The FTSE 100 index closed Thursday up 0.2% to 7742 points, lifted by increased optimism that the U.S. debt-ceiling deal could be reached soon. "Confidence is growing that the melodrama playing out in Washington D.C. is merely a piece of political theatre, and that a deal will happen eventually, as it has on so many previous occasions," Michael Hewson, CMC Markets' U.K. chief market analyst, says in a note. Amid the top performers, JD Sports shares bounced to the top of the table, closing up 5.9%, followed by ConvaTec, up 5%. Burberry and BT shares underperformed after reporting full-year performances, down 5.2% and 5%, respectively.

 

COMPANIES NEWS:

 

National Grid Pretax Profit Rose in Fiscal 2023

National Grid on Thursday said that its pretax profit rose in fiscal 2023 and reiterated its financial outlook for the five-year period through to fiscal 2026.

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Burberry FY 2023 Profit Rose on Core Progress, Mainland China Growth; Backs Current Year Views

Burberry reported on Thursday higher pretax profit for fiscal 2023, supported by progress in core categories and an acceleration in revenue as growth rebounded in Mainland China, and said it was confident in meeting its fiscal 2024 targets.

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BT Group Sees FY 2024 Growth in Earnings, Revenue

BT Group said Thursday that it expects revenue and earnings to grow in the year ahead on a pro forma basis after it reported a lower pretax profit for fiscal 2023 due to increased depreciation.

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Informa Buys Winsight for $380 Mln to Expand Portfolio

Informa said Thursday that it has bought specialist business-to-business event, data and media group Winsight for $380 million to expand its B2B portfolio in foodservice.

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Investec FY 2023 Pretax Profit Rose On Higher Interest Rates

Investec on Thursday posted a 40% rise in pretax profit for fiscal 2023 as its revenue was boosted by higher interest rates and raised its dividend.

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easyJet 1H Pretax Loss Narrows, Revenue Surges on Price Strength

easyJet said Thursday that its pretax loss narrowed for the first half of fiscal 2023 and revenue increased 80% on pricing strength, increased capacity, improved load factors and ancillary products.

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ConvaTec Lifts Full-Year Guidance After Revenue Growth in January-April

ConvaTec Group said Thursday that it lifted its full-year revenue growth guidance as a result of a rise in revenue in the four months to April 30.

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Helios Towers Backs Outlook After 1Q Adjusted Earnings, Revenue Rise

Helios Towers said Thursday that adjusted earnings and revenue rose in the first quarter and reiterated guidance for the full year.

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Royal Mail Owner IDS Scraps Dividend After Swing to FY 2023 Pretax Loss

International Distributions Services said Thursday that it wouldn't recommend a final dividend for fiscal 2023 after it swung to a pretax loss for the year, dragged down by its Royal Mail business.

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Drax Starts GBP150 Mln Buyback Program

Drax Group said Thursday that it is starting a buyback program for up to 150 million pounds ($187.1 million) of its ordinary shares to reduce share capital.

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Topps Tiles Taps Paul Forman as Chair Designate

Topps Tiles said Thursday that it has appointed Paul Forman as chair designate and independent nonexecutive director.

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Redde Northgate FY 2023 Revenue Rose; Buys FridgeXpress

Redde Northgate said Thursday that revenue for fiscal 2023 rose and that it has bought U.K. refrigerated vehicle provider FridgeXpress.

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Premier Foods' FY 2023 Pretax Profit Rose Driven By Strong 2H Growth

Premier Foods said Thursday that pretax profit in fiscal 2023 rose 10% on strong revenue growth that accelerated in the second half.

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Energean Sets Dividend for 1Q

Energean has declared a dividend of 30 U.S. cents a share for the first quarter of the year.

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Future Sees FY 2023 at Bottom of Views as Audience Decline Hit 1H Profit; Shares Fall

Shares in Future dropped Thursday after the company said first-half pretax profit fell as challenging market conditions hit its audience, and that it expects full-year performance to be at the bottom end of current market views.

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De La Rue Appoints Clive Whiley as Nonexecutive Chairman

De La Rue said Thursday that it has appointed Clive Whiley as nonexecutive chairman, effective immediately.

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Mirada Shares Fall on Plans to Cancel London Listing, Go Private

Mirada shares fell Thursday after the company said it plans to cancel trading on London's AIM market and re-register as a private company after undertaking a review, with the last day of trading expected to be June 16.

