM

By Will Feuer

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Applied Graphene Materials Shares to be Halted Wednesday on FY 2022 Accounts Delay

Applied Graphene Materials PLC said Thursday that it won't be able to publish its fiscal 2022 report by the required deadline and as a consequence trading in its shares will be suspended on Wednesday.

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Lansdowne Oil & Gas Raises GBP300,000 to Fund Barryroe Field, Working Capital

Lansdowne Oil & Gas PLC said Thursday that it has raised 300,000 pounds ($372,120) via a share placing and will use the money to meet its share of the Barryroe field costs as well as working capital requirements through to the end of May.

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LondonMetric Property Chairman Patrick Vaughan to Step Down in July

LondonMetric Property PLC said Thursday that Chairman Patrick Vaughan will step down from the board on July 11 and be replaced by Alistair Elliott. 


 
Market Talk:

Diageo 1H Looks Disappointing as US Sales Fall Short of Hopes

1036 GMT - Diageo shares are among the biggest FTSE 100 fallers, down 7% after the Johnnie Walker whisky and Smirnoff vodka maker reported a first-half sales slowdown and said it expected trading conditions to stay tough. While sales and earnings topped expectations, driven by stronger trading in Europe, Latin America and Asia, North American trading was soft and the outlook was cautious, Citigroup says. North America organic sales rose 3%, compared to market forecasts of 6.7%, while a 2% increase in U.S. spirit organic sales was particularly low and well below recent market expectations of about 10%, Citi says. "Diageo's 1H 2023 result is disappointing and we expect the stock to trade lower today," Citi analysts say in a note. (philip.waller@wsj.com)

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Fevertree Drinks Guidance Implies No Margins Improvement

1043 GMT - Fevertree Drinks' FY 2023 guidance is very disappointing given the group's previous comments on profitability improvement amid reversing freight costs and U.S. supply ramp-up, RBC Capital Markets analysts Emma Letheren and James Edwardes Jones say in a note. The mixer-maker's guidance for Ebitda at the mid-point of the GBP36 million-GBP42 million range, compared with market consensus of GBP47 million, implies further deterioration in its margins, they say. With no improvements expected for FY 2023 margins, Fevertree's profitability trajectory is concerning, they add. "We've been nervous about the discretionary nature of its products and pricing power in the current macroeconomic environment and this print has cemented those concerns," the analysts highlight. (michael.susin@wsj.com)

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St. James's Place Shows Resilience Despite Lighter 4Q Flows, RBC Says

1058 GMT - St. James's Place's 4Q update showed resilience of the wealth manager's model under varying market conditions despite reporting lighter-than-expected quarterly flows, RBC Capital Markets says. Net flows for the quarter were 10% below consensus, showing a slight slowdown from the previous quarter, RBC says. "The result demonstrates that STJ is not immune from the challenging macro conditions faced by the WM market, reflected by the results reported by peers over recent weeks," says analyst Ben Bathurst. However, he flags that 2022 annualized inflows at 6.4% are sector-leading and sees appeal in the shares for investors with a longer-term view given that macro uncertainty will hinder short-term recovery. RBC has a sector perform rating on the stock. Shares edge down 0.75% to 1,190.5 pence. (elena.vardon@wsj.com)

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Fevertree's Production Cost Bottles Prospects

1114 GMT - Fevertree's cost outlook for FY 2023 has deteriorated further and the cost to produce glass bottles is three times higher than 2021 levels due to the impact of energy prices, Liberum analysts say in a note, after downgrading the stock rating to hold from buy. Glass bottles represent around 80% of the London-listed mixer-maker's sales mix and are a key factor to the premium positioning of its brands, they say. However, this places the group at a disadvantage in passing the costs through pricing when compared with its competitors that mostly use PET plastic bottles, they add. Liberum cuts the target price to 1,000.0 pence from 1,100 pence. (michael.susin@wsj.com)

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Royal Mail Owner IDS Operating Loss Guidance Seen as Too Optimistic

1118 GMT - Royal Mail Owner International Distribution Services released a 3Q update ahead of schedule so as to release its financial figures ahead of the "vote no" union campaign, Bernstein analyst Alex Irving says in a note. Although guidance for trading cashflow at Royal Mail was revised down to negative from positive, operating loss guidance remains overly optimistic as it assumes no further strike action and the union accepting a pay settlement in line with the company's "best and final" offer, which has already been rejected, he says. Meanwhile the GLS division remains fine with a narrowed guidance range, but a midpoint at EUR390 million, Irving says. Shares are up 2.3% at 224.60 pence. (anthony.orunagoriainoff@dowjones.com)

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St. James's Place 2022 Gross Flows Were Its Second-Best Despite 4Q Miss, Citi Says

1119 GMT - St. James's Place's miss on fourth-quarter flows in a difficult macro backdrop might weigh on shares and overshadow strong annual gross flows, says Citi in a note. "As always, we caution reading too much into one quarter's flows and zooming out, 2022 was the second-best gross flows achieved in SJP's history," says analyst Andrew Baker. Citi rates the stock neutral with a target price of 1,207 pence. Shares edge down 0.46% at 1,194.0 pence. (elena.vardon@wsj.com)

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IG Group Shares Look Attractive After Strong 1H, RBC Says

1132 GMT - IG Group Holdings shares look appealing and trade at an undemanding valuation, says RBC Capital Markets in a note, after the online-trading company published strong half-year results. "A high operating margin, low debt levels, strong cash generation and positive exposure to higher interest rates mean we consider IGG to among the better insulated financials amid the uncertain macro-environment," says analyst Ben Bathurst. IG sees adjusted pretax profit margin in the mid-40s for fiscal 2023 and GBP25 million in interest income from client cash balances outside the U.S, which RBC says is an incremental positive as it is unlikely to be baked into current consensus. The brokerage has an outperform rating on the stock and price target of 1,000 pence. Shares rise 1.8% at 794.0 pence. (elena.vardon@wsj.com)

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Fevertree Drinks Loses Fizz Amid Bottle-Cost Battle

1137 GMT - Fevertree Drinks shares drop 6% after the mixer maker reported worse-than-expected full-year revenue and forecast continued cost pressures. The company said the impact of higher energy prices on the cost of glass bottles would be significant in 2023. Energy prices are a big cost in manufacturing glass bottles and Fevertree makes most of its sales from products sold in them, Hargreaves Lansdown says. "When 80% of your sales are bottled in glass, any fluctuation in energy prices is bound to have a material impact on your costs," HL analyst Aarin Chiekrie writes. "While European energy prices have recently pulled back, they're still at least three times higher than in 2021." (philip.waller@wsj.com)

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Royal Mail Owner IDS's Stabilizing Plan Is Making Good Progress Amidst Labor Strife

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01-26-23 1209ET