Yahoo Finance FTSE 100 Live 13 June: Crest Nicholson and Wise shares slide after results, index lower
Crest Nicholson and the fintech Wise are in the City spotlight following results-day punishment for their shares.
The housebuilder reported softer trading conditions due to the delay in interest rate cuts and pre-election uncertainty.
Its update reflected the mood of the wider London market, with the FTSE 100 under pressure after the Federal Reserve yesterday cooled rate cut hopes.
FTSE 100 Live Thursday
Wise shares slide on results guidance
Record-breaking Halma leads FTSE 100
Virgin Money profits rise ahead of takeover
FTSE 100 down 0.7%
14:57 , Daniel O'Boyle
The FTSE 100 has fallen further this afternoon, and is now down 0.7% at 8160.
Intermediate Capital Group and Ashtead are among the top fallers.
Taylor Swift's Wembley concerts could rake in more for London's pubs than Euros
13:25 , Daniel O'Boyle
A leading London pubs boss has said he expected a bigger boost to his business from the series of Taylor Swift concerts at Wembley stadium this summer than from football fans watching the Euros.
Simon Emeny, CEO of Chiswick based Fuller’s, said the hundreds of thousands of Swifties descending on the capital in June and August will result in a huge increase in food and drinks sales at many of its locations in the capital.
He told the Standard: “You cannot underestimate the effect that eight fully-booked nights at Wembley will bring, Taylor Swift will be more reliable than the England team.”
Halma “in fine health” as shares jump, BT's strong run continues
10:30 , Graeme Evans
Halma shares jumped 10% today after the Amersham-based group of safety equipment businesses posted revenues above £2 billion for the first time and its 21st consecutive year of record adjusted profit.
Halma lifted its dividend by more than 5% for the 45th year in a row, whilst also supporting prospects through eight acquisitions at a cost of £292 million.
The shares surged 231p to their highest level since early 2022 at 2581p, but UBS today improved its price target to 2800p after noting that “the Halma model is in fine health”.
The strong performance came during an otherwise dour blue-chip session as traders reviewed the cautious message of the Federal Reserve after policymakers signalled just one US interest rate cut this year.
The FTSE 100 index gave up some of yesterday’s 0.8% improvement by reversing 32.44 points to 8183.04. Fallers included Marks & Spencer, which dropped 5p to 297.3p.
BT Group lifted another 3% or 3.45p to 132.8p after Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim snapped up a 3% stake.
His investment, which was disclosed yesterday afternoon, has been viewed as a vote of confidence in the strategy of new chief executive Allison Kirkby.
Fullers awaits packed London summer amid profits boost
09:18 , Simon Hunt
One of London’s oldest pub chains today cheered the arrival of a jam-packed summer in the capital amid the start of the Euros football tournament and a host of Taylor Swift concerts.
Chiswick-based Fuller’s posted sales of £369 million in the 12 months to the end of March, up 6.7% on last year, while pre-tax profits climbed 40% to £14.4 million.
It comes after Fuller’s last month announced it was selling more than three dozen of its tenanted sites to rival Admiral Taverns, as well as shifting a proportion of its managed estate into its tenanted portfolio.
CEO Simon Emeny said the decision was part of a shift towards focusing on larger pubs.
He told the Standard: “We run a premium offer, we invest heavily in properties – these are smaller pubs generally outside of London and as such we can focus our investment going forward.”
Emeny said he expected a bigger boost to come from Taylor Swift-related trade than from the Euros, as hundreds of thousands flock to London to watch the concerts.
“You cannot underestimate the effect that eight fully-booked nights at Wembley will bring,” he said.
“Taylor Swift will be more reliable than the England team.”
Halma leads weaker FTSE 100, builders fall after Crest warning
08:35 , Graeme Evans
Safety technology firm Halma is the best performing stock in the FTSE 100 index, up 6% or 152p to 2502p after its annual results included a 7% dividend hike alongside a positive start to the new financial year.
BT Group also put on another 2% or 2.8p to 132.2p after yesterday’s announcement that Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has built a 3.2% stake.
Shares in Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey are down by about 1% after FTSE 250-listed Crest Nicholson reported softer house market conditions. Its shares fell 12% or 29p to 211.8p.
Interest rate uncertainty amid last night’s caution by the Federal Reserve policymakers also impacted the mood as the FTSE 100 index fell 13.93 points to 8201.55 and the FTSE 250 index by 77.06 points to 20,420.34.
Payments fintech Wise slid 17% or 145.5p to 699.5p as investors reacted to the company’s update on medium-term guidance within today’s annual results.
Shares in Wise sink after guidance disappoints
08:31 , Simon Hunt
More than £1 billion has been wiped from the market cap of Wise in the past few minutes after its earnings outlook fell short of investor expectations.
Shares sunk as much as 23%, their biggest ever single-day fall, as the London fintech said it would invest in lower prices for customers.
Wise said it was unable to pay interest to customers in the UK at present but CEO Kristo Kaarman said: “I believe policymakers in government are looking forward to fixing it as it doesn’t make sense for customers and for the public.”
08:04 , Simon English
PEEL Hunt today said it has won new clients as signs of life return to the City flotation market though low share trading remains a problem.
