Weekly review

The FTSE 100 ended the week down 22.76 points, or 0.3%, closing at 7,659.74 on Friday.

Equity view

Currys said regulators had approved the sale of its Greek and Cypriot retail business Kotsovolos to Public Power Corporation for an enterprise value of €200m (£175m). The UK electrical retailer said it expected to get around £156m net from the deal and use the cash to pay down debt. Currys is currently fending off bids from private equity predator Elliott, which reportedly last week made a second £800m bid for the troubled business having had an initial £700m offer rebuffed.

Informa upped 2024 guidance on Friday after strong growth in overseas markets boosted full-year revenues and profits. The specialist B2B events organiser and publisher saw revenues jump 41% in the year to December end to £3.19bn, while adjusted operating profit was £853.8m, compared to £496.3m a year previously.

Frasers Group responded to fresh media reports over its acquisition of Matches on Friday, confirming that the brand was being shuttered just two months after acquisition. The FTSE 100 retail and fashion conglomerate said that, despite its efforts to support Matches since its acquisition, the business had consistently fallen short of its targets and incurred significant financial losses.

Packaging firm Mondi has agreed to buy smaller rival DS Smith for £5.1bn. In a joint statement after the close on Thursday, the firms said the agreement in principle has an implied value of 373p per DS Smith share, which is a premium of 33% to the closing share price on Thursday.

North Sea oil and gas producer Harbour Energy on Thursday held production guidance for 2024 as it reported a sharp fall in annual profits on the back of lower output and weaker prices. Pre-tax profit for 2023 slumped to $597m from £2.46bn a year earlier when surging energy prices provided a cash bonanza for the sector.

Full-year results from sports betting and gaming group Entain were in line with expectations, with underlying earnings hitting the £1bn mark and record-high online customers, though it warned of the significant impact from regulatory changes which will dampen profits in 2024. The Ladbrokes, BetMGM and Gala Bingo owner reported group EBITDA of £1.01bn for 2023, up 1% on the previous year. Net gaming revenues rose 11% to £4.83bn, helped by online active customers rising 23% and BetMGM – in which it owns 50% – seeing a 36% jump in revenues.

Recruiter PageGroup reported a slump in full-year profit on Thursday amid "challenging" market conditions. In the year to the end of December 2023, pre-tax profit fell 39.6% to £117.4m, while revenue nudged up 1% to £2.01bn. Operating profit slid 39.4% to £118.8m.

Door and window parts maker Tyman said it expected a “challenging” market outlook this year as the building sector continued to struggle amid high interest rates and inflation, reflected in a 19% fall in 2023 profits. Revenues fell 8% to £657.6m after a “significant” reduction in volumes partially offset by the carryover benefit of pricing actions and share gains , Tyman said on Thursday. Pre-tax profit for the full-year came in at £75m.

Paper and packaging maker DS Smith said third-quarter trading was in line with expectations despite “challenging” market conditions. In a brief trading update issued on Wednesday, the company said like-for-like corrugated box volume performance continued to improve compared with the first half of the financial year, with flat volumes in the period since November 1.

Construction materials group Breedon on Wednesday said it had bought US-based BMC Enterprises for an enterprise value of $300m (£238.1m). The deal involves $285m payable in cash on completion, funded through a draw down on Breedon's existing credit facility, with $15m payable in Breedon shares.

Medtech group ConvaTec has raised its forecasts for medium-term organic growth forecasts after a strong 2023 performance that saw a rise in margins and double-digit profit growth. The company, which provides wound, ostomy, continence and infusion care, said organic revenues are expected to increase by 5-7% over the medium term, ahead of previous guidance of 4-6% growth, "based on the strength of the new product pipeline and improvements in commercial execution".

A consortium of investors in London Stock Exchange Group has sold 21.5m shares in a placing, raising around £1.4bn. The consortium includes vehicles managed by Blackstone and Thomson Reuters and an affiliate of Canada Pension Plan Investment.

Equipment rental firm Ashtead has said that full-year group revenues will expand at the low end of its guidance due to the previously disclosed slowdown in North America. The company, which provides everything from emergency response equipment to cameras and lighting for the film industry, said revenues for the 12 months to 30 April are now forecast to grow at the bottom end of the 11% to 13% target range.

High Street bakery chain Greggs maintained guidance and said it had made a strong start to the current year after delivering a jump in 2023 profits as customers sought out its sausage rolls and doughnuts amid the cost-of-living crisis. Shareholders were also rewarded with a special 40p-a-share dividend on top of the 62p full-year payout.

Prepared food supplier Bakkavor said it expected 2024 adjusted operating profit to be at least in line with upper end of market expectations after posting a strong rise in earnings last year as its markets in China recovered from Covid-19 restrictions. Pre-tax profits surged to £70.3m last year from £18.1m a year earlier, with group revenue up 3% to £2.2bn.

Building merchant Travis Perkins said it is looking at exiting its French operations after seeing group operating profits more than halved in 2023.

Health tech company Halma on Monday said it had bought Netherlands-based Rovers Medical Devices for €85m (£73m). Rovers designs and produces sample collection devices used in cervical cancer prevention and diagnosis, Halma said in a statement. An extra payment of €6m is payable in cash, based on Rovers' performance in the period to March 31, 2025.

European regulators have validated two marketing authorisation applications (MMAs) for AstraZeneca, as the biopharma giant's datopotamab deruxtecan chemotherapy replacement treatment comes one step closer to receiving the green light to treat two types of cancer. The validations confirm the completion of the applications and will kickstart the scientific review process of datopotamab deruxtecan by the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use.

