Falling UK Inflation Trend Could Weaken Sterling

1047 GMT - Shorter-term U.K. inflation expectations should soon fall, weakening sterling as Bank of England rate expectations come down, MUFG analyst Derek Halpenny says in a note. Recent CPI data suggest food inflation has peaked, U.K. supermarkets have announced plans to reduce prices and utility bills should fall from July, he says. This should mean "more meaningful declines in inflation over the coming months that leads the market to question the extent of BOE rate hikes required going forward." MUFG expects two more BOE rate increases, compared with five currently priced by the market, which would "remove some of the current yield support for the pound." GBP/USD falls 0.1% to 1.2707, while EUR/GBP rises 0.1% to 0.8564. (jessica.fleetham@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.

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Mineral & Financial Shares Rise After JV Partner Gets UK Govt Financing Proposal

Shares of Mineral & Financial Investments rose 11% on Wednesday after the company said that joint-venture partner Ascendant Resources has accepted a potential $190 million worth of support from U.K. Export Finance toward the Lagoa Salgada project in Portugal.

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HSBC's Global Private Banking Unit Launches In India -- MarketWatch

HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.LN) said Wednesday its Global Private Banking unit has launched in India with a focus on clients with investable assets of more than $2 million. Annabel Spring, CEO of HSBC Global Private Banking and Wealth and Surendra Rosha, co-CEO of HSBC Asia-Pacific are working on the effort. The bank did not say how many of its employees are involved in the roll-out of its wealth business in India, which HSBC said, "demonstrates the bank's commitment to lead wealth management in Asia." U.S.-listed shares of HSBC are down 1% in premarket trades.

MARKET TALK:

European Stocks Drop After Downbeat China Data

1133 GMT - European stocks drop after downbeat Chinese economic data and ahead of an expected lower U.S. open. The Stoxx Europe 600, FTSE 100, DAX and CAC 40 all retreat about 0.5%, with tech stocks among the biggest fallers. Brent crude backtracks 0.3% to $76 a barrel. IG futures data show the Dow opening at 34280, versus Monday's close of 34418. Asia markets fell, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng losing more than 1%. "A five-month low for China's Caixin services PMI knocked sentiment in Asia," IG analysts write. "U.S. markets return from their holiday today and today's release of the latest Fed meeting minutes is likely to be the key event." (philip.waller@wsj.com)

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US Corporate Bond Spreads May Widen as Economic Sentiment Deteriorates

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07-05-23 0840ET