The FTSE 100 closed 0.11% lower on Wednesday at 7,620.03 points after a steady session as markets pause for breath with yields and oil slipping back. "Energy has been a laggard along with oil prices which is weighing on the FTSE 100, although it is being helped on the other side of the ledger by resilience in defensives, with the likes of Imperial Brands, BAE Systems and Utilities," CMC Markets UK analyst Michael Hewson wrote. Luxury stocks on London's blue-chip index also slid on readacross from LVMH's "underwhelming" results, along with construction sector stocks Howden Joinery and Kingfisher which were weighed by Travis Perkins' profit warning, he adds.
COMPANIES NEWS:
GSK Settles Zantac Case in California
GSK said that it has reached a confidential settlement in the Cantlay/Harper case filed in California state court over claims that its heartburn medicine Zantac can cause cancer.
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Arcelik-Whirlpool EMEA Deal to Be Referred to Phase 2 Investigation, UK Watchdog Says
The Competition and Markets Authority said that it will refer the acquisition by Arcelik of Whirlpool Corporation's EMEA unit for a phase two investigation.
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Travis Perkins Lowers Adjusted Operating Profit Guidance
Travis Perkins is cutting its 2023 adjusted operating profit expectations for the year as challenging market conditions persist and deflation in commodity products hits margins, it said Wednesday.
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Northzone VI Sold GBP13.4 Mln Worth of Trustpilot Shares in Placing
Trustpilot said that venture capital fund Northzone VI sold shares in the company worth 13.4 million pounds ($16.5 million) following a discount share placing.
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Big Yellow Group Raises GBP110 Mln in Discount Share Placing to Expand Store Pipeline
Big Yellow Group said it has raised around 110 million pounds ($135.2 million) in a discount share placing and retail offer to expand its store pipeline in London.
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PageGroup Cuts Profit View on Challenging Market Backdrop
PageGroup downgraded its profit guidance for 2023 as challenging market conditions affected performance in Asia, the U.K. and the U.S.
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Synairgen Finance Chief John Ward Steps Down; Colliver Named as Replacement
Synairgen said Chief Financial Officer John Ward will step down and that it has appointed Joseph Colliver as his successor.
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QinetiQ Says It Is on Track to Meet Full-Year Expectations After Strong 1H Performance
QinetiQ Group said its performance in the first half of fiscal 2024 was strong, with improved organic revenue growth and operating profit margin in the second quarter, and that it is on track to meet the board's full year expectations.
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Heathrow Passenger Numbers Rose in September
London's Heathrow Airport said that passenger numbers in September rose 22% to 7.1 million and that this was the first month since February 2020 to exceed the traffic levels seen in 2019.
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Watkin Jones Backs Guidance Amid Operational Progress
Watkin Jones backed its fiscal 2024 guidance as the group progresses asset sales and cost savings despite persistent challenging conditions.
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FirstGroup Sees Adjusted Operating Profit Ahead of Views After Strong Summer
FirstGroup said it sees adjusted operating profit for fiscal 2024 ahead of the board's expectations as its First Rail division saw stronger-than-anticipated leisure-travel demand in summer.
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Jubilee Metals FY 2023 Pretax Profit Halved on Lower Prices, Higher Costs
Jubilee Metals Group said its pretax profit more than halved in fiscal 2023, partly on lower prices and higher costs for platinum group metals, or PGM, and lower copper revenue, while it backed its fiscal 2024 production targets.
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Mitie Group Raises Adjusted Profit View on Margin Improvement
Mitie Group said Wednesday that it raised its guidance for fiscal 2024 adjusted profit on the back of measures to boost profitability and higher sales for the first half.
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Etalon 3Q Sales Rose on Regional Projects
Etalon Group said sales for the third quarter of the year increased, driven by growth in regional projects sales.
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Marston's Sees Improving FY 2024 Profit on Cost Cuts After Sales Rose
Marston's said sales increased in fiscal 2023 and that cost-control actions will improve margin and profit in the year ahead.
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DiscoverIE Says It is on Track to Meet Underlying Earnings Expectations After 1H Sales Rose
DiscoverIE Group said group sales for the first half of fiscal 2024 were up 4% on year on a constant-currency basis, and that it is on track to deliver full-year underlying earnings in line with the board's expectations.
