Sterling Could Fall on Expectations of a BOE Rate Pause
0759 GMT - Sterling could weaken on raised expectations of a Bank of England interest-rate pause, coming after Wednesday's comments by the central bank which indicated that interest rates are near the peak, ING analyst Francesco Pesole says in a note. "Markets are now for the first time starting to cast some doubts about whether the BOE will hike rates at all at the Sept. 21 meeting, with pricing having dropped below 20 basis points after Wednesday's Parliament testimony," Pesole says. "EUR/GBP upside potential remains decent in our view," he says. EUR/GBP rises 0.2% to 0.8589. (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)
COMPANIES NEWS:
Currys Revenue Falls on Weak Nordics Performance
Currys said that first-quarter revenue fell as its Nordics markets continued to slip.
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Beazley Backs Full-Year View After Pretax Profit Rise
Beazley backed its full-year guidance after pretax profit rose to a record-high in the first half of the year.
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BATs to Sell Russian, Belarusian Businesses for Undisclosed Sum
British American Tobacco has sold its Russian and Belarusian businesses to a consortium led by members of BAT Russia's management team for an undisclosed sum, it said Thursday.
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Direct Line Pretax Loss Widened on Lower Motor Business Earnings
Direct Line Insurance Group said its pretax loss widened as it was hit by lower motor business earnings, and that it took steps to improve motor margins over the period.
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Melrose Industries Pretax Loss Narrows, Boosted by Aerospace; Upgrades 2023 Guidance
Melrose Industries said its pretax loss for the first half narrowed as revenue was boosted by the performance of its aerospace division, and upgraded its guidance for the year.
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Direct Line Agrees Sale of Brokered Commercial Insurance Business for Up to GBP550 Mln
Direct Line said it has agreed to sell its brokered commercial insurance business lines to Intact Financial Corp. for potentially up to 550 million pounds ($687.9 million).
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Nucleus's GBP242 Mln Acquisition of Curtis Banks Cleared by UK Regulator
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority has cleared Nucleus Financial Platforms' 242 million-pound ($302.7 million) acquisition of Curtis Banks Group, following a review of the deal.
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Eurowag's 1H Pretax Profit Slipped on One-off Costs; Adjusted Earnings Rose
W.A.G Payment Solutions said that its pretax profit fell on one-off costs from acquisitions and its transformation program, but revenue and adjusted earnings rose.
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International Public Partnerships Pretax Profit Fell on Portfolio's Unrealized Fair Value Loss
International Public Partnerships said that pretax profit fell for the first half, mostly due to the unrealized fair value loss on the portfolio in the period, and raised its dividend target for the year.
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Funding Circle Holdings Swung to 1H Pretax Loss on Rising Expenses; Backs Full-Year View
Funding Circle Holdings backed its full-year guidance after swinging to an expected pretax loss in the first half of the year amid higher operation expenses.
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Safestore Revenue Rises on Strong Domestic Performance
Safestore Holdings said revenue rose in the third quarter, driven by robust performance with domestic customers, and said it sees full-year adjusted earnings per share meeting the lower end of market expectations.
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Jet2 on Track to Exceed Profit Market Expectations
Jet2 said it was on track to exceed current market expectations for profit before foreign exchange revaluations and taxation for fiscal 2024, and that its summer seat capacity on sale was 7.3% higher than in the same period of 2022.
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Playtech's Pretax Profit Fell on Asset Writedowns Despite Record-High Earnings
Playtech's pretax profit fell in the first half of the year due to writedowns of financial assets, although revenue and earnings rose, it said Thursday.
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Inspecs Swung to 1H Pretax Profit on Higher Volumes; Confident for Full-Year
Inspecs Group said it swung to a pretax profit as revenue rose on higher volumes, and said it was confident for the full-year.
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PayPoint Board Confident of Meeting Views Amid Positive Sales Momentum
PayPoint said the positive momentum outlined at its July trading update has continued, and that the board remains confident in meeting expectations for fiscal 2024.
