Yahoo Finance FTSE 100 Live: London blue-chips climb, AstraZeneca results, Flutter and S4 Capital shares tumble
A packed session of blue-chip updates has led to some big share price moves, with Flutter Entertainment and B&M European Value Retail the main casualties.
Upgraded guidance from AstraZeneca and a profit beat by Auto Trader meant their shares were among the best performing.
The overall picture for the FTSE 100 is less inspiring, with the focus still on oil prices after the slide in Brent Crude towards $80 a barrel.
Buy-to-let hit but homeowners dodge mortgage arrears bullet
Thursday 9 November 2023 14:27 , Daniel O'Boyle
The latest figures on mortgage arrears and repossessions make for interesting reading. But not for the reasons you would imagine at this stage of the property and interest rate cycles.
Sure, the number of loans in arrears representing at least 2.5% of the total outstanding was up in the third quarter, according to the data from UK Finance. The total of 87,930 was 7% higher than the previous quarter.
But in historical terms they are still running at remarkably low levels given the extraordinary rise in interest rates we have seen over the past two years.
After the financial crisis in 2009 arrears were running at more than 200,000 and they did not fall back below 100,000 until 2016. Meanwhile the number of repossessions actually fell, from 690 to 630, barely a blip on the radar compared with the huge numbers seen in the early 1990s.
Market snapshot as FTE 100 climbs
Thursday 9 November 2023 13:27 , Daniel O'Boyle
The FTSE 100 has recovered from its sluggish start and is now approaching its highest since mid-October.
Take a look at our market snapshot.
AstraZeneca earnings outlook up as cancer drug sales plug hole left by Covid jab
Thursday 9 November 2023 13:11 , Daniel O'Boyle
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has hiked its earnings outlook as strong take-up of blockbuster cancer drugs offset the loss of sales from its Covid-19 treatments.
The FTSE 100-listed firm reported a 12% rise in third-quarter sales, excluding Covid-19 treatments, to 11.5 billion US dollars (£9.4 billion).
Including the impact of the Covid-19 sales hit, revenues lifted 5%.
It said sales of cancer medicines surged 20% in the first nine months of the year.
Strong Taylor Wimpey update lifts the gloom
Thursday 9 November 2023 12:11 , Daniel O'Boyle
Taylor Wimpley helped lift the gloom over the housebuilding sector today with a stronger than expected trading update that sent its shares higher and raised hopes that the industry may have seen out the worst of the downturn.
The developer’s CEO Jennie Daly said it was delivering “a resilient performance in what continues to be a challenging market”. An efficiency and cost control drive in response to the downturn in demand after last year’s mini-Budget means operating profit is now expected to be “at the top end of our guidance range of £440 million to £470 million”.
The expected number of homes delivered is unchanged at 10,000 to 10,500.
Sexism in the City: Sexual harassment still 'prevalent' in Square Mile
Thursday 9 November 2023 10:53 , Daniel O'Boyle
Sexual harassment is still “prevalent” in the City despite action to stamp it out - with fears that women are being silenced from speaking out by the use of controversial Non-Disclosure Agreements, MPs have been told.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission issued the stark warning about the scale of sexual misconduct in the Square Mile to the influential Commons Treasury Committee which is investigating “Sexism in the City”.
The EHRC said: “Evidence shows that sexual harassment, particularly of women, remains prevalent in the financial services sector despite existing legal protections and industry commitments to tackle it.”
The Phoenix Group, a large long-term savings and retirement business, told the senior MPs: “Sexual harassment and misogyny are abhorrent and we are concerned that parts of the financial services sector have been slow to grasp the issue.”
FTSE 100 struggles despite AstraZeneca upgrade, Auto Trader up 8%
Thursday 9 November 2023 10:31 , Graeme Evans
Upgraded guidance from AstraZeneca and a profit beat by Auto Trader today gave their shares top billing in a packed session of blue-chip updates.
The online car marketplace accelerated 8% as the frontrunner in the FTSE 100 index, having impressed investors with a 10% hike in interim profits to £164.6 million.
It also highlighted confidence in the second half outturn amid the resilience of the used car market, supported by the continued availability of finance.
Auto Trader’s upturn of 49.2p took the shares to a fresh high for the year at 684.6p, having started 2023 nearer to 520p.
AstraZeneca, the second largest stock on the London market, jumped 3% or 288p to 10,458p after chief executive Pascal Soriot said the drugs giant maintained its strong growth trajectory in the third quarter.
Excluding Covid-19 vaccine sales, AstraZeneca now expects revenues to grow by a low teens percentage and earnings per share by at least a low double digit figure.
Other strong performers included National Grid, which lifted 7.8p to 977.6p after confirming full-year expectations and giving a nudge to five-year earnings guidance.
The support failed to prevent the FTSE 100 index from easing 8.40 points to 7393.32, a decline not helped by the latest fall for BP as the energy giant traded without the value of its most recent dividend award.
