UK Wage Growth Likely to Force Further BOE Hikes
1037 GMT - U.K. wage data could lock in the Bank of England for more rate hikes, with wage-growth momentum looking much stronger than the central bank's expectations, according to Oxford Economics proprietary sentiment data in collaboration with Penta. The figures suggest wage growth is growing at around 1.8% on a three-month by three-month basis, well above the BOE's 1% expectations for 2Q, OE's chief global economist Innes McFee says. Employment growth has remained strong despite weak U.K. GDP growth, implying that productivity is falling and an even stronger inflation impulse from wages is coming, he says. This adds to the view that the BOE will need another 50 basis-point hike in August, with further tightening in September, and potentially 125 bps of hikes before the year-end, he says. (edward.frankl@wsj.com)
COMPANIES NEWS:
AO World Swung to FY 2023 Profit on Lower Costs; Will Shift Focus to Growth
AO World said Wednesday that it swung to fiscal 2023 pretax profit on reduced costs despite a 17% slip in revenue, and it plans to shift focus to growth.
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Legal & General Says IFRS 17 Accounting Transition Doesn't Change Strategy, Solvency or Dividends
Legal & General Group on Wednesday said the transition to the IFRS 17 accounting standard doesn't change its strategy, solvency or dividends, and backed its five-year targets.
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SIG 1H Revenue Rose Slightly; Sees 2023 Profit at Lower End of Market Views
SIG said Wednesday that its first-half reported revenue rose 5%, and it expects to deliver full-year underlying operating profit toward the lower end of the range of market expectations.
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Hammerson Restates Some 1H 2022 Figures After Accounting Board Decision
Hammerson said Wednesday that its figures for rental income and adjusted earnings for the first half of 2022 have been restated due to accounting interpretation decisions, ahead of its upcoming first-half 2023 results.
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Supreme FY 2023 Pretax Profit Fell on Higher Costs; Upgrades FY 2024 Profit Forecasts
Supreme said Wednesday that pretax profit for fiscal 2023 fell after booking higher costs, and upgraded its profit forecasts for fiscal 2024.
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Topps Tiles 3Q Comparable Sales Rose 2.5%; Sees Higher 2H Adjusted Pretax Profit
Topps Tiles said Wednesday that like-for-like sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2023 rose 2.5% compared with the same quarter a year ago and that it expects adjusted pretax profit for the second half of the year to be higher than the same period a year earlier.
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Zinc Media Sees Rise in 2023 Revenue; TV Label Wins Contract Worth Over GBP1 Mln
Zinc Media Group said Wednesday that it expects to report a rise in revenue for 2023 and that its newest television label, Atomic Television, has won its first contract with an undisclosed client which is worth more than 1 million pounds ($1.3 million).
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Numis Sees Tough Market Conditions Continuing After Lower 3Q Revenue
Numis on Wednesday said that it sees market conditions remaining difficult through the rest of fiscal 2023 as its third-quarter total revenue came in below the first half run-rate.
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Quiz FY 2023 Pretax Profit Jumped on Rising Demand; Flags Headwinds
Quiz PLC said Wednesday that pretax profit rose in fiscal 2023 mainly on increased demand but flagged a tough trading environment as revenue in the first three months of the current fiscal year fell on inflationary pressure.
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Redde Northgate FY 2023 Profit Rose on Strong Growth, Flags Good Start to FY 2024
Redde Northgate said Wednesday that its fiscal 2023 pretax profit significantly increased and revenue rose after delivering a strong operational performance, and fiscal 2024 started well.
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Bidstack Gets Letter Requisitioning Meeting to Remove Two Directors
Bidstack Group said Wednesday that it will call a meeting requisitioned by some shareholders to ask for the removal of Nonexecutive Director Glen Calvert and Chief Strategy Officer Lisa Hau from the company's board, and appoint Nicholas Hargrave as a director.
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Block Energy Oil Production Rose on Quarter; Promotes Guram Maisuradze to COO
Block Energy said Wednesday that oil production rose sequentially in the second quarter of 2023, and that it has promoted Operations Manager Guram Maisuradze to chief operating officer.
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Smoove FY 2023 Loss Widened on Higher Costs, Volatile Environment
Smoove on Wednesday reported a wider pretax loss for its fiscal 2023 on higher costs amid what it described as a volatile economic environment.
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PayPoint Delays Publishing FY 2023 Results on Accounting Review
PayPoint said Wednesday that it will delay publishing its accounts for the year ended March 31 as auditor KPMG has been unable to complete the necessary work before the release date of July 6.