Revenues from investment banking, including being as adviser on the Raspberry Pi deal rose by 39% to £33 million. Execution revenues fell from £34 million to £30 million “in line with the overall lower value traded in the market”.
London has been biffed by a death of IPOs.
CEO Steven Fine said: “UK investors are increasingly receptive to high quality companies, with Peel Hunt having acted on two announced IPOs on the London market this month. Whilst challenges remain, we are becoming cautiously more confident of a broader recover.”
Peel Hunt shares have halved since float. Today they open at 138p which values the business at £170 million.
City stalwart Sir David McMurtry calls time on near 50-year spell at the top of Renishaw
07:43 , Michael Hunter
Sir David McMurtry is stepping down as the chairman of Renishaw, ending one of the longest runs at the helm of a major UK company.
Now a billionaire, he founded the maker of precision equipment used in metrology and healthcare in the 1970s, and it listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1983.
A former chief executive of the FTSE 250 firm , he left that role in 2018. Renishaw said today that he will continue to sit on its board “continuing to provide specific expertise on product innovation”.
McMurtry will be replaced as chair by Sir David Grant, senior non-executive director.
And his son, Richard McMurtry, will be appointed to the board as a non-executive director
Virgin Money profits up as it readies sale to Nationwide
07:42 , Simon English
Virgin Money, poised to sell itself to Nationwide Building Society in a controversial £2.9 billion deal, says interest rates remain volatile and economic growth low.
It made profits for the half-year of £372 million before losses on bad debts of £93 million.
In future those loses will become an issue for Nationwide Building Society and its 16 million members, who have been denied a vote on the deal.
In the six moths to March, VM’s profit margin is up a bit to 1.94%.
Shareholders including Richard Branson’s Virgin Group have already backed the takeover deal at 220p a share for a bank that comprises parts of the old Northern Rock, Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank.
Mortgage loans in the six months fell 2% to £56.6 billion.
CEO David Duffy, who has been paid around £30 million over six years at the bank, said: “
So far this financial year, the macroeconomic backdrop has modestly improved, with inflation continuing to fall, though remaining above the Bank of England's target range. As a result, market interest rate expectations have been volatile through the period, but with continued low unemployment and wage inflation supporting customer affordability.”
Wise profits treble on interest rates boost
07:38 , Simon Hunt
Wise saw its profits triple to more than £350 million as the London fintech was boosted by higher interest rates.
Total revenues for the year to end March grew 24% to top £1 billion for the first time.
Wise said it was unable to pay interest to customers “for several reasons including where the deposits are in jurisdictions where we're unable to pay interest for regulatory reasons (eg the UK, c30ppts), where we do not yet pay interest on all currencies, and in some geographies such as the US where customers are required to 'opt-in' to receiving interest but have not yet done so.
“Where customers do not currently receive interest on their balance, our priority is to launch and promote our Assets Interest product, which provides a market rate of interest, while still providing all of the other benefits of the Wise Account.”
FTSE 100 seen lower, S&P 500 higher despite US rates message
07:11 , Graeme Evans
The Federal Reserve’s signalling of just one US interest rate cut this year is set to weigh on the London market after yesterday’s strong session.
US policymakers kept the federal funds rate at 5.25%-5.5% for the seventh consecutive meeting and said they needed to have more confidence that inflation is on a sustainable path to 2%.
Their message was offset by earlier cheer from May’s inflation reading, which showed a softer-than-expected annual rate of 3.3%.
This helped the growth-focused S&P 500 index and Nasdaq set new records after rises of 0.8% and 1.5% respectively, with Apple also at another all-time high after adding another 3%.
However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed slightly lower and the FTSE 100 index is forecast to start today’s session about 27 points lower at 8188. It rose 0.8% yesterday.
Recap: Yesterday's top stories
06:51 , Simon Hunt
Good morning from the Standard City desk.
New York’s top share index has touched fresh all-time highs yesterday and London’s clawed back some of its recent losses after new data from the US showed that inflation continued to drop last month.
The UK’s FTSE 100 climbed 67.67 points, or 0.83%, to 8,215.48 on Wednesday.It marks a reversal of its performance on Tuesday when shares dropped by 1% in one of the worst days for the index in recent months.
Global markets were fired up with investors in good spirits amid better-than-expected inflation figures coming from the world’s biggest economy.
Official figures showed that Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation slowed to 3.3% in America in the year to May, down from 3.4% in the year to April, and below the 3.4% some economists had been forecasting.
It sent shares surging when top US markets opened on Wednesday. The S&P 500 was up by about 1.2% by the time European markets closed, hitting a new all-time high for the index. The Dow Jones was up about 0.3%.
~
Here’s a summary of our top headlines from yesterday:
Heavy rain keeps GDP flatlining in April in new blow to Sunak’s claim that economy has “turned the cortner”
DFS issues dire profit warning over “record low demand” for its sofas and Red Sea rerouting costs
Rail regulator orders shake-up of overpriced and poor quality station catering sector
Special Opportunities Reit drop IPO after failing to raise £250 million Private equity giant Madison Dearborn Partners drops bid for payment provider
