High Inflation, Wages Could Mean BOE Raises Rates Despite Weak Economy, GAM Says

High Inflation, Wages Could Mean BOE Raises Rates Despite Weak Economy, GAM Says

0954 GMT - A faltering U.K. economy would usually give the Bank of England reason to pause but high inflation and wage growth will likely force policymakers to raise interest rates again at next week's meeting, says Charles Hepworth, investment director at GAM Investments, in a note. Data earlier showed the U.K. economy contracted by 0.5% in July, more than twice the 0.2% fall expected in a Wall Street Journal poll. "This decline in growth would normally give the Bank of England reason to pause rate hikes but with the sticky inflation regime the U.K. finds itself in with wage growth accelerating, we don't see that as likely just yet." GAM expects the BOE to raise rates by 25 basis points next week. ([e-mail])

COMPANIES NEWS:

Hornby Sales, Margins Improved; Full-Year View Unchanged

Hornby said that sales and margins have been better than previous year in the period from April 1 to Aug. 31, and that full-year expectations are unchanged.

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Aviva Sells Singlife Stake, Debt Instruments For $999.5 million

Aviva is selling its 25.9% stake in Singapore Life Holdings and two debt instruments to Sumitomo Life Insurance Company for around 800 million pounds ($999.5 million).

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St. James's Place Appoints Prudential PLC's Mark FitzPatrick as Its New CEO

St. James's Place has appointed Prudential PLC's Mark FitzPatrick as its new chief executive, replacing Andrew Croft who has been with the company since 1993.

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888 Holdings to Appoint Sean Wilkins as CFO

888 Holdings has appointed Sean Wilkins as chief financial officer with effect from Feb. 1, it said Wednesday.

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Frontier Developments Swung to FY 2023 Pretax Loss

Frontier Developments said its "F1 Manager 2023" game hasn't delivered the expected sales contribution as it reported a swing to a pretax loss after booking higher costs for fiscal 2023.

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Tullow Oil Narrows Full-Year Production View After Pretax Profit, Revenue Fell

Tullow Oil narrowed its full-year production guidance after pretax profit more than halved in the first half of the year, reflecting lower realized oil prices.

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Renishaw Delays Publishing of FY 2023 Results

Renishaw said it will delay publishing its fiscal 2023 results to Sept. 19 from the original Sept. 14 date.

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CAB Payments Pretax Profit Doubled

CAB Payments Holdings' pretax profit more than doubled in the first half of 2023 as performance across its foreign exchange and payments lines boosted revenue and said that it is confident on its growth prospects.

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Ricardo PLC Swung to FY 2023 Loss on Restructuring Costs; Raises Dividend

Ricardo PLC reported a swing to pretax loss in fiscal 2023 after booking impairments related to restructuring actions of its automotive and industrial established mobility segment, and rose its dividend payout.

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Hunting Backs Guidance, Sets 2030 Targets

Hunting has set targets in relation to its 2030 strategy, set to be revealed at its Capital Markets Day, and backed its guidance for 2023 and 2024.

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Duke Royalty Sees Second-Quarter Recurring Cash Revenue Ahead of 1Q

Duke Royalty expects its recurring cash revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2024 to grow on year and on quarter as it reported record revenue for the first three months of the year.

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On the Beach Adjusted Pretax Profit at Top End of Views on Record Revenue, Soaring Bookings

On the Beach Group said it expects adjusted pretax profit for the year ending Sept. 30 to be at the top end of market expectations after bookings soared, revenue hit a record level and it benefited from higher-than-anticipated interest income.

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Redrow FY 2023 Boosted by Higher House Prices; Sees Lower Profit, Revenue in FY 2024

Redrow has reported a 60.6% rise in fiscal 2023 pretax profit as the average home selling price rose over the period, and re-introduced year-ahead guidance that is much lower.

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Sondrel CFO Joe Lopez Steps Down, Nick Stone Named Interim Replacement

Sondrel (Holdings) said that Chief Financial Officer Joe Lopez will stand down from the role with immediate effect and as a company director before Sept. 30 by mutual agreement, and that Nick Stone will become non-board interim CFO effective Thursday.

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DiscoverIE Buys 2J Antennas for EUR52.5 Mln

DiscoverIE Group said it has bought Slovakia's 2J Antennas Group for 52.5 million euros ($56.5 million) cash, and that the transaction will be funded from its existing debt facilities.

