Trending tickers: Nike | Centrica | Barratt | WH Smith

Nike stock slides after profits came in lower than expected. Photo: Don Ryan/AP (Don Ryan, Associated Press)

Nike (NKE)

Nike reported fourth quarter sales that topped Wall Street expectations, but profits came in lower than expected after the bell on Thursday.

Shares dropped more than 4% in extended trading. The stock has fallen about 3% this year.

Nike reported fourth quarter revenue of $12.82bn, which was up 10% year-over-year. Fourth quarter earnings per share were 66 cents, which missed a Street consensus estimate of 67 cents.

Nike Direct revenue in the fourth quarter was $5.5bn, up 15% year-over-year. The company also reported wholesale revenue of $6.7bn, down 2% year-over-year.

For the full year, Nike reported earnings per share of $3.23, down 14% from the previous year but in line with the consensus analyst expectation of earnings per share of $3.24.

Matt Friend, chief financial officer, said during the call that for the full fiscal year ahead, he expects Nike’s sales to grow in the “mid-single digits.” And even as rivals push ahead on markdowns, he said Nike will try to keep its own prices higher, saying its priority in the months ahead will be to “drive healthy, full-priced growth.”

The company also reported inventories as of May 31, 2023, of $8.5bn, flat over the prior year period.

Centrica (CNA.L)

Centrica shares rose after it announced a near doubling in gas storage capacity at its Rough facility.

The British Gas owner has increased storage capacity at Rough, the UK's largest gas storage facility, to 54 billion cubic ft (bcf) in a bid to boost resilience in the coming winter.

Closed in 2017, the site was partially reopened last year, when it was able to store around 30 bcf of gas.

The facility will now provide the equivalent volume of gas to heat 2.4 million homes over winter, the company said.

Read more: LIVE: FTSE rises ahead of quarter end as UK avoids recession

Centrica group chief executive Chris O’Shea said: “The resilience of the UK’s energy system needs to be substantially improved.

“Rough is not a silver bullet for energy security, but it plays a critical role in increasing capacity and supply confidence over the winter months.”

Barratt (BDEV.L)

Barratt Developments is up after Britain's largest housebuilder said it had agreed to a sale of 604 homes to Citra Living Properties for a cash consideration of £168.4m.

About 500 of the homes will be transferred to Citra's ownership by June 2024, while the remaining homes will be transferred the following year.

The housebuilder said it would recognise revenue and profit on the legal completion of each home under the sale agreement.

"The single-family dwelling segment of the private rental sector continues to grow strongly and presents an opportunity for us to both diversify our revenues against the current challenging market backdrop and develop communities which encompass all forms of housing tenure," Barratt CEO David Thomas said.

Britain's biggest mortgage lender Lloyds launched its private rental business, Citra Living, in 2021 in a bid to find new revenue sources.

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: “For Barratt, this means a modest cash windfall at a time when its share price has been struggling. Barratt Developments is down by more than 10% over the last month, weighed down by stronger-than-expected UK inflation and wage data and another 50 basis-point rate hike from the Bank of England this month.”

WH Smith (SMWH.L)

WH Smith is not planning to open any more high street stores, saying doing so would risk “duplication” in many city centres.

Instead, chief executive Carl Cowling told the BBC that the historic chain would be concentrating on airports and train stations.

WH Smith has about 550 high street stores in the UK with all the main cities in England, Wales and Scotland having shops.

Read more: British Gas boss warns UK energy bills are not going to fall any time soon

In its latest trading update, it said that, in the 13 weeks to the end of May, total revenue from UK travel locations was up 24% on last year.

Watch: Nike stock slides after Q4 earnings miss

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