Domino's like-for-like sales decline, Next first quarter tops forecasts

Stocks to watch

Like-for-like sales at Domino's Pizza Group declined year-on-year in the first quarter as expected, but the company said it still expects to return to growth over 2024. The UK-based master franchise of the global takeaway chain reported that like-for-like sales on a comparable basis were down 0.5% on last year, with total orders down 0.8%, though trading improved in February and March after a slow January. "Like Q1, Q2 is another tough comparative period but we remain confident of delivering order count and like-for-like sales growth this year and are pleased to confirm our full year profit guidance," said chief executive Andrew Rennie.

UK fashion retailer Next said first-quarter sales came in ahead of forecasts and held guidance for the full year, but warned that the next three months would be weaker due to wet spring weather. Full-price sales in the thirteen weeks to April 27 were up 5.7% year on year, slightly ahead of guidance for a 5% rise. Next still expects annual profit before tax to rise 4.6% to £960m. “We expect the sales performance in the second quarter to be weaker than the first quarter because last year benefited from particularly warm weather from late May through to the end of June,” the company said in a trading statement, and forecast a fall of 0.3% for the period.

Smith & Nephew revealed a 2.9% increase in revenue to $1.39bn in its first quarter on Wednesday, with underlying growth driven by the orthopaedics, and sports Medicine abd ENT segments, albeit with a 70 basis point adverse currency impact. While Orthopaedics revenue rose 4.4% due to growth outside the US, advanced wound management declined 2%, primarily from advanced wound bioactives. The company maintained its full-year guidance with expected underlying revenue growth of 5% to 6% and a trading profit margin of at least 18%, supported by continued product launches and clinical evidence.

Newspaper round-up

Amazon profits soared once again in the first quarter of 2024, the company announced on Tuesday – the latest in a series of robust earnings reports for the retail giant. The company attributed the boost to artificial intelligence and advertising sales. Amazon reported overall revenue of $143.3bn in the first three months of the year – up 13% from the same period in 2023 and surpassing Wall Street expectations of $142.65bn. The e-commerce giant reported an increase of more than 200% to $15bn, with net income more than tripling to $10.4bn from $3.17bn at the same time in 2023. – Guardian

Shareholders have proved to be more successful at securing bumper payouts than workers have at winning higher pay, according to two studies that show dividends outstripping wages by a considerable margin in recent years. Oxfam said analysis of global data showed that dividend payments to shareholders over the last three years grew an average of 14 times faster than worker pay across 31 major economies. – Guardian

A mining company has announced plans to extract 10,000 tonnes of lithium a year from rocks beneath a County Durham beauty spot after drilling found vast volumes of hot brines laden with the precious mineral. Lithium is an essential component of the rechargeable batteries that power everything from mobile phones to electric vehicles – but the UK is currently entirely dependent on imports. – Telegraph

The Duke of Westminster’s property empire was lossmaking last year, although the King’s godson and his family still received more than £50 million in dividends. Grosvenor Group, which runs a multibillion-pound portfolio of assets including its 300-acre estate in the West End of London, suffered a loss of £28.6 million in 2023, having made a profit of £110.4 million in the previous year. – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks registered heavy losses on Tuesday as market participants awaited the outcome of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting and digested more mega-cap earnings.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.49% at 37,815.92, while the S&P 500 lost 1.57% to 5,035.69 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 2.04% weaker at 15,657.82.

The Dow closed 570.17 points lower on Tuesday, easily wiping out yesterday's gains and wrapping up the blue chip's worst month since September 2022.

Central bank policymakers will meet for their two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, with their latest interest rate decision set to be revealed on Wednesday, with the Fed broadly anticipated to keep interest rates steady.

However, investors have grown worried that chairman Jerome Powell's post-meeting comments may be more hawkish than originally thought due to a run of hotter-than-expected inflation reports.