Weekly review

The FTSE 100 ended the week up 76.15 points, or 1.05%, closing at 7,338.58 on Friday

Equity view

Financial trading platform CMC Markets said annual net operating income would be lower than last year as revenues continued to fall in a "challenging" environment. The company on Friday said subdued market conditions had continued through August with trading and investing net revenues trending 20% lower year-on-year.

Legal and business services group DWF, which last month agreed a takeover deal with private equity firm Inflexion, said adjusted profits edged higher in the year to 30 April, but noted a "challenging environment" in the new financial year. Adjusted pre-tax profit rose 4.7% to £43.3m, which the company described as at the "lower end of expectations", as revenues increased 8.6% to 451.6m. However, on an unadjusted basis, pre-tax profit slumped 23.1% to £17.2m.

South Africa and Tanzania-focused diamond miner Petra Diamonds generated $79.3m in sales from its first tender of the new calendar year, but gave a cautious outlook for pricing going forward. The sale of 696.2 thousand carats (kcts) came from Petra's South African operations, with the average price per carat down to just $114, compared with the average price of $140 realised in the financial year ending 30 June.

Watches of Switzerland responded to concerns regarding the acquisition of Bucherer by Rolex on Friday, working to reassure shareholders of its continued access to stock. It came after the luxury watchmaker announced it was acquiring luxury watch and jewellery retailer Bucherer on Thursday, contingent on the approval of Swiss competition authorities.

Intertek said it had bought US based PlayerLync Holdings for an undisclosed sum. PlayerLync provides an app-based service for companies that combines mobile learning, operational support and compliance, content management and people engagement, Intertek said on Thursday.

Recruitment firm Hays has raised its full-year dividend and announced a special payout to shareholders, but gave a gloomy outlook as it reported a drop in annual profits. Operating profit was down 6% at £197m in the 12 months to 30 June, as a record performance in Germany was outweighed by tough markets in the UK and Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

North Sea oil and gas producer Harbour Energy trimmed annual production and capital expenditure forecasts due to drilling delays at its Beryl operations. The company said it now expected production between 185 – 193 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (kboepd) this year, compared with an earlier forecast of 185-200 kboepd.

UK power generation company Drax has announced it is replacing its long-standing chair Philip Cox with international energy veteran Andrea Bertone. Cox, who has been a non-executive director for nine years, will step down as chair at the end of 2023.

AIM-listed tech group Cohort has announced a contract win for a major defence programme worth £17.5m. The company said its Systems Engineering & Assessment division would be providing an external communications system over a period of 32 months to an unnamed UK customer.

Reckitt Benckiser said on Wednesday that chief financial officer and executive director Jeff Carr plans to retire at the end of March next year. Nike’s Shannon Eisenhardt will join the consumer goods group on 17 October as CFO designate to succeed Carr. She currently serves as CFO of consumer, brand & marketplace at the US sportswear retailer.

UK construction and engineering company Costain said it is considering bringing back its dividend payments after a strong first-half performance in which it strengthened its balance sheet and refinanced debt. Revenues were flat year-on-year at £664m in the six months to 30 June, but adjusted operating profits were up 7.1% at £15m, helped by increased profitability in the Natural Resources division along with the benefits of its ongoing transformation programme to increase efficiencies and improve margins.

GSK reported significant positive findings from its first efficacy trial of the ‘Shingrix’ shingles vaccine in China on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 pharmaceuticals giant said the results highlighted the vaccine's success in preventing shingles, or herpes zoster, in adults aged 50 and older.

Transport safety software group Seeing Machines said full-year sales jumped by nearly a half after a record performance in its fourth quarter, which saw the number of cars on the road with its technology installed surpass the one-million mark. In a trading update ahead of its official results in October, the Canberra-based company said revenues for the year to 30 June totalled $57.8m, up 49% year-on-year and ahead of the consensus forecast of $53.9m.

Woodside Energy reported a record first-half net profit after tax on Tuesday of $1.74bn, while its underlying net profit excluding one-off items reached an even higher figure of $1.9bn. The company recorded a positive free cash flow of $294m, and held liquidity assets totalling $7.51bn.

Car dealership Lookers posted a dip in first-half profit on Tuesday as it highlighted a "challenging" trading environment. In the six months to 30 June, underlying pre-tax profit edged down to £46.1m from £47.2m in the same period a year earlier, while revenue rose 8% to £2.42bn. Lookers said all revenue streams delivered growth and reflected improved vehicle supply.

Cake Box reported a rise in like-for-like sales on Tuesday as it announced the departure of non-executive chairman Nilesh Sachdev. In the 17 weeks to 30 July, franchisee store LFL sales rose 6.8%. This is a 5.4% jump in LFL sales growth for the first 11 weeks of the financial year reported in the results on 26 June.

Addiction treatment specialist Indivior announced on Monday that its US subsidiary has entered into an agreement to settle the claims initiated by the end payor class in the ongoing multi-district suboxone antitrust litigation. The FTSE 250 company said the agreement would resolve the claims filed by the end payor claimants against it, within the scope of the multidistrict litigation.