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Vesuvius Sees Uncertain Recovery Path Ahead But Backs 2023 View

U.K. engineered-ceramics maker Vesuvius on Thursday confirmed its expectations for 2023, but cautioned that the pace of a recovery that is under way in its end markets remains slow and uncertain.

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Vistry Group Raises 2023 Profit Guidance on Strong Forward Order Book

Vistry Group on Thursday raised its profit forecasts for 2023 driven by in-line performance to date and a strong forward order book for the rest of the year.

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Seeen Appoints Carmel Warren as CFO

Seeen said Thursday that it has appointed Carmel Warren as chief financial officer with effect from June 1.

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Kibo Energy Shares Rise as Subsidiary Agrees New JV

Shares in Kibo Energy rose Thursday after the company said its subsidiary has agreed a new joint venture with an institutional investor-led consortium, along with a reprofiling of the outstanding balances on its line-of-credit facilities.

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IQE Shares Fall After Results of Placing

IQE's shares fell on Thursday after the semiconductors company reported results of a placing announced this week.

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Non-Standard Finance Shares Drop After Largest Shareholder Backs out of Equity Raise

Non-Standard Finance shares slumped 34% on Thursday after the company said its largest shareholder doesn't want to participate in the equity raise anymore and that an alternative transaction, which would also result in no recovery for shareholders, is more likely.

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Christie Group Shares Fall as It Sees More 2H Weighting, Transaction Backlog

Christie Group shares fell on Thursday after the company said it sees its 2023 performance more heavily weighed to the second-half than expected on delayed revenue recognition.

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Fintel Says 2023 Performance to Date Is in Line With Its Views

Fintel on Thursday said its performance has been in line with the board's expectations since the start of the year.

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Genuit Group Sees 2023 Operating Profit Ahead of Consensus

Genuit Group said Thursday that 2023 operating profit is expected to be ahead of consensus expectations, as cost actions allowed it to improve margins in the first four months.

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Tyman Sees 2023 Adjusted Operating Profit Meeting Market Views

Tyman said Thursday that it expects full-year adjusted operating profit to meet market views despite a challenging demand environment.

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Tritax EuroBox Swung to 1H Pretax Loss After Valuation Hit

Tritax EuroBox said Thursday that it swung to a pretax loss for the first half of fiscal 2023 after the fair value of its investment properties was hit by economic uncertainty and rising interest rates.

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Energean 1Q Earnings, Revenue Soar -- Update

Energean said Thursday that earnings and revenue jumped in the first quarter, but cut full-year production guidance.

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Fox Marble to Change Name to Eco Buildings After Reverse Takeover

Fox Marble Holdings said Thursday that it plans to change its name to Eco Buildings Group, after completing a reverse takeover.

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Blencowe Raises GBP635,000 via Placing to Fund Feasibility Study

Blencowe Resources said Thursday that it has raised 635,000 pounds ($792,988) through a share placing and that proceeds will be used to fund a feasibility study.

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Nexus Infrastructure Posts Rise in 1H Tamdown Revenue; Sees Encouraging Signs of Market Recovery

Nexus Infrastructure on Thursday posted an increase in revenue in its operational business for the first half of fiscal 2023 and said that while it has seen encouraging signs of improving market conditions, this is likely to take some months to reflect within its activity.

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Safestyle UK Sees 2023 Trading to Date in Line With Revised Guidance

Safestyle UK on Thursday backed its 2023 guidance and said its trading has been in line with its recently revised expectations as it has maintained price increases to mitigate input cost inflation.

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Gresham House Energy to Raise GBP80 Mln in Placing, Retail Offer

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund said Thursday that it plans to raise up to around 80 million pounds ($99.9 million) in a placing and retail offer, primarily to finance a California-based project.

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Belvoir Group Says Year-To-Date Performance Is in Line

Belvoir Group said Thursday that its performance to date is in line with the board's expectations for 2023 amid resilient trading despite housing-market uncertainty.

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MyCelx 2022 Pretax Loss Widened on Increased Costs

MyCelx Technologies said Thursday that its pretax loss for 2022 has widened on the back of higher operating costs.

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MHP Swung to Pretax Profit in 1Q, Boosted by Foreign Exchange Gain

MHP said Thursday that it swung to a first-quarter pretax profit on strong demand, positive price movements and minimal disruption to production, and partly due to a foreign exchange gain.

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United Oil & Gas Shares Fall on License Sale Delay

Shares in United Oil & Gas fell 9.4% on Thursday after Quattro Energy informed the company there will be a minimum two month delay to the sale of the U.K. Central North Sea License P2519.

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05-18-23 1213ET