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Kingspan Has Had Informal Talks With Carlisle Cos But None Ongoing at Present

Kingspan Group said that it has recently had informal talks with Carlisle Cos. over a possible deal but there is currently no active engagement between them.

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Marlowe Sees Good Start to Fiscal Year With High Single Digit Organic Revenue Growth

Marlowe said it started fiscal 2024 well and was performing in line with expectations as it continued delivering strong strategic progress with high single digit organic revenue growth.

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Made Tech FY 2023 Loss Widened on Costs, Expects In-Line Revenue in FY 2024

Made Tech Group expects revenue for fiscal 2024 to be in line with fiscal 2023 after it posted a wider pretax loss for the year due to heavier administrative expenses.

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Belluscura Shares Drop After Widened 1H Pretax Loss

Belluscura shares fell after the group reported a widened pretax loss for first half on higher costs.

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Longboat Energy Increases Stake in Malaysian Gas Block

Longboat Energy is expanding its business in South-East Asia by increasing its working interest in a gas block offshore Sarawak in Malaysia through an acquisition of privately-held Topaz Number One, it said Wednesday.

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Supreme PLC on Track to Meet FY 2024 Adjusted Ebitda Consensus

Supreme PLC said that it is on track to meet fiscal 2024 market views for adjusted Ebitda.

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Anpario Pretax Profit, Sales Fell on Lower Demand

Anpario said pretax profit fell for the first half, with sales down 7%, but that it expects a recovery in sales volumes in the second half, as well as further gross margin improvements on lower raw-material costs.

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Argentex Shares Fall After Flagging Reduced Market Activity Despite 1H Growth

Argentex Group shares fell on Wednesday after the company said alongside its first-half results that it has seen a greater reduction in market activity in its institutional and European divisions.

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T42 IoT Tracking Solutions' Contract With U.S. Distributor Underperforming

T42 IoT Tracking Solutions said the contract it has with OpenBox Ventures hasn't to date produced orders and has failed to perform according to the distributor's estimates.

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TeamViewer to Scale Down Advertising Partnership With Manchester United

TeamViewer said it will reduce the scope of its sponsorship agreement with Manchester United from the start of the next season, which the company expects will lead to substantial marketing-expense savings.

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Central Asia Metals Pretax Profit, Revenue Fell on Lower Prices

Central Asia Metals said that its pretax profit and revenue fell in the first half of the year amid lower prices for its metals, and that it backed its full-year production guidance.

MARKET TALK:

Central Asia Metals Results Suggest Falling Unit Costs

1104 GMT - Central Asia Metals marginally missed consensus-views to Ebitda and revenue due to weaker zinc prices, while results indicate lower unit costs in the period, Peel Hunt analysts write in a research note. The miner's Ebitda missed company-collected consensus by 1%, while revenue was 4% short, which suggests lower than expected unit costs in 1H, "likely a result of faster power price normalization at it Sasa mine," the analysts say. The company remains "a low-cost, consistent producer with a healthy balance sheet and no debt," they say. Peel Hunt keeps a buy rating on the stock, with a 322-pence price target. ([e-mail])

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Central Asia Metals Interim Results Were a Mixed Bag

1053 GMT - Central Asia Metals posted mixed first-half results, RBC Capital Markets says, adding that better-than-expected dividend should please investors. While the miner's Ebitda fell 14% short of RBC estimates, it only missed a company-collected consensus by 1%. "The miss to our numbers was caused by lower than expected realized prices and higher than forecasted costs at Sasa [mine]," RBC analyst Marina Calero writes in a research note. Free cash flow missed consensus due to the timing of some tax payments, she says. On the plus side, investors are set to be pleased with the better than expected dividend, the analyst adds. RBC rates the stock outperform with a 940-pence price target. ([e-mail])

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Aviva's Singlife Stake Sale Signals Returns Ahead

1034 GMT - Aviva's sale of its stake in Singlife heightens its capital return potential, UBS says in a note after the British insurer exited its joint venture in Singapore for GBP800 million. "The transaction further simplifies Aviva's business, and given management's track record of returning excess capital to shareholders, we believe expectations for further capital returns will develop," analysts write. They note that the deal's financials look marginally more attractive than in 2020, when the group sold its around 75% stake in Aviva Singapore. UBS rates the stock buy. Shares rise 2.6% at 386 pence. ([e-mail])

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Anpario Presents Attractive Opportunity for Rating, Earnings Expansion

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09-13-23 0722ET