BP fell 6.4p to 470.75p and has weakened almost 10% in the past month after Brent Crude retreated to its lowest price since July at $80 a barrel.
Despite the benchmark’s latest drop after the US forecast weaker oil consumption for this year, UBS said today it continues to see the potential for a return to $90-$100.
Lancashire Holdings led the FTSE 250, surging 8% or 48p to 654.5p after the Bermuda-based insurer declared a special dividend alongside 23.2% premium growth for the first nine months of the year.
Market snapshot with FTSE 100 flat
Thursday 9 November 2023 10:25 , Daniel O'Boyle
The FTSE 100 has picked up after its early decline this morning, while the price of bitcoin has surged further.
Take a look at our full market snapshot.
Fresh fears for high street in run-up to Christmas
Thursday 9 November 2023 10:13 , Daniel O'Boyle
There were fresh fears for the high street today in the lead-up to Christmas as some of the country’s best-known retailers warning of shop closures, slowing growth and weaker customer sentiment.
WHSmith hinted at store closures, while B&M's shares fell amid signs of slowing growth.
Another discount retailer, The Works, cut its profit guidance as it warned of a difficult Christmas period and the need to rely more on promotions to get customers into its shops. That sent shares tumbling by as much as 40% to 24.4p, valuing the business at around £15 million.
Sir Martin's S4 hit by tech ad slowdown
Thursday 9 November 2023 09:51 , Simon English
FURTHER signs of strife in the advertising market came today when S4 Capital said revenue is falling sharply and profits are at risk.
The shares crashed 12p, 18%, to 55p. They were over 800p in September 2021 as investors bet on the abilities of founder Sir Martin Sorrell.
The lower share price hurts his ability to make acquisitions, since the stock has been his preferred method of payment for deals.
Today Sir Martin Sorrell said: “Trading in the third quarter was difficult, reflecting the global macroeconomic conditions with continued client caution to commit and# extended sales cycles, particularly for larger projects and to some extent clients in the Technology sector.”
Profit margin guidance, already cut in September, were cut again to 10%-11%. Revenue in the third quarter fell 18.1% from the same period last year, down to £246m.
Sir Martin says clients are cautious. Its focus on digital media has left it particularly exposed to the tech down turn.
Wizz Air shares fall to earth
Thursday 9 November 2023 09:41 , Simon English
WIZZ Air suffered turbulence today despite unveiling rapid growth that saw it fly a record 33 million customers in the last six months.
The no-frills airline also soared to a profit of e400 million (£350 million) compared to a loss of e384 million last time and reported that it has cash on hand of e1.8 billion.
That comes two days after rival Ryanair reported boom in profits and its first regular dividend payment on the back of rising fares. But Wizz warned of rising staff costs and problems with its RTX engines which mean fewer flights next year. This knocked its guidance for future returns.
The murky outlook for fuel prices given global tensions and an uncertain economic environment in its big markets didn’t help.
CEP Jozsef Varadi said: “This guidance reflects our expectations…in the context of the ongoing macro environment uncertainty and continuing difficult operatingconditions, from an infrastructure and security perspective.”
Jamie Lindsay, an investor at Artemis Investment Management, said: "While the proportion of the European short-haul fleet that is grounded is small, this should have a noticeable impact on competition and therefore pricing in summer of 2024. It looks likely that the impact will continue well into next summer."The shares slipped 115p to 1748p.
WHSmith hints at high-street closures as travel arm surges ahead
Thursday 9 November 2023 08:59 , Daniel O'Boyle
WHSmith hinted at store closures as it noted that 480 of its high-street leases are set to expire in the next three years and that ”we only renew a lease where we are confident of delivering economic value”.
Boss Carl Cowling told the Standard that there will likely be closures, but that the company also hoped to negotiate lower rents to keep stores open as demand for retail space falls.
“We’ve closed a handful over the next twelve months, we’re likely to close a handful more over next twelve. And in three years it’ll probably be less stores. But we’re still going to remain on the high street.
“The high street business is still profitable and we don’t have a long tail of unprofitable stores.”
The business has been upping its focus on its better-performing travel arm, with Cowling saying the business “is now primarily a global travel retailer”. As the post-pandemic holiday boom continues, travel profits more than doubled, and were five times the amount made by the once-dominant high-street arm, ensuring overall profits grew to £110 million.
Chapel Down swaps Aquis for AIM as it unveils record harvest
Thursday 9 November 2023 08:51 , Simon Hunt
Chapel Down is moving from the Aquis to the AIM stock exchange as it marks the next step in its rapid expansion after completing a record harvest.
The English winemaker said it had delivered a record 3,811 tonnes of grapes in 2023, an 86% jump on 2022 which would provide enough supply for 3.4 million bottles of wine, cementing its ambitions to double revenues by 2026.