The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG) has agreed to sell three onshore wind farms in Ireland to Statkraft, it announced on Monday, for €25m - a 26% premium over the valuation as of 31 December. It said the three wind farms in question boasted a combined capacity of 35MW, and were relatively older installations, approaching the end of their anticipated operational lifespans.

Idox, which sells management and regulation software to UK councils and local governments, has acquired UK GIS and geospatial data provider Emapsite for £15.8m. The acquisition will expand the company's geospatial business to around 20% of total revenues.

Jubilee Metals Group reported on the latest advancements at its chrome joint venture in South Africa on Monday, as well as the expansion of the Roan Concentrator in Zambia. The AIM-traded firm announced the completion of the successful upgrade and commissioning of an existing brownfield processing facility on the western limb of the Bushveld Complex, which had achieved its targeted operational output.

Economic news

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has outlined the main areas of the housebuilding market it is investigating to ensure developers are serving consumers in the best way possible. After launching the market study back in February, the CMA received feedback from housebuilders across England, Scotland and Wales, as well as campaign groups, councils and other industry stakeholders.

Britain's energy regulator has lowered the price cap on household bills by about 7% as wholesale prices continue to fall, but customers will still face a tough winter and high bills with no government support. Ofgem on Friday cut the cap on household energy bills £1,923 a year for a typical dual-fuel household, and said it would save an average of £151 compared with the previous quarter.

Consumer confidence among Britons rebounded in August, according to fresh survey data on Friday, although the index remained in the negatives. GfK’s UK consumer confidence index jumped five points month-on-month, settling at -25, rebounding from a dip to -30 in July.

British retail sales fell in August at their fastest rate in more than 30 months with future prospects not looking much better amid the cost of living crisis, according to an industry survey published on Thursday. The Confederation of British Industry's monthly balance of retail sales fell to -44 in the year to August from -25 in July. Expectations for the month ahead improved to -21 from -32.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued a revised assessment over Hitachi’s planned €1.7bn rail signalling acquisition on Wednesday, of the Ground Transportation (GTS) segment of Thales. Earlier in June, the competition regulator highlighted potential competition issues surrounding the proposed merger in relation to digital mainline and urban signalling rail systems.

Output in the UK private sector fell in August at the fastest pace since January 2021, according to a survey released on Wednesday. The S&P Global/CIPS flash composite output index declined to 47.9 from 50.8 in August, coming in below the 50.0 mark that separates contraction from expansion for the first time since January and marking a 31-month low.

UK government borrowing came in at £4.3bn in July and lower-than-expected for the first four months of the year, according to official data released on Tuesday. Economists had expected a deficit of £5bn for last month. In the first four months of the financial year, borrowing stood at 56.6 billion pounds, £13.7bn higher year on year but £11.3bn less than the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast in March.

UK manufacturers have experienced the worst rate of decline in output in nearly three years, according to the CBI's latest Industrial Trends Survey, with volumes falling in 15 out of 17 sub-sectors. The CBI said the net percentage of companies reporting an increase in output volumes minus those reporting a decrease fell to -19% in the three months to August, compared with +3% in the three months to July – the sharpest decline since September 2020 – data revealed on Tuesday.

International events

German business sentiment deteriorated further in August, according to a survey released on Thursday by the Ifo Institute. The Ifo business climate index fell to 85.7 from a revised 87.4 in July, coming in below consensus expectations of 86.7.

Authorities in Beijing announced a strategic move to counter the declining residential property market overnight on Friday, with a new policy intended to ease its stringent mortgage rules. According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the People’s Bank of China, and the National Administration of Financial Regulation, local city administrations would now be allowed to discard the regulation which bans individuals who had previously taken out a mortgage and fully repaid it from being considered first-time buyers in major cities.

Germany's economy flatlined in the second quarter of 2023, according to new data released on Friday which was unrevised from preliminary estimates. The country's statistics office confirmed earlier data that showed that gross domestic product failed to expand between April and June, a slight improvement after two consecutive quarters of contraction – a technical recession. The data was in line with economists' predictions.

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week to its lowest level in three weeks, according to data released on Thursday by the Labor Department. Initial jobless claims declined by 10,000 to 230,000 from the previous week’s level, which was revised up by 1,000 to 240,000. Analysts were expecting a level of 240,000.

America’s private sector showed signs of near stagnation in August, according to fresh survey data released on Wednesday, with business activity growth showing a slowdown. The S&P Global flash composite output index - a measure of both manufacturing and service sector activity - declined to 50.4, from a print of 52.0 in July.

Eurozone business activity contracted at an accelerating pace in August as the region’s downturn spread further from manufacturing to services, according to PMI survey data published on Wednesday. The S&P Global composite index flash reading fell to 47.0 from 48.6 in July, its lowest since November 2020. If pandemic months are excluded, the latest reading was the lowest since April 2013.

The People’s Bank of China announced a smaller-than-expected rate cut on Monday. The Bank cut the one-year loan prime rate by 10 basis points to 3.45%, versus consensus expectations of a 15 basis points cut.

Reporting by staff and contributors for Sharecast.com.