Weekly review

The FTSE 100 ended the week down 1.57%, or 125.7 points, closing at 7,878.66 on Friday.

Equity view

Jupiter Fund Management reported a slump in both assets under management and profits on Friday, after a "difficult" year for the City fund manager. Publishing full-year results, Jupiter said assets under management had finished the year to 31 December 17% lower, at £50.2m, with total net outflows of £3.5m.

Marks & Spencer Group has appointed a former Permira partner to its board, the retailer confirmed on Friday. Cheryl Potter will join M&S as a non-executive director and member of the nomination committee on 1 March.

Digital transformation consultancy Kin and Carta tanked on Friday as it downgraded full-year expectations, citing macro headwinds in the first half. In an update for the six months to the end of January 2023, the company said it was cutting its expectations "to reflect more cautionary client spending and elongated sales cycles seen across the industry".

Hays updated the market on its share buyback programme on Friday, reporting that in the six months ended 31 December, 50.2 million shares were purchased and cancelled at a cost of £57.6m. The FTSE 250 recruitment firm initially announced a buyback of up to £63m worth of shares in June last year.

AstraZeneca and KYM Biosciences have agreed a global exclusive licence agreement for a potential gastric cancer treatment known as CMG901. AstraZeneca will make an upfront payment of $63m and additional development and sales-related milestone payments of up to $1.1bn to KYM Biosciences as well as tiered royalties up to low double digits, it said on Thursday.

Government outsourcer Serco has won a $690m contract by the US Department of Health to continue working on whether people are eligible for federal health insurance. The contract, which runs for almost five years, has a one-year base period and four option periods, and is due to start on July 1, Serco said on Thursday.

Anglo American posted a big decline in full-year sales with profits and free cash flows faring even worse. The outfit attributed that outcome to inflationary headwinds, including dearer energy, combined with lower production volumes and prices for many of its products.

Precision measurement maker Spectris said annual profits rose 19% on volume and pricing growth. The company on Thursday posted annual pre-tax earnings of £219.7m. Sales grew 14% on a like-for-like basis to £1.3bn.

Media group Future said on Wednesday that it has appointed Jon Steinberg as its new chief executive officer with effect from 3 April. Steinberg will succeed Zillah Byng-Thorne, who announced her intention to stand down last September. She will step down from her current role on 31 March but will remain available to support Steinberg over a two-month transition period to ensure a smooth handover of responsibilities.

West End landlords Capital & Counties and Shaftesbury said on Wednesday that the Competition and Markets Authority has cleared their £3.5bn merger. The merger is now expected to complete on 6 March.

Primary Health Properties saw modest growth in its full-year rental income and profits but sounded a confident note on its longer-term prospects. For the year ending on 31 December, the real estate investment trust specialising in the rental of modern primary healthcare facilities announced a 3.5% increase in rental income to reach £141.5m.

The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG) posted its strongest annual results since listing on the London Stock Exchange and guided towards a further increase in dividends. For the year ending on 31 December, the investment company posted a 12.8% jump in its net asset value per ordinary share to reach 134.6p.

HSBC said quarterly profits almost doubled, driven by the rise in global interest rates, and unveiled a special dividend. The Asia-focused bank reported pretax earnings of $5.2bn, up from $2.7bn and ahead of the $4.96bn company-compiled average.

Storage space operator Safestore reported strong revenue growth in its first quarter, driven by a rise in lettable area across its estate. The company on Tuesday said like-for-like revenue grew 4.2% and total revenue growth of 9.4% in the three months to the end of January.

Global hotel chain operator IHG on Tuesday posted a rise in annual profits aided by higher room prices and announced a $750m share buyback as travel continued to rebound from the Covid pandemic. The London-listed owner of Holiday Inn hotels said operating profit for the year to December 31 rose 55% to $828m. Revenue per available room (RevPAR) in the second half - a key industry metric - was ahead of pre-pandemic 2019.

Chilean miner Antofagasta posted a drop in full-year profits and revenue on Tuesday as operating costs rose. In the year to the end of December 2022, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 39% to $2.9bn, with operating costs up 10% mainly due to inflation and higher input prices.

Retailer Frasers Group on Monday said it was starting an £80m share buyback. Frasers, controlled by Mike Ashley and owner of Sports Direct, said the repurchase would be used to reduce the company’s share capital, adding that it would run until April 30.

Hill & Smith announced the completed acquisition of Texas-based Enduro Composites on Monday, which designs, manufactures, and supplies engineered composite solutions for industrial and infrastructure markets. The FTSE 250 company said cash consideration for the acquisition was $35m (£29.05m), on a deb-free and cash-free basis, and was funded from its existing banking facilities.

Trifast issued a profit warning on Monday as it pointed to significant destocking from one of its Asian manufacturing customers, and announced the resignation of its chief executive. For the year to the end of March 2023, the company now expects revenues of around £243m and adjusted pre-tax profit of around £9m, versus market expectations of £242m and £14.3m.

Shipbuilding company Harland & Wolff has secured six new smaller contracts within the defence, cruise and ferry, and commercial fabrication markets. Harland & Wolff said on Monday that it will undertake routine repairs under the contract, as well as new fabrication works, which will be carried out across its yards in Belfast, Appledore and Arnish.

