The FTSE 100 closed 0.1% down after another muted session, buoyed by resilience in the retail sector. Primark-owner AB Foods reported a 16% increase to full-year revenue, hiked its shareholder returns and lifted its operating margin guidance for 2024, pushing shares towards the top of the index. The improved outlook helped retailers Frasers Group, Marks & Spencer and Next to gains as well. "On the downside, basic resources and energy was a drag on the back of weaker metals and oil prices," CMC Markets UK analyst Michael Hewson said in a market comment. The London blue-chip bourse finished at 7,410.04 points.


COMPANIES NEWS:

Persimmon Sales Fall; Backs 2023 View But Sees 2024 Conditions as Uncertain

Persimmon said sales over the first four months of the second half of the year fell, and while it sees 2023 meeting views, its expects market conditions in 2024 to remain uncertain.

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Primark Owner AB Foods Launches Buyback After Profit Rose

AB Foods said it will start a share buyback program after its fiscal 2023 profit rose, driven by pricing actions.

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RS Group Pretax Profit Falls on Lower Comparative Sales

RS Group said that pretax profit fell for the first half of fiscal 2024 as like-for-like revenue declined due to fewer trading days, among other items, and that gross margin dilution in the second half will be higher than in the first half.

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Direct Line Insurance 3Q Gross Written Premiums Boosted by Motor Unit

Direct Line Insurance Group has reported a 59% rise in gross written premiums for the third quarter, boosted by motor, and said that all other business lines traded in line with previous trends.

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Hilton Food Group Revenue Rose; Performance in Line With Views

Hilton Food Group said revenue in the third quarter of fiscal 2024 is ahead of the year-prior period, and that its performance was in line with the board's expectations.

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Beazley Partly Backs 2023 View, Posts Written Premiums Growth

Beazley doesn't expect its 2023 results to be affected by the Israel-Hamas war, the company said as it posted a rise in written premiums for the first nine months of the year and backed part of its growth guidance.

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Hipgnosis Songs Fund Appoints Robert Naylor Chairman

Hipgnosis Songs Fund said Robert Naylor has been appointed chairman of the board with immediate effect.

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Irish Government Cuts AIB Group Stake to 40.8%

The Irish Government has cut its shareholding in AIB Group to 40.8% following a placing of shares at 3.93 euros ($4.21) each.

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Metro Bank Says Growth Lead to Modest After-Tax Profit

Metro Bank Holdings said it made a modest statutory profit after tax in its third quarter as it saw momentum in customer acquisition and its personal and business current account growth.

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IWG Sees Revenue Growth, Expects Earnings to Meet its Views

IWG said it saw revenue growth on continued global demand, and that it expects full-year earnings to meet management views.

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4imprint Group Upgrades Guidance on Continued Operational, Financial Progress

4imprint Group said it upgraded guidance after making good operational and financial progress up to the end of October, and added that it has recently seen some evidence of softening demand patterns due to a more cautious macroeconomic environment.

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Vistry Signs $1.01 Bln Deal to Build Mixed-Tenure Homes

Vistry Group said it has signed an 819 million pound ($1.01 billion) deal with Leaf Living and Sage Homes, to build more than 2,900 mixed tenure new homes.

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PizzaExpress Doesn't Plan to Buy Restaurant Group, Citing Market Conditions

PizzaExpress Group owner Wheel Topco doesn't plan to make a formal offer for Wagamama owner Restaurant Group due to market conditions, it said Tuesday.

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Watches of Switzerland Sets Plan to Double Sales, Profits in Middle Term

Watches of Switzerland said it has launched a plan to more than double sales and profits by fiscal 2028.

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Actual Experience Requests Trading Suspension as It Appoints Administrators

Actual Experience said it asked for its shares to be suspended from training as it is unlikely to secure the funding it needs to keep operating and that it is appointing administrators to the company.

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Zotefoams Sales Fall on Soft Demand; Sees Adjusted Profit in Line With Views

Zotefoams said third-quarter sales fell on subdued demand, and that it expects adjusted pretax profit to be in line with market expectations, with revenue at a level similar to that seen in 2022.

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CloudCoCo Shares Rise After Revenue, Ebitda Seen Higher

CloudCoCo Group shares rose after the company said it expects to post a rise in revenue and core earnings for fiscal 2023.