Josh Donaghay-Spire, Head Winemaker and Operations Director, said: "Our confidence in this year’s harvest has been steadily building as we have worked with optimal conditions through the year, but this crop has exceeded our high expectations both for its size and quality.
"The ripeness levels in 2023 exceed those seen in the strong vintages of 2019 and 2021, and at this early stage in the winemaking process, this year’s wines are displaying a light and delicate character with good purity of fruit."
Auto Trader warns consumers could be delaying EV purchase decisions after Government rule changes
Thursday 9 November 2023 08:34 , Simon Hunt
Online car marketplace Auto Trader has warned a five-year extension to the Government's moratorium on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars has prompted consumers to delay their electric vehicle purchases.
CEO Nathan Coe told the Standard: "For the industry it hasn’t made any difference to them, these companies run huge factories on 10-year product cycles -- the reality is the path to getting to that ban hasn’t changed at all.
Auto Trader said: "The thing that did start to shift was anyone who was on the fence has used the extension as an excuse to kick the can down the road a bit more and delay their EV purchase."
Auto Trader today beat market expectations as it reported a 12% rise in revenue to £281 million for the six months to the end of September while operating profit rose 10% to £165 million.
Coe said high interest rates had helped cut the numbers of customers using finance to make purchases, while the firm expected the number of car retailers to fall in the months ahead amid a normalising of market conditions in the aftermath of Covid.
Shares rose 6.6% to 667p.
FTSE 100 lower amid flurry of updates, Wizz Air loses 8% in FTSE 250
Thursday 9 November 2023 08:26 , Graeme Evans
A packed session of blue-chip updates has led to some big share price moves, with Flutter Entertainment and B&M European Value Retail the main casualties after falling 9% and 5% respectively.
AstraZeneca is 118p higher at 10,288p after upgrading revenues guidance, while Auto Trader shares have accelerated 33.2p to 668.6p.
Other strong performers in London's top flight index include Taylor Wimpey and National Grid, up 2% and 1% respectively.
The FTSE 100 index is 27.37 points lower at 7374.35, not helped by a fall of 8.05p to 469.1p for BP after the energy giant began trading without the value of its most recent dividend award.
The FTSE 250 index is 5.93 points lower at 17,840.33, with Wizz Air shares down 8% or 158p to 1705p after its half-year results. WH Smith lifted 12p to 1201p following its annual results.
Paddy Power owner Flutter is latest betting firm to warn on punter-friendly football results
Thursday 9 November 2023 08:10 , Daniel O'Boyle
Paddy Power and Sky Bet owner Flutter became the latest betting operator to warn punters are winning more money than normal, revealing that full-year profits expected to be at bottom of its previously guided range because of a £50 million hit from football results.
Flutter follows London-listed rivals Entain and 888 in warning that results in September and October are hitting its bottom line. Premier League favourites have been winning more than the bookies expect, and an unusual amount of matches have seen both teams score.
Underlying profit for the year is now set to be £1.44 billion, compared to the previous range of between £1.44 billion and £1.6 billion.
But CEO Peter Jackson said the struggles to start the Premier League season were not a sign that anything major had changed in how it should price football matches.
“Ultimately we’re in the risk business,” he said. “We are very very confident in the [trading] teams we have. We don’t see any need to make changes.
“What typically happens is we have positive luck and negative luck. Positive luck happens slowly, negative luck happens quickly.”
S&P 500 extends run of gains, FTSE 100 seen lower
Thursday 9 November 2023 07:26 , Graeme Evans
Fresh gains in the technology sector ensured another positive session for the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq Composite by last night’s close,
The marginal improvement extended the winning run for the benchmarks to eight and nine sessions respectively, reflecting hopes that US interest rates have peaked.
Another rise by the S&P 500 in today's session would mean the longest run of gains since 2004.
Comments last night from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell contained no new information on the monetary policy outlook, while this week’s slide in Brent Crude price to $80 a barrel have been another factor calming interest rate nerves.
Asia markets were steady this morning after figures showed China’s sluggish economy returned to deflation territory with a bigger-than-expected 0.2% fall in consumer prices for October.
The FTSE 100 index is set to continue its lacklustre run when trading resumes, with IG reporting that futures indicate a fall of 0.2% to 7385.
Recap: Yesterday's top stories
Wednesday 8 November 2023 23:33 , Simon Hunt
Good morning. Here's a summary of our top headlines from yesterday:
Stellar results from a rejuvenated M&S with sales up 11%, profits 56% higher ahead of forecasts and a return to dividends
ITV expects an 8% fall in ad revenue but offset by strong performance of ITV Studios with shows such as Love Island USA
Wetherspoons going strong as sales surge 9.5% in first quarter
Reach cuts 450 jobs in third major cost cutting drive this year
Chipmaker Vishay buys Newport Wafer Fab in $177 million deal