UK aerospace engineer and Boeing supplier Senior reported a jump in 2023 profits and said it had been asked to maintain supply levels of parts for the US plane maker’s B737-Max aircraft. The company on Monday almost doubled adjusted pre-tax profit to £38.3m for the 12 months to December 31, on revenues of £963.5m, up 14%. The full-year dividend was lifted 77% to 2.30p a share.

Intertek announced an agreement to acquire Base Metallurgical Laboratories and Base Met Labs US on Monday, which provide metallurgical testing services within the minerals sector in North America, for an undisclosed sum. The FTSE 100 firm said the acquisition came ahead of expected heightened demand for diverse energy sources and minerals to sustain a growing global population.

Economic news

UK businesses expect output inflation to continue easing over the coming year, a Bank of England survey showed on Thursday. According to the latest Decision Maker Panel survey of chief financial officers, output prices rose by 5.4% on average in the three months to February, down from January’s 5.6%.

UK house prices rose for the fifth month in a row in February, according to figures released Thursday by Halifax. Prices were up 0.4% on the month following a 1.2% jump in January. This marked the smallest month-on-month rise in house prices since September.

The chancellor of the exchequer cut National Insurance and pledged to overhaul the tax regime for non-domiciled residents on Wednesday, in what was likely his last Budget before the next general election. Both measures were widely trailed ahead of Jeremy Hunt addressing the House of Commons. Abolishing non-dom tax status was also a key Labour policy.

The chancellor’s spring Budget received a mixed reaction on Wednesday, as business groups and economists digested the government’s latest plans to bolster the UK’s faltering economy. Recent data from the Office for National Statistics showed the UK had slipped into a technical recession.

The UK’s hard-pressed construction sector strengthened last month, a closely-watched survey showed Wednesday, led by a turnaround in housebuilding. The latest S&P Global UK construction purchasing managers' index came in at 49.7 in February, still in negative territory but a notable improvement on January’s 48.8.

New car registrations rose 14.0% to 84,886 units last month, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, delivering the best February performance since 2004. Total registrations, including business and fleet sales, totalled 84,900, above February 2023's 74,400 and the 81,200 2015-19 average for the month.

The UK services sector continued to grow in February, albeit at a slower pace, according to a survey released Tuesday. The S&P Global/CIPS services purchasing managers’ index fell to 53.8 from 54.3 in January, coming in below the first estimate and consensus of 54.3. However, the index was still higher than at any point in the second half of 2023.

UK retail sales growth slowed last month as volumes were dampened by the wettest February on record, according to the British Retail Consortium-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor released on Tuesday. Total sales rose 1.1% year-on-year in February, following 5.2% growth the year before. This was lower than the 1.2% growth seen in January and well below the 12-month average growth rate of 3.1%.

International events

Hiring in the US continued at a strong clip last month, albeit alongside a very clear slowdown in wage growth. Furthermore, downwards revisions to the data for the previous two months and an increase in the unemployment rate appeared to reflect a weaker underlying picture.

The eurozone economy was little changed at the end of 2023, official data showed on Friday, allowing it to narrowly skirt recession. According to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, seasonally-adjusted GDP was unchanged in both the eurozone and wider bloc, in line with expectations.

German industrial production ticked higher in January, official data showed Friday, beating expectations. According to Destatis, the Federal Statistics Office, industry output rose 1% after a revised 2% decline in December. Analysts had been expecting a smaller uptick, of around 0.5%.

Inflationary pressures in the US from salaries and compensation eased at the end of 2023. According to revised figures from the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms labour productivity increased at a quarterly annualised pace of 3.2% over the three months to December (consensus: 3.1%).

Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a faster than anticipated clip in the week ended 2 March, according to the Labor Department. Initial jobless claims were unchanged from the prior week's upwardly revised reading of 217,000, ahead of analyst expectations for a reading of 215,000. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 215,000.

The European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged Thursday as it cut inflation and growth forecasts. The benchmark deposit rate was left at an all-time high of 4% while the refinancing rate was kept at 4.50%, both as expected.

German factory orders plunged in January, official data showed on Thursday, falling by far more than expected. According to Destatis, the Federal Statistics Office, price-adjusted new orders tumbled 11.3% on December, when they jumped by an upwardly revised 12%. Most analysts had been anticipating a 6% decline.

China reported a sharply better-than-expected rise in exports for the first two months of the year, according to official figures released Thursday. Exports surged 7.1% in January and February on an annual basis, said the General Administration of Customs – hammering estimates of a 1.9% rise.

The number of US job openings was little changed at the start of the year. According to the Department of Labor, the number of job openings dipped by 0.3% month-on-month to reach 8.863m (consensus: 8.9m).

The head of America's central bank told Congress that he continued to believe that interest rates were likely headed lower in 2024. However, the exact date of the first rate cut remained uncertain as progress towards the Federal Reserve's 2.0% inflation target was not assured yet.

Private sector employment in the US rose less than expected in February, according to figures released Wednesday by ADP. Employment increased by 140,000 from January, versus expectations for a 150,000 jump. Meanwhile, January’s gain was revised from 107,000 to 111,000.

Retail sales in the eurozone rebounded slightly in January while December's decline was revised upwards, according to figures out on Wednesday from Eurostat. Sales volumes improved by just 0.1% in the first month of the year, as expected by economists after a 0.6% fall in December, which was adjusted from the initial reading of a 1.1% decline.

Reporting by Sharecast.com staff and contributors.