The FTSE 100 is down 0.4 per cent in early trading. Among the companies with reports and trading updates today are AstraZeneca, Kingfisher, SSP Group, Pennon, CVS Group and Naked Wines. Read the Tuesday 21 May Business Live blog below.
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Kingfisher: ‘Retail spending on big ticket items is suffering’
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor:
‘B&Q’s parent company Kingfisher reported a 0.9% drop in first-quarter underlying sales but kept its full-year guidance unchanged. It continues to forecast adjusted pretax profit for the year of between £490 and £550 million, a year-on-year decline of around 8.5%.
‘Kingfisher enjoyed strong e-commerce sales at B&Q in the UK. However, its performance was dragged down by weakness in France at Castorama and Brico Depot because of the sluggish consumer backdrop.
‘Retail spending on big ticket items is suffering because of a reluctance from consumers to fork out for expensive products amid cost-of-living pressures from higher prices and higher interest rates. Kingfisher has also been dealing with unfavourable weather conditions, especially in April in the UK and France.
‘Shares in Kingfisher are up almost 10% so far this year but are in the red today. The analyst community has a mixed assessment on the stock with 4 sell recommendations, 7 holds and 4 buys.’
Market open: FTSE 100 down 0.4%; FTSE 250 off 0.4%
London-listed stocks are trading lower this morning, tracking weakness in Asian markets as US Federal Reserve officials maintain a cautious stance on inflation, while gains in AstraZeneca capped declines.
Investor optimism wanes as Fed officials hesitated to declare that inflation is on track to meet the central bank’s target on Monday. This reticence also nudged commodity prices lower.
Traders also hold back from placing big bets as they awaited insights from Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, due later in the day, and domestic consumer prices (CPI) due on Wednesday.
Focus this week will also be on Nvidia’s quarterly results as it is expected to influence the broader markets given the euphoria around artificial intelligence.
AstraZeneca has gained 1.2 per cent after the pharmaceuticals giant said it expects to deliver $80 billion in total revenue by 2030.
Dowlais Group is down 5.1 per cent and was the top loser on the mid-cap index after the GKN automotive owner warned of lower revenue in 2024.
Grocery price inflation falls to lowest level since October 2021
UK grocery inflation fell for the 15th month in a row in May to hit its lowest level since October 2021, fresh data from market researcher Kantar shows.
Annual grocery price inflation was 2.4 per cent in the four weeks to 12 May, down from 3.2 per cent in the previous four week period.
But Kantar noted that prices were still rising quickly for products such as chilled fruit juices and drinks, sugar confectionery and chocolate confectionery.
Consumer price inflation fell to 3.2 per cent in March, driven by a slowdown in food inflation to 4 per cent. Inflation data for April is due to be published on Wednesday.
Liz Truss wants to blame the establishment for sinking her plans
On a wet and windy night in Washington DC in October 2022, the then Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng came across as a man without a care in the world when he arrived at the temporary residence of Britain’s ambassador to Washington Dame Karen Pierce.
His colourfully attired, extrovert hostess appeared equally relaxed as the English sparkling wine flowed.
No more delays on rate cuts: Bank Of England must stop the groupthink, says MAGGIE PAGANO
It’s looking like a racing certainty that interest rates will be cut this summer, and hopefully, in time to celebrate next month’s Midsummer’s Day.
That’s the clear signal from yesterday’s speech by Ben Broadbent, the outgoing deputy governor of the Bank of England, who said that if the economy evolves as expected, then rates will be cut this summer. Some of us would say: ‘About time too!’
The intervention of Broadbent is both timely and significant because he’s never been outvoted before by colleagues on the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
Kingfisher ‘big ticket’ squeeze
B&Q-owner Kingfisher saw underlying sales slip by 0.9 per cent in first-quarter, with resilience in demand for core categories offset by weakness in ‘big-ticket’ sales.
The FTSE-100-listed group, which also owns Screwfix in Britain and Castorama and Brico Depot in France and other markets, said it still expected an adjusted pretax profit for 2024/25 of £490million to £550million, down from the £568million made in 2023/24.
It said its second quarter had started in line with the underlying trends of the first quarter, with group like-for-like sales down 2.5 per cent in the three weeks to 18 May.
‘On the overall market outlook for 2024, we remain cautious due to the lag between housing demand and home improvement demand,’ it added.
UK payments watchdog weighs credit card competition
There is little evidence that big hikes in fees by Visa and Mastercard on retailers who use their cards have also led to major improvement in service, Britain’s Payment Systems Regulator has said, flagging concerns competition was not working.
Visa and Mastercard have long dominated the market for payment cards, triggering calls from UK lawmakers for closer scrutiny from the PSR, which launched an investigation.
‘The PSR found that over the past five years, and after taking account of volume changes, Mastercard and Visa have increased their scheme and processing fees by more than 30 per cent in real terms. There is little evidence that the quality of service has improved at the same rate,’ the PSR said in a statement.
Top investor throws weight behind Anglo American break-up plan
A major shareholder in Anglo American has backed the miner’s plan to break itself up as the deadline for a fresh BHP bid looms.
Last week, Anglo unveiled a restructuring as it fights off a takeover by its Australian rival.
Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM), which has just under 2 per cent of shares, yesterday said it approved of the proposals, which include a plan to sell the firm’s diamond unit De Beers.
AstraZeneca eyes $80bn in sales
AstraZeneca expects to deliver $80billion in total revenue by 2030, boosted by the expected launch of 20 new medicines and through growth in its existing oncology, biopharmaceuticals and rare disease portfolio, the drugmaker told investors on Tuesday.
The drugmaker said in a statement it would continue to invest in new technologies and platforms that will ‘shape the future of medicine’ beyond 2030.
Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca said: ‘Today AstraZeneca announces a new era of growth.
‘In 2023 we delivered the ambitious $45 billion revenue goal set a decade ago. With the exciting growth of our innovative pipeline, which has the potential to transform millions of lives, we are now aiming for $80 billion by 2030.’