Barclays profits fall 14pc, Glencore reports solid annual growth
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open six points lower on Wednesday, having closed up 0.08% on Tuesday at 7,953.85.
Stocks to watch
Barclays said annual profits fell 14%, with provisions for debt impairments increasing as the economy worsened. The bank posted a pre-tax profit of £7bn in 2022, down from £8.2bn a year earlier and missing estimates of £7.2bn. Credit impairment charges were £1.22bn against a net release of £653m, reflecting “macroeconomic deterioration and a gradual increase in delinquencies”. It also announced a £500m share buyback and lifted the full-year dividend to 7.25p a share from 6p.
Anglo-Swiss mining giant Glencore reported adjusted EBITDA of $34.1bn (£28.19bn) in its 2022 preliminary results on Wednesday, up 60% year-on-year. The FTSE 100 company said net income pre-significant items was up 107% at $18.9bn, while post-significant items its net income attributable to equity holders was ahead 248% at $17.3bn. It also announced shareholder returns of $7.1bn, or 56 US cents per share, comprising a proposed $5.1bn base distribution, an additional $0.5bn cash distribution, and a $1.5bn share buyback programme.
Newspaper round-up
Fast-food chain Subway has put itself on the menu – announcing on Tuesday it is exploring a possible sale of its business after 58 years of family control. After years of rapid growth, rising costs and mounting competition from rivals have taken their toll on the company in recent years, but it still has more than 37,000 restaurants in over 100 countries – making it one of the largest chains in the world. – Guardian
It has long had the reputation as Britain’s most luxurious supermarket. But even Waitrose customers are being squeezed by the cost of living crisis, leading to the store slashing the prices of some of its own-brand basics. Almost a third of items in the high-end grocer’s Essential range will have their costs cut – including coffee, carrots and butter. – Guardian
Royal Mail spurned an “absurd” £66m ransom demand from a gang of Russia-linked hackers, a cache of online chats has revealed. Directors rejected an ultimatum from the Lockbit ransomware group after it blocked international mail shipments by breaking into Royal Mail's software, according to information that the gang has released on the dark web. – Telegraph
Two former record label executives with private equity backing have launched a rival to Hipgnosis Songs Fund and have snapped up the rights to tracks by artists including Robbie Williams and LeAnn Rimes. Bella Figura Music was set up last year by Alexi Cory-Smith and Neelesh Prabhu, who previously worked at BMG UK, the music publisher and record label. – The Times
Workers outside London who have shorter commutes on public transport are returning to their offices more frequently. Regional Reit, which owns 156 office buildings from Eastleigh to Glasgow, said that virtually all its tenants were back in their offices for at least part of the week. Of the company’s 1,042 tenants, only 12 had not bothered to start working from their offices again. Two of those were Scottish government departments, it said. – The Times
US close
Wall Street stocks were mixed by the end of trading on Tuesday, after the all-important consumer price index registered a larger than expected increase in January.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.46% at 34,089.27 and the S&P 500 lost 0.03% to 4,136.13, while the Nasdaq Composite managed gains of 0.57% to 11,960.15
The Dow closed 156.66 points lower on Tuesday, reversing the gains it recorded in the previous session as stocks recovered some of last week's losses.
Tuesday's primary focus was January's CPI reading, which revealed the cost of living in the US increased by more than expected at the start of 2023.
According to the Department of Labor, the country's consumer price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, rose by 0.5% month-on-month - a tenth of a percentage point more than anticipated by economists.