FTSE 100 
FTSE 100 Falls as Traders Cautious Amid US Debt Ceiling Talks
0758 GMT - The FTSE 100 falls 0.1% to 7759 points as investors exercise caution amid ongoing U.S. debt ceiling talks and ahead of key economic data. Industrial and electronics products distributor RS Group leads the decline, falling 3.9%, after it flagged a slowing in industrial growth and weakness in electronics. Investors are "sitting on their hands and unwilling to commit" in the absence of a resolution to the U.S. debt ceiling standoff, Interactive Investor analyst Richard Hunter writes. Meanwhile, purchasing managers' index data for the eurozone, U.K. and U.S. at 0800 GMT, 0830 GMT, and 1345 GMT respectively are a key area of focus Tuesday.(renae.dyer@wsj.com)
COMPANIES NEWS:
ITV Invests in Pet Group PitPat
ITV on Tuesday agreed to subscribe for 3 million pounds ($3.7 million) of shares in the pet health and wellness company PitPat in return for advertising inventory across its channels and ITVX.
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RS Group FY 2023 Profit, Revenue Rose on Product Mix, Pricing; Backs Market Views
RS Group said Tuesday that fiscal 2023 pretax profit and revenue rose on operational initiatives, product mix, inventory availability and strong pricing, and backed market expectations for fiscal 2024 profit, albeit weighted to the second half.
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Topps Tiles 1H Pretax Profit Fell on Higher Costs; Sees Good 2H Start
Topps Tiles said Tuesday that pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2023 fell after it booked higher costs but that it had a good start to the second half with like-for-like sales in the first seven weeks up 4.1% on an underlying basis.
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Barratt Developments Chair John Allan to Step Down Early Amid Allegations
Barratt Developments said Tuesday that Caroline Silver will take over as chair of the board earlier than originally planned to prevent allegations against John Allan from becoming disruptive to the company.
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Hilton Food Sees Performance to Date in Line With Views, Well Positioned for 2023
Hilton Food Group said Tuesday its performance from Jan. 2 to date has been in line with the board's expectations and that despite the uncertain macro-economic environment it was well positioned for the year ahead.
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Cranswick FY 2023 Pretax Profit Grew, Driven by Accelerating Revenue Growth in 2H
Cranswick said Tuesday that its pretax profit rose in fiscal 2023, driven by a 15% rise in revenue, with growth accelerating in the second half.
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Watkin Jones 1H Pretax Loss Narrowed; Sees Stronger 2H
Watkin Jones on Tuesday said its pretax loss for the first half of fiscal 2023 narrowed and that is sees a materially stronger second half with forward sales adding to performance from in-build developments but remains cautious as the market recovers.
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Helical Swung to FY 2023 Pretax Loss on Property Revaluations; Raises Dividend
Helical said Tuesday that it swung to a pretax loss in fiscal 2023, driven by the revaluation of its investment properties, though it hiked its dividend.
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Altice UK Buys 650 Mln Shares in BT; Says It Won't Make Bid for the Company
Altice UK said Tuesday that it has purchased a further 650 million shares in BT Group for around 961 million pounds ($1.20 billion), bringing its ownership up to around 24.5% of the company's issued share capital.
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Avon Protection's 1H Pretax Loss Narrowed on Improving Margins; Sees Lower FY 2023 Revenue
Avon Protection said Tuesday that its pretax loss narrowed in the first half of fiscal 2023 due to a increase in earnings margins despite revenue dipping on year.
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Victorian Plumbing Group's 1H Pretax Profit Jumped On Strong Demand
Victorian Plumbing Group said Tuesday that pretax profit more than doubled in the first half of fiscal 2023 on strong demand across segments.
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Drax Backs 2023 Earnings Market Expectations; Increases Investment Plans
Drax Group said Tuesday that its 2023 expectations for adjusted earnings remain in-line with market consensus estimates, and set out increased investment plans for carbon removal.
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Altice UK Buys 650 Mln Shares in BT; Says It Won't Make Bid for the Company -- Update
Patrick Drahi's Altice UK said Tuesday that it has purchased a further 650 million shares in BT Group for around 961 million pounds ($1.20 billion), bringing its' ownership up to around 24.5% of the company's issued share capital.
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SSP Swung to 1H Pretax Profit on Continued Passenger Volumes Recovery; To Reinstate Dividends
SSP Group said Tuesday that it swung to a pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2023 as revenue rose, spurred by the continued recovery in passenger travel volumes, and that the board expects to resume dividend payments given its current performance expectations.
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Physiomics Shares Fall After FY 2023 Income Guidance Cut
Physiomics shares dropped 22% on Tuesday after the company said it expects its income for fiscal 2023 to be lower than expected due to unforeseen delays in data delivery for its contracts.
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XP Factory Shares Rise After Higher Sales Boosted 2022 Results, 1Q Trading
XP Factory shares rose on Tuesday after the group said overall trading in the first quarter of 2023 was ahead of the board's expectations as it posted higher revenue in 2022 along with heavier costs that widened its pretax loss for the year.
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URA Holding Shares Rise on Oversubscribed Fund Raising
Shares of URA Holdings rose 14% on Tuesday after the company said it has raised 280,000 pounds ($348,264) via an oversubscribed share placing and subscription and will use the money toward equipment to restart mining operations at its Gravelotte emerald mine in South Africa, and for general working capital.
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Empresaria Group Shares Dropped on Lower Net Fee Income Year-To-Date
Shares in Empresaria Group fell on Tuesday after the company said its net fee income has decline in the year to April due to weak demand, and that it expects full-year pretax profit to fall.
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Gulf Keystone Petroleum to Suspend 2022's Final Dividend on Iraq Pipeline, Payment Issues
Gulf Keystone Petroleum said Tuesday that the board was suspending 2022's final dividend of $25 million after the March 25 shut-in of the Iraq-Turkey pipeline and the lack of clarity from Kurdistan's regional government, or KRG, regarding the resumption of outstanding oil sales payments.
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Pressure Technologies Shares Fall on Stock Trading Resumption After Publishing Accounts
Pressure Technologies shares fell Tuesday upon its restoration to trading on London's AIM market, following the publication of its delayed fiscal 2022 accounts.
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Big Technologies PLC Four-Month Revenue Jumped; Backs Full-Year Guidance
Big Technologies PLC said Tuesday that its revenue rose in the first four months of 2023, and that overall results have been in line with expectations.
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Dowlais Backs 2023 Expectations After Four-Month Adjusted Revenue Rose
Dowlais Group said Tuesday that adjusted revenue in the four-month period to April 31 rose 9% at constant currency, and backed its expectations for the year.
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Pebble Group Sees 1H Revenue, Profit Growing On Year
Pebble Group on Tuesday said it expects its results for the first half of 2023 to be ahead of what it reported for the same period the previous year.
MARKET TALK:
RS Group FY 2023 Results Exceed RBC's Expectations
0720 GMT - RS Group full-year results have slightly beaten RBC Capital Markets' expectations, with cash generation stronger than expected driven by a better working-capital performance, analysts say. The industrial and electronics products distributor has pointed to slowing industrial growth in the first seven weeks of the new year, but current expectations for full-year profit should still be achievable, albeit with a second half-weighting, RBC analysts say in a research note. "Even if the [macroeconomic outlook] is tougher than we forecast, we would expect RS to continue to take market share, whilst there remains improvement opportunities--especially in the U.S.--in terms of broadening the product and customer offer," the Canadian bank says. RBC retains its outperform rating and 1,050.0 pence price target. (joseph.hoppe@wsj.com)
Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires;
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-23-23 0420ET