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Naked Wines Shares Plummet After Guidance Cut, CEO Steps Down

Naked Wines shares tumbled after the group cut its guidance due to a weaker-than-expected performance in the U.S. and said Chief Executive Officer Nick Devlin CEO will step down immediately.

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Kinovo Expects Full-Year Results to Meet Views as 1H Revenue, Profit Seen Higher

Kinovo is confident that its full-year results will be in line with its expectations as it expects to post revenue and profit growth for the half of fiscal 2024.

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Croma Security Shares Rise After Swing to Profit, Solid Start to New Year

Croma Security Solutions Group shares rose after it said it swung to a pretax profit and revenue rose on a continuing basis, and that it started the new year well.

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Mirriad Advertising Shares Rise on US Entertainment Company Agreement

Shares in Mirriad Advertising rose after it said it signed a new agreement with an undisclosed U.S. entertainment company.

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Gym Group Names Ruth Jackson COO After Ann-marie Murphy Steps Down

Gym Group said that its Chief Operating Officer Ann-marie Murphy is stepping down and will be succeeded by People & Development Director Ruth Jackson.

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AB Foods Leads FTSE 100 Share Risers, Primark Outlook Boosts Retail Sector

AB Foods shares rose in early trade on Tuesday--topping the FTSE 100 index--after the group launched another share buyback, a special dividend and said it expects margins at its retailer arm Primark to recover strongly.

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Zotefoams CEO David Stirling to Retire

Zotefoams said that its Chief Executive Officer David Stirling intends to retire within the next 12 months.

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Riverstone Energy Shares Rise After Hammerhead Energy Sale

Riverstone Energy shares rose after it said its portfolio company Hammerhead Energy Inc. is being sold to Crescent Point Energy Corp. for an enterprise value of 2.55 billion Canadian dollars ($1.86 billion).

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Shuka Minerals Appoints Quinton Van Der Burgh as Nonexecutive Chairman

Shuka Minerals said Quinton van der Burgh has been appointed nonexecutive chairman and board director.

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Anglo Asian Mining Shares Climb After Operations Allowed to Restart

Shares in Anglo Asian Mining rose after the company said it got the go-ahead to resume its operations and backed its gold production guidance for 2023.

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Wynnstay Properties Pretax Profit Rose on Higher Property Income

Wynnstay Properties said pretax profit rose in the first half as property income increased on the back of an acquisition, and that the economic outlook stemming from the U.K.'s political uncertainty was likely to prevail until after the country's next general election.

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Oxford BioDynamics Says Odey Asset Management Sells Entire Company Stake

Oxford BioDynamics said Tuesday that major shareholder Odey Asset Management has sold its 17.94% stake in the U.K. biotechnology company.

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Zambeef Products Expects Profit, Sales Beats to Market Views

Zambia-based Zambeef Products said it expects its full-year results to beat current market forecasts, despite a challenging operating environment.

MARKET TALK:

Persimmon Tight-Lipped About 2024 Build Costs

1352 GMT - Persimmon's sales rates improved through October, broadly in-line with expectations following the trend set by its peer Bellway three weeks ago, although without bulk sales the increase is modest and more consistent with normal seasonality, Barclays says. The house builder's pricing commentary reads a little softer than hoped, but it could easily be outweighed by cost reductions coming through for 2024, Barclays analysts Emily Biddulph and Shruti Hanumant Dhumal say in a note. In particular it has been securing price reductions on both labor and materials, though there's no quantification of these in the statement and there's no estimate as to what on-year build cost may do in 2024, the U.K. bank says. Barclays maintains its 1,200 pence price target. Shares are up 5.8% at 1,144.0 pence. (joseph.hoppe@wsj.com)

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Watches of Switzerland Shares Tick Up After Upbeat 2Q

1344 GMT - Watches of Switzerland Group shares surge 11% to 579 pence after the upmarket watch retailer reported higher second-quarter revenue and better 2Q trading, despite what it described as a difficult consumer environment. HSBC upgrades the stock to buy from hold, but keeps its price target at 630p. While 2Q was a bit underwhelming, short-term sales in the U.K. and U.S. look encouraging ahead of the key holiday season, HSBC says. "After the stock's recent de-rating and given our more constructive stance on luxury demand in the U.S. for 2024, we believe the valuations are attractive," HSBC analysts say in a note. (philip.waller@wsj.com)

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Watches of Switzerland's Long-Range Plan Beats Market Views

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11-07-23 1223ET