Bunzl annual profits rise, GSK reports positive gonorrhoea treatment results
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The FTSE 100 is expected to open 10 points lower on Monday, having closed up 0.28% on Friday at 7,706.28.
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Distribution specialist Bunzl on Monday posted a 10% rise in annual profits, lifted its dividend and maintained 2024 profits guidance despite a dip in revenue as inflation started to ease. Pre-tax profit for 2023 came in at £698.6m on revenue of £11.8bn, down 2%. Shareholders will receive 68.3p a share. The acquisition-hungry group also announced two more purchases – an 80% stake in UK-based Nisbets for £338m and Pamark in Finland for an undisclosed sum.
GSK reported positive results on Monday from its trial for gepotidacin, an oral antibiotic aimed at treating uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhoea in adolescents and adults. Gepotidacin demonstrated non-inferiority to the current leading combination treatment regimen, intramuscular ceftriaxone plus oral azithromycin, meeting the primary efficacy endpoint based on microbiological response at the test-of-cure visit. It said the results were crucial given the rising rates of gonorrhoea globally, with implications for sexual and reproductive health, adding that it planned to share detailed findings with health authorities while continuing development for other indications, including uncomplicated urinary tract infections.
Newspaper round-up
Peak summer air fares in Europe are likely to rise again this year by up to 10%, according to Ryanair, as problems with aircraft at Boeing and Airbus leave customers scrambling for seats. The increase would come on top of the sharp post-pandemic rise in holiday flight prices last year when pent-up demand met limited capacity in European airlines.- Guardian
More than half of UK retailers and exporters have been affected by the disruption to Red Sea trade from Houthi rebel attacks on cargo ships, research by a leading business lobby group suggests. The price of shipping a container from Asia to Europe has gone up by as much as 300% for some businesses, while logistical delays have added up to three to four weeks to delivery times, according to the survey by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). – Guardian
A project to power Britain using solar farms thousands of miles away in the Sahara is moving a step closer to fruition as its backers prepare to commission the world’s biggest cable-laying ship. The 700ft vessel will lay four parallel cables linking solar and wind farms spread across the desert in Morocco with a substation in Alverdiscott, a tiny village near the coast of north Devon. – Telegraph
Abolishing inheritance tax would increase Britain’s workforce by 300,000 because it would encourage people not to retire early, economists backed by Liz Truss have argued. Analysis by the Growth Commission claimed the number of people in work would increase by 1.1 per cent if the tax was removed. – Telegraph
Spending on Facebook and Instagram advertising by the two main political parties is more than 10 times higher this year compared to the start of 2023, Sky News can reveal. Spending on social media by Labour and the Conservatives is due to dramatically escalate through the course of the year due to spending and data rule changes which benefit the two main parties. – Sky News
US close
Stocks closed in a mixed state on Wall Street on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.16% at 39,131.53.
The S&P 500 also rose, adding 0.04% to 5,088.80, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.28% to 15,996.82.