Games Workshop flags higher profits, Victrex warns its will be lower

Stocks to watch

Games Workshop said it expected to post increased annual profit of at least £170m, up from £157m a year ago, driven by a strong rise in revenue and licensing income. In a year-end trading update, the maker of Warhammer said core revenue for the 52 weeks to May would be not less than £440m, up from £387m. Licensing income was forecast to fall to £25m from £28m.

Specialist plastics firm Victrex said annual profits would be sharply lower as group volumes continued to fall due to industrial headwinds. The company on Wednesday said group revenue was now tracking down by a mid-single digit percentage rate, with volumes down more than 20% year on year.

Newspaper round-up

Amazon has been accused of being “no friend of the small business” after a report discovered evidence that the online marketplace has ramped up fees and advertising costs for sellers. It found that between 2017 and 2022 Amazon had tripled the amount it earned from fees for independent sellers in Europe, including for listings, deliveries and digital support. That growth far outstripped the rise in sales, which doubled over the same period. – Guardian

Woking council plans to sever ties with the Northern Irish developer behind a skyscraper venture that helped tip the tiny Surrey local authority into effective bankruptcy. Amid ballooning costs and delays, a dramatic plunge in the value of the council’s Victoria Square development – which is 52% owned by Moyallen, a business from Dungannon, County Tyrone – is at the centre of the local authority’s financial meltdown. – Guardian

EY’s global boss is set to leave the firm after his plan to split its consulting and accountancy arms fell apart. Carmine Di Sibio, global chief executive of the Big Four firm, told partners on Tuesday that he plans to retire next summer, despite receiving an extension last year to remain in the position until June 2025. – Telegraph

Entain, the Ladbrokes and Coral owner, said last night that it planned to bid about £750 million for Poland’s STS Holding, a sports betting company, and has secured backing from the two biggest shareholders. Mateusz Juroszek and his father, Zbigniew Juroszek, together own about 70 per cent of the shares in STS and have accepted the offer, the London-listed gambling group said. – The Times

Britain’s rollout of energy smart meters is facing more delays and cost increases amid a shortage of installation engineers and claims that many households do not want the devices, the public spending watchdog has warned. The meters transmit real-time usage data to suppliers and are seen as crucial to enabling a modern energy system and encouraging households to save energy. – The Times

US close

Stock markets on Wall Street wrapped up trading on a strong note on Tuesday, bolstered by cooler-than-expected consumer inflation data that fuelled expectations of the Federal Reserve holding off on interest rate hikes at its imminent meeting.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.43% at 34,212.12, while the broader S&P 500 climbed 0.69% to settle at 4,369.01 points.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite took the lead, appreciating 0.83% to finish the session at 13,573.32 points.

In currency markets, the dollar was last up 0.01% on both sterling and the euro to trade at 79.3p and 92.66 euro cents, respectively.

The greenback did, however, lose some ground to the yen, sliding 0.06% to change hands at JPY 140.14.