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Pantheon Resources to Raise $2.8 Mln in Private Placing
Pantheon Resources said it plans to raise $2.8 million in a private placement of shares at a 10% discount.
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Hilton Food Pretax Profit Falls on Higher Costs, Raises Dividend
Hilton Food Group said its pretax profit for the first half sharply fell on the back of increased costs, but increased its dividend payout because it is performing in line with expectations.
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De La Rue Backs Adjusted Operating Profit Guidance for the Half and Full Year
De La Rue backed its adjusted operating profit guidance for the first half and the full year ending March 2024, and said it expected its net debt levels on both those dates to be in line with guidance.
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Chill Brands Shares Rise on Talks to Expand Chill Zero Products Presence in UK, US
Chill Brands shares rose after it said it has entered discussions with U.K. national retailers and buying groups, and discussions with larger distribution partners in the U.S. following the launch of its Chill Zero nicotine-free vapour products.
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Home REIT Tenant Enters Creditors' Voluntary Liquidation
Home REIT said that Supportive Homes CIC, a non-performing tenant representing 11.3% of the rent it demanded in August, has entered creditors' voluntary liquidation.
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Lords Group Shares Fall After Warning of Challenging Market
Shares in Lords Group Trading fell Thursday after the company said it continues to see a challenging market environment and reported a lower pretax profit for the first half.
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Polarean Imaging Shares Tumble On Capital Needs Announcement
Shares in Polarean Imaging dropped 21% after the company said it might not be able to continue its operations if its doesn't raise funds.
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Synthomer Shares Fall on Rights Issue, Capital Reorganization, 1H Loss
Shares of Synthomer fell 31% in early trade on Thursday after the company announced plans to raise 276 million pounds ($345.2 million) via a rights issue alongside a capital reorganization, and after reporting a swing to pretax loss for the first half year.
MARKET TALK:
Currys Nordic Weakness Was Better than Feared
0740 GMT - Currys showed slightly better-than-expected sales performance for 17 weeks to Aug. 26, RBC analysts Richard Chamberlain and Manjari Dhar say in a note. Like-for-like revenue in the Nordics market was down 8% amid a continued challenging backdrop, but this came in slightly better than expected, they say. However, a 3% sales increase in Greece was disappointing due to a weaker performance in August, when Greece was affected by wildfires, they add. Currys maintained gross margin improvements in the U.K. and Ireland, as well as in the Nordics, boosted by higher customer adoption of services, the analysts note. RBC has a perform rating on Currys, and a price target of 60.00 pence. (michael.susin@wsj.com)
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Beazley's Backing of Full-Year Guidance Is Seen as Reassuring
0732 GMT - Beazley's weaker-than-expected pretax profit is seemingly due to combined ratio seasonality under its new accounting regime, RBC Capital Markets analyst Derald Goh writes in a research note. "Reassuringly, the full-year guidance has been maintained, which tracks in-line with consensus expectations of low-80s [combined ratio] on an undiscounted basis," he says. A string of reporting errors has hurt sentiment on the specialty insurer, but this should unwind itself as the operational delivery continues and boosted by a sustained hard market this time, Goh says. RBC views the print at positive, and keeps an outperform rating with a 775 pence price target on the stock. (christian.moess@wsj.com)
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Direct Line Shares Soar on Sale of Brokered Commercial Lines Unit
0715 GMT - Direct Line shares surge 15% after the company said it has agreed to sell its brokered commercial lines business to Intact Financial. The deal should be taken well, as it removes the risk of an equity raise at a critical time, Citi says. The non-life insurer's GBP520 million cash deal has been approved by the boards of both companies, and is subject to approval by Direct's shareholders, expected to take place in October, Citi analyst Alexander Evans says in a research note. "Assuming a 40% capital charge on premiums this would release 17 percentage points of Solvency II capital which would allow Direct Line capital to grow in a hardening motor market," the U.S. bank says. Citi retains its buy rating and 195 pence price target. (joseph.hoppe@wsj.com)
Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires;
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
09-07-23 0420ET