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Caledonian Trust Shares Fall on Property Sale Falling Through
Shares in Caledonian Trust fell after the company said it will market St. Margaret's House, located in Scotland, in the spring of 2024 after being unable to reach an agreement with prospective buyers.
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Eneraqua Technologies Shares Tumble on Profit Warning
Shares in Eneraqua Technologies tumbled 56% after the company said it expects current fiscal-year revenue and profit to be substantially below market expectations as a number of customers are slowing spending and delaying projects to fiscal 2025.
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Iomart Sees Acquisitions Boosting Its Performance
Iomart Group said it expects its first-half performance to improve supported by its latest acquisitions.
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Brickability Sees Hit From UK House-Building Slowdown
Brickability expects a slowdown in the U.K. house-building market as higher interest rates weigh, though it sees an earnings boost from its 45 million-pound ($55.3 million) acquisition of cladding specialist Topek.
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Steppe Cement Shares Fall After Core Earnings Seen Lower on Year
Steppe Cement shares fell after the company said it expects its core earnings for 2023 to be lower than in 2022 given the lower pricing environment and the impact of inflation on energy and other input prices.
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Forterra Warns on Profit Due to Market Deterioration
Forterra warned that full-year earnings will be below its previous expectations after a tentative market recovery it saw earlier this year fell short of hopes.
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CMA Accepting Comments on Vodafone, CK Hutchison Joint Venture
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority said it was inviting interested parties to comment on the proposed joint venture between Vodafone and CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings by Nov. 1.
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Netcall Pretax Profit Jumped as Cloud Offering Boosted Sales
Netcall reported a sharply higher pretax profit for fiscal 2023, supported by recurring revenue contracts and new customer acquisitions thanks to its cloud offering.
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Centralnic Sees 2023 Performance in Line With Views, Changes Name to Team Internet
Centralnic Group said it continues to perform in line with current market expectations for 2023, without disclosing further details, and that its name change to Team Internet Group has now taken effect.
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DSW Capital Names CFO Nicole Burstow as Deputy CEO
DSW Capital said it has appointed Nicole Burstow as deputy chief executive in addition to her current role as chief financial officer.
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Telecom Plus Backs Full-Year View After Strong 1H Customer Growth
Telecom Plus backed its full-year guidance after booking 14% growth in households using its services in the first half of its fiscal 2024.
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VP Says 1H Performance Was Resilient Amid Challenging Macroeconomic Background
VP said its performance in the first half of fiscal 2024 was resilient against a backdrop of challenging macroeconomic conditions which have affected certain end markets.
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Sanderson Design Profit Rises on Strong Licensing Growth
Sanderson Design Group reported higher pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2024 on licensing growth and North American market performance despite lower revenue due to U.K. market challenges.
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Eurowag Sees Flat Adjusted Earnings Margin for 2023
W.A.G Payment Solutions said it expects its adjusted earnings margin for 2023 to be in line with the previous year but to rise in the mid-term.
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XXL Shares Surge After Frasers Group Raises Stake to 9.75%
Shares in XXL surged Wednesday after a regulatory filing showed British sports-fashion retailer Frasers Group has increased its shareholding in the Norwegian company to 9.75%.
MARKET TALK:
Prudential PLC Could Hit Targets Earlier
1202 GMT - Prudential PLC's growth is seen exceeding its strategic targets given its recent momentum, Jefferies says in a note, adding that this may be seen as soon as its 2023 full-year results. The insurance-and-investment business' new management set mid-term targets at an attractive and sustainable level but they now seem exceptionally prudent given its better-than-expected first-half Hong Kong sales, analysts say. "When factoring in the growth momentum seen in 1H 2023 and expected growth in 2H, Prudential's targets appear very conservative to us," analysts write, adding that they expect it to beat the new-business-profit and free-surplus-generation targets more than a year earlier. Jefferies rates the stock buy and trims its target price by 5 pence to 1,950 pence. (elena.vardon@wsj.com)
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GSK Seen Facing Immaterial Impact From Zantac Settlement
1158 GMT - GSK's settlement in California is a further step to remove overhang from Zantac litigations, Barclays analysts say in a note. Despite the terms of the settlement being confidential, the impact of the terms are immaterial for the British pharmaceutical group, they say. "No more expected Zantac litigation updates for the rest of the year clears the way for what's expected to be a strong third quarter," they say. (michael.susin@wsj.com)
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Retail Investors Bought More Gilts in September
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
10-11-23 1214ET