Economic news

Relief from months of railway strikes and industrial action looked to be on the horizon on Friday, as members of the TSSA union accepted offers from train operators. The union said the agreement covered pay, job security, and conditions, and was supported by a significant majority of members in an online ballot.

The UK government has marked the first anniversary of war in Ukraine by announcing further sanctions against Russia. The internationally coordinated package of sanctions and trade measures, announced on Friday, includes export bans on all items used by Russia in the war to date, including aircraft parts, radio equipment and electronic components.

UK consumer confidence rebounded from historic lows in February, according to a survey released by GfK on Friday. The long-running consumer confidence index rose seven points to -38, with all five confidence measures up. This was the highest level since April 2022 and ahead of analysts’ expectations for a reading of -43.

The government is reportedly preparing to replace a slate of Ofgem's directors this year as the energy regulator faces intense criticism over its handling of the prepayment meters scandal. According to Sky News, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (ESNZ) has begun recruiting a new chair for the watchdog, as well as four non-executive board members.

UK retail sales growth stalled in the year to February ahead of an expected decline next month, according to the latest Distributive Trades Survey from the Confederation of British Industry. The CBI’s reported sales balance rose to +2 from -23 in January.

London Underground is set to face significant disruption on 15 March - Budget Day - as members of the ASLEF union go on a 24-hour strike. The walkout was announced after Tube drivers, engineering train drivers, test train drivers and managers voted in favour of industrial action.

British Steel was reportedly set to announce the closure of its coking ovens at Scunthorpe. The timescale for its closure and the number of compulsory redundancies that it would involve was unclear, but according to the BBC, as many as 300 jobs might be set to go.

Manufacturing output fell in February at the fastest pace since September 2020, according to a survey released on Tuesday by the Confederation of British Industry. The CBI’s gauge of factory output for the three months to February fell to -16 from -1 the month before.

The UK private sector returned to growth in February, according to a survey released on Tuesday. The S&P Global CIPS flash PMI composite output index rose to 53.0 from 48.5 in January, hitting an eight-month high and coming in above the 50.0 mark that separates contraction from expansion for the first time since July 2022. Economists had forecast a reading of 49.0.

The UK government unexpectedly recorded a budget surplus in January as self-assessment income tax receipts surged, according to data released on Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics. The Treasury recorded a surplus of £5.4bn borrowing, versus consensus expectations for a £7.8bn deficit. This was down £7.1bn compared to January 2022.

International events

Consumer confidence in the US improved for a third consecutive month, boosted by an improved short-run outlook for the economy, the results of a closely followed survey revealed. The University of Michigan's headline consumer confidence index for the end of February edged up to 67.0 points, against a preliminary print of 66.4 and 64.9 points at the end of January.

American consumers splashed out with abandon at the start of 2023. According to the US Department of Commerce, personal incomes grew at a month-on-month clip of 0.6% in January (consensus: 1.0%).

The German economy shrunk by more than expected in the last three months of 2022, official data showed on Friday, increasing the prospect of the country falling into recession. According to the Destatis, the Federal Statistics Office, GDP declined by 0.4% in the fourth quarter compared to the third on a price, seasonal and calendar-adjusted basis, a sharp reversal on the 0.5% growth seen in the third quarter.

The US economy expanded at a slightly slower pace at the end of 2022 than previously thought, but price pressures were greater. According to the Department of Commerce, American gross domestic product increased at a quarterly annualised pace of 2.7% in the fourth quarter (Preliminary: 2.9%).

The US jobs market remained tight, the latest weekly jobless claims data showed. According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms the number of initial unemployment claims slipped by 3,000 to 192,000 over the week ending on 18 February (consensus: 197,000).

The cost of living in the euro area fell a bit more slowly at the start of 2023 than previously thought. According to Eurostat, the single currency block's Consumer Price Index declined at a month-on-month pace of 0.2%.

Investor focus was very much on minutes from the Federal Reserve's February meeting late on Wednesday, which showed some division emerging as a number of officials expressed concern over the recent easing in financial conditions. The minutes, released at 1900 GMT, showed that "a number" of Fed officials thought easier conditions could require a further tightening of monetary policy.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley cut their price forecasts for Brent crude oil prices across 2023 and for 2024 on the back of higher-than-expected Russian exports. In a research note sent to clients, they projected that Brent oil would trade in a range between $90-100 per barrel over the back half of 2023, which was down from a prior estimate for a range of $100-110.

German business sentiment improved again in February, according to a survey released on Wednesday by the Ifo Institute. The business climate index rose to 91.1 from 90.1 in January, coming in just a touch below consensus expectations of 91.2. This marked the fifth consecutive monthly increase in the index.

Home selling activity in the US slowed for a twelfth straight month at the start of 2023. According to the National Association of Realtors, in seasonally adjusted terms, existing-home sales fell by 0.7% month-on-month during January to reach an annual rate of 4.0m (consensus: 4.1m).

Reporting by Sharecast.com staff and contributors.