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Alba Mineral Resources Raises GBP750,000 to Boost Portfolio Activities
Alba Mineral Resources said Wednesday that it has raised 750,000 pounds ($953,625) via a share placing and will use the money to accelerate value-enhancing activities across its portfolio.
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Keller Group Sees 2023 Profit Above Views After Record 1H; Raises Dividend
Keller Group said Wednesday that it expects to achieve a record performance in the first half of 2023, and for full-year underlying operating profit to be materially ahead of market expectations.
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Mattioli Woods FY 2023 Profit in Line With Views
Mattioli Woods on Wednesday said its profit for fiscal 2023 was in line with expectations as it reported a 3% revenue rise for the year as client demand for advice increased on the back of the pension and tax rule changes from the Spring Budget.
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Science in Sport Chairman John Clarke to Step Down
Science in Sport said Wednesday that Chairman John Clarke will step down from his role once a replacement has been found and after an orderly handover process.
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Tintra Shares Rise on Agreement to Repay Fintech Leaders Share Deed
Tintra shares rose Wednesday after the company said it has agreed to fully repay and terminate a $3 million share placement deed with U.S.-based institutional investor Fintech Leaders Fund, following a breakdown in discussions in early May.
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Equals 1H Revenue Surged, Sees 2023 Performance at Least in Line with Views
Equals Group said Wednesday that its first-half revenue rose 43%, and full-year performance it expects to be at least in line with management expectations.
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Malin CEO to Step Down by End of 2023
Malin Corp. said Wednesday that Chief Executive Darragh Lyons will leave the company before the end of the year, with company secretary Fiona Dunlevy assuming the role of executive director and Chairman Liam Daniel taking additional responsibilities as executive chairman from Oct. 2.
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Pelatro Says Owners of Potential Acquisition Target Unlikely to Sell
Pelatro said Wednesday that the potential acquisition, which the company has been in early stages of evaluating, has been terminated because the owners of the target said they are unlikely to sell the business.
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Roebuck Food Group Names Kieran Mahon CEO as Declan Morrissey Steps Down
Roebuck Food Group on Wednesday said its Chief Executive Declan Morrissey will step down from the role on July 6 and will be replaced by Kieran Mahon.
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City investment bank Numis warns of ongoing deal slump -- Financial News
The UK-focused investment bank is set to complete its takeover by Deutsche Bank in the final quarter of 2023
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Zhejiang Yongtai Technology to Raise Up to $100M and Float GDRs in London
Zhejiang Yongtai Technology Co. said Wednesday that it plans to raise up to $100 million and float its global depositary receipts in London around July 11.
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Glantus Holdings Shares Soar on Potential Takeover Bid
Shares in Glantus Holdings more than doubled Wednesday after the company said it is in talks with Accel-KKR and its investee company Basware in relation to a possible cash offer for the entire share capital of Glantus.
MARKET TALK:
Pearson's Prospects Look Bright Despite Jitters
1040 GMT - Pearson's longer-term prospects are bright despite some investor concerns, UBS says, upgrading the education publisher to buy from neutral. Pearson shares have fallen about 13% so far this year amid downbeat 2023 guidance and concerns about how artificial intelligence could affect its higher-education business, UBS says. "However, we see positive operating momentum in the business post 1Q results and into 2Q and note our revised forecasts are ahead of consensus," UBS analysts say in a note, adding that they believe Pearson can achieve more than GBP400 million of free cash-flow by 2024, versus GBP175m in 2022. UBS also increases its price target on the stock to 970 pence from 930p. Shares top the FTSE 100 risers, up 2.3% at 836p. (philip.waller@wsj.com)
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L&G May Look Better Than Peers Under IFRS 17 Long Term
1013 GMT - Legal & General, along with the broader sector, is marginally underperforming, Berenberg analyst Thomas Bateman says after the British insurer published an update on its IFRS 17 transition, which included slightly lower operating profit guidance on the Legal & General Retirement Institutional (LGRI) business. "While it doesn't impact dividends or cash, IFRS 17 is viewed as a risk over the near-term because EPS will fall by c20-25% and shareholders equity will fall by 40%," Bateman says. However, L&G may look better than peers under IFRS 17 in the long term as it will likely show growth in the contractual service margin for both LGRI and retail, he says. Shares fall 1.9%. (elena.vardon@wsj.com)
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Zinc Media's Strong Performance, Operational Momentum Are Notable Positives
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07-05-23 0703ET
