Ocado Shares Jump 31% After South Korean Tech Deal

Ocado Shares Jump After South Korean Tech Deal

0856 GMT - Shares in Ocado surge 31% after the online grocer and retail-technology specialist said it had secured another deal for its warehousing-technology services. Ocado said it and Lotte Shopping Co. have signed a partnership to develop Lotte's online business in South Korea by developing six distribution centers nationally by 2028. Following Ocado's deals with Kroger in the U.S. and Casino in France, the deal represents another chance for Ocado to expand into a major market, Asia's fourth largest economy, Interactive Investor says. "The big question is whether Ocado's partnerships can turn it into a profitable business that returns cash to shareholders," Interactive's head of investment, Victoria Scholar, writes. ([e-mail])

 
Companies News: 

Playtech CFO to Step Down for Personal Reasons; Successor Appointed

Playtech PLC said Tuesday that Chief Financial Officer Andrew Smith has decided to step down for personal reasons and that Chris McGinnis has been appointed as his successor.

---

BP 3Q Profit Slipped on Quarter But Beat Views; Declares $2.5 Bln Buyback

BP PLC on Tuesday reported an on-quarter slip in third-quarter underlying replacement cost profit, but significantly outperformed expectations, and declared a further quarterly share buyback.

---

Rentokil Initial 3Q Disinfection-Services Sales Fell; Revenue Rose

Rentokil Initial PLC said Tuesday that third-quarter sales from disinfection services fell, in line with the board's expectations, and that revenue rose 19% at actual exchange rates.

---

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Appoints Two Nonexecutive Directors From Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC said Tuesday that Ahmed Al-Subaey and Frederick Robertson have been appointed to the board as representative nonexecutive directors of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, effective Nov. 1.

---

Fulham Shore 1H Performance in Line Despite Market Challenges

Fulham Shore PLC said Tuesday that its first-half performance was in line with management expectations despite the challenging political and macroeconomic environment.

---

TP ICAP 3Q Revenue Rose as Global Broking Benefited From Market Conditions

TP ICAP Group PLC said Tuesday that revenue rose in the third quarter as it benefited from favorable market conditions in Global Broking, its most profitable business, and that its performance was in line with the board's expectations.

---

Westminster Group Sees Fall in 2022 Revenue, Pretax Loss Due to Project Delay

Westminster Group PLC said Tuesday that it expects to report a fall in revenue for the year and subsequent pretax loss, blaming a delay to a multimillion pound technology project in the Middle East and North Africa region.

---

IWG Saw Strong 3Q Revenue Growth; Expects 2022 Ebitda at Lower End of Views

IWG PLC said Tuesday that it saw strong revenue growth, margin improvement and underlying cash generation in the third quarter, and it expects full-year earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization at the lower end of the range of market views.

---

Made.com Shares Suspended as Company Expects to Be Wound Up

Made.com Group PLC said Tuesday that its shares have been suspended, and that it expects its listing to cancelled and the company to be wound up.

 
Market Talk: 

Ocado's Partnership Welcome but Business Remains Problematic

0825 GMT - Ocado's South Korean partnership is welcome news but the business is chronically capital intensive, has virtually no positive operational gearing, has made negative capital returns, and fundamentally doesn't make any money, Shore Capital says. The online grocer and retail-technology specialist's long-term value creation is marvelous, but right now the fundamental macroeconomic context has demonstrably changed for the worse, Shore analysts say in a research note. "We remain cautious on this equity... there is limited to no visibility to the short-to-medium term financial performance of the company, that is a qualitative problem at the best of times," Shore says. Shore acts as a broker to Ocado partner Marks & Spencer, and has no recommendation. Shares are up 23% at 580.6 pence. ([e-mail])

Rentokil Has Continued Potential Upside From Underlying Business, Terminix

0819 GMT - Rentokil Initial 3Q update shows the pest-control, hygiene and workwear services provider has continued to manage inflationary pressures, RBC Capital Markets analysts Andrew Brooke and Karl Green say in a note. Organic growth of 6.2% was in line and recent acquisition Terminix performed well and is on track with $20 million to $25 million synergies expected this year, the analysts say. "We see continued potential upside to numbers from the underlying business and from Terminix synergies, and see Rentokil as good value versus other defensive growth names, despite the stronger share price performance of late," the analysts say. RBC rates the stock outperform with a 645-pence target price. ([e-mail])

BP Delivers Strong 3Q Results on Exceptional Gas Trading

0808 GMT - BP delivered strong third-quarter results far ahead of market expectations, primarily driven by the Gas and Low Carbon division--particularly impressive given the Freeport LNG outage, RBC Capital Markets says. The FTSE 100 energy group reported an adjusted net income of $8.2 billion, greatly exceeding consensus of $6.1 billion, though surplus cash flow of $3.5 billion missed RBC expectations of $7.1 billion, analysts say in a research note. "On the back of this, BP has announced a $2.5 billion buyback program running through to fourth-quarter results, which is slightly below our expectations," the Canadian bank says. RBC retains its outperform rating and 550 pence price target on BP's stock. Shares are up 0.8% at 483.6 pence. ([e-mail])

Contact: London NewsPlus; [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-01-22 0524ET