FTSE 100 Gains as Builders, Whitbread Rise; Tesco Falls
0909 GMT - The FTSE 100 Index rises 0.5%, or 37 points to 7762 as gains for U.K. house-builders and Whitbread offset losses for Tesco. Persimmon advances 3% after what Citigroup described as a reassuring end-of-year update, though forward sales fell versus a year earlier and trading got tougher in the second half. Rival house-builders Barratt Developments, Taylor Wimpey and Berkeley Group Holdings also rise. Whitbread gains 4% after the Premier Inn owner reported higher third-quarter sales. Still, Tesco drops 0.6% after reiterating full-year profit guidance despite strong Christmas sales. (philip.waller@wsj.com)
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:
Signify Could See 1Q Boost From China Reopening
0907 GMT - Signify could benefit in the first quarter from the reopening of the Chinese economy, Citi analysts say in a research note. The Dutch lighting company lowered its comparable sales growth and adjusted Ebita margin forecasts amid issues in China, including Covid disruptions and OEM channel issues. The analysts also note that recent warnings in the sector, such as that from Electrolux, have generally not driven share prices lower. Citi has a buy rating on the stock with a EUR43.00 target price. (kyle.morris@dowjones.com)
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Whitbread's Strong 3Q Should Push Up Consensus, Jefferies Says
0838 GMT - Whitbread's solid third-quarter trading update showed continued strong trends, Jefferies analysts say in a note. Pointing to current U.K. accommodation trading in line with 3Q and encouraging commentary for fiscal 2024, which is aligned to their expectations, the U.S. bank sees full-year consensus moving up to reflect this. "Whitbread is a recession winner with its budget price-point, industry-leading price sophistication, beneficial supply conditions and GBP750M of cash firepower," they say. Shares are up 4.2% at 2,975.0 pence. (elena.vardon@wsj.com)
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Distillers Face Downtrading as Recession Looms, Deutsche Says
0835 GMT - Spirits sellers should be wary of a coming economic downturn in major economies and the likely effects on consumer behavior, analysts at Deutsche Bank write in a note. Deutsche expects recession in several developed markets this year, including the U.S. and the eurozone. Previous recessions have entailed downtrading in spirits, with consumers opting for less pricy products, which threatens the key growth driver of premiumization, Deutsche says. And there is already evidence of spirits downtrading in the U.S. and Europe--though this may in part be down to postpandemic effects and the rapid rise of cheaper ready-to-drink canned cocktails, the analysts note. (joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby)
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Centrica's 2022 Guidance Raise Reflects Strong Operational Performance
0819 GMT - Centrica has provided a strong 2022 business update, highlighting a robust operational performance and raising guidance for adjusted earnings per share to be above 30 pence, RBC Capital Markets says. The British energy group's upgrade appears to be driven by stronger profits in the trading and gas storage businesses, which is a continuation of the trends Centrica has seen throughout the year, RBC analysts say in a research note. "This compares to previous guidance [issued] in November of towards the top end of analyst expectations, which were in the 15-26 pence a share range," the Canadian bank says. RBC retains its outperform rating and 91.8 pence price target on the stock. Shares are up 5.3% at 96.98 pence. (joseph.hoppe@wsj.com)
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Persimmon's 2022 Update Looks Reassuring Despite Weak 4Q
0814 GMT - Persimmon posted a fairly reassuring 2022 update with the year broadly in line, though it flagged a weaker fourth quarter leading to a tight order book heading into 2023, Citi says. The house builder continues to navigate through difficult market conditions as significant affordability issues squeeze its customer base, Citi analyst Ami Galla says in a research note. "We expect consensus estimates for 2022 to remain broadly unchanged while there remains downside risks to 2023 consensus estimates given the difficult demand backdrop," the U.S. bank says. Citi retains its neutral rating and 1,175 pence price target on the stock. Shares are down 0.1% at 1,295.0 pence. (joseph.hoppe@wsj.com)
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ASOS's Profitability Actions Should Have Results in 2H
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01-12-23 0426ET
