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| Yesterday’s UK 100 Leaders | Price (p) | % Chg |
| SSE PLC | 1,862.5 | 5.5% |
| KINGFISHER PLC | 264.3 | 4.3% |
| ROLLS-ROYCE HOLDINGS PLC | 83.1 | 3.8% |
| WPP PLC | 907.2 | 3.6% |
| IMPERIAL BRANDS PLC | 1,845.0 | 3.4% |
| Yesterday’s UK 100 Laggards | Price (p) | % Chg |
| SEVERN TRENT PLC | 3045.0 | -3.3% |
| PRUDENTIAL PLC | 989.6 | -1.9% |
| RS GROUP PLC | 896.0 | -1.3% |
| AVAST PLC | 483.7 | -1.3% |
| BRITISH LAND CO PLC | 522.0 | -1.0% |
| Major World Indices | Price | % Chg | 1 YEAR |
| UK 100 INDEX | 7,536 | 0.7% | 6.9% |
| DOW JONES INDUS. AVG | 32,033 | 0.3% | -6.6% |
| DAX INDEX | 14,040 | 0.9% | -9.8% |
| NIKKEI 225 | 26,678 | -0.3% | -6.6% |
| S&P/ASX 200 INDEX | 7,155 | 0.4% | 0.9% |
| Commodities | Units | Price | % Chg |
| WTI Crude Oil (Nymex) | USD/bbl. | 110.18 | 0.37% |
| Brent Crude (ICE) | USD/bbl. | 113.97 | 0.36% |
| Gold Spot | USD/t oz. | 1,850 | -0.9% |
| Copper (Comex) | USd/lb. | 427 | -0.9% |
The UK 100 is called to open -15 points this morning at 7505. The UK 100 looks set to set to open lower on a day likely to be dominated by politics and the cost of living. This comes despite US markets closing higher yesterday after the minutes from the latest meeting of the Fed. The BBC reported this morning that the Chancellor looks set to unveil a £10bn package to help those struggling with soaring energy bills. Rishi Sunak is set to scrap his previous energy loans scheme and give people a one-off grant of up to £400 instead, with the more vulnerable also receiving a VAT cut and additional help. It will be paid for by a windfall tax on oil, gas and power firms to raise £7bn. Asian shares were mostly lower on Thursday after the Bank of Korea announced a 25 basis points hike in its base rate to 1.75%, the central bank’s second straight rate increase. Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.17% and South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.27%. The Shanghai Composite in China traded 0.72% higher while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.62%.
AJ Bell today said they had delivered a Solid performance across all metrics against very strong prior year comparatives. Customer retention rate was up to 95.4%. Revenue up to £75.5 million (HY21: £73.9 million), profit before tax of £26.1 million (HY21: £31.6 million) and a PBT margin of 34.6% (HY21: 42.8%) & an interim dividend of 2.78 pence per share in line with stated dividend policy. Revenue and profit margins are expected to increase in the second half, with PBT margin guidance for FY22 raised to c.35% (previous guidance 32-33%) and further improvement anticipated in FY23
Autotrader today delivered results which saw Revenue up 65% to £432.7 million (2021: £262.8 million), Operating profit up 88% to £303.6 million (2021: £161.2 million) and up 17% on 2020 (£258.9 million). Profit before tax up 91% to £301.0 million (2021: £157.4 million) and up 20% on 2020 (£251.5 million) & £237.1 million returned to shareholders (2021: Nil) through £163.5 million of share buybacks and dividends paid of £73.6 million, with a proposed final dividend of 5.5 pence per share (2021: 5.0 pence per share) giving total dividends of 8.2 pence per share for the year (2021: 5.0 pence per share).
Compass Group today announced Further to the half year results announcement made on 11 May 2022, that it has entered into a non-discretionary agreement with Merrill Lynch International in relation to the purchase by MLI of the Company's ordinary shares of 11 1/20 pence each for the total purchase price of up to £500 million.
Foxtons Group announce the acquisition of two estate agents for a total consideration of £10.55m which will be funded through the Company's existing cash resources:
Johnson Matthey today delivered results for the financial year which saw Robust underlying results for 2021/22, in line with market expectations, with sales of £3.8 billion, up 5% and underlying operating profit up by 21%. The company did however say whilst visibility is low and the outcome for the year remains uncertain, we currently expect operating performance to be in the lower half of the consensus range.
Secro Group this morning announced an unscheduled trading update and revised guidance, as a result of stronger than expected trading in the first four months of the year, along with a positive outlook for the balance of the year and favourable foreign exchange movements.
United Utilities this morning announced an increase in YoY revenue for 2022, coupled with a rise in underlying profits, underlying EPS however fell from 66.5p in 2021 to (8.3)p in 2022. Shareholders will see an increase in dividend from the reported 43.24p per share last year to 43.50p for the coming year.
Wickes Group announces year-to-date trading in line with expectations and reaffirms full year guidance.
AJ Bell
AVI Global Trust*
Autotrader Group
British Land*
C&C Group
Edinburgh Investment Trust
IntegraFin Holdings
Intermediate Capital Group
Johnson Matthey
Londonmetric Properties
United Utilities
Caledonia Investments
Tate & Lyle*
Worldwide Healthcare Trust
US Core Personal Consumption Expenditures
US Gross Domestic Product Annualized
US Initial Jobless Claims
Canadian Retail Sales
US Pending Home Sales
Japanese Tokyo Consumer Price Index
FTSE 100:
Intertek Group
Whitbread
Sage Group
Imperial Brands
DCC
FTSE 250:
RHI Magnesita N.V.
Vivo Energy
Balfour Beatty
TI Fluid Systems
IP Group
BlackRock World Mining Trust
Victrex
Grainger
ContourGlobal
Diversified Energy Company
Diploma
Tritax EuroBox GBP
Britvic
HICL Infrastructure
Euromoney Institutional Investor
Great Portland Estates
LXi REIT
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