3i Group announces solid full-year results, Airtel hit hard by naira devaluation

Stocks to watch

3i Group announced a solid set of results for the 2024 financial year on Thursday, with a total return of £3.84bn and net asset value per share of 2,085p, driven by growth in its portfolio companies. It said its private equity business achieved a gross investment return of £4.06bn, primarily led by the performance of European discount retailer Action, while its infrastructure business generated a £99m return. The company maintained liquidity of £1.3bn, ended the year with net debt of £806m, and proposed a total dividend of 61p per share, with an additional dividend of 34.5p planned for July.

Africa-focused telecoms group Airtel was hit hard by a drop in the Nigerian naira in the year to 31 March, with a $549m negative FX headwind pushing it into the red on a pre-tax basis. The company swung to a reported pre-tax loss of $89m, from a profit of $750m the year before, while reported revenues sunk 5.3% to $4.98bn.

Weapons maker BAE Systems held annual guidance and said global geopolitical tensions should boost orders as countries increased defence spending. The group still expects sales to rise 10% to 12% above 2023's £25,.3bn and underlying earnings before interest and tax 11% to 13% better than the £2.7bn posted last year. "Defence spending is high across our sectors and key markets. The recent passing of the US supplemental aid package to Ukraine and the commitment by the UK government to spend 2.5% of GDP by 2030 should build further positive momentum," the company said in a trading update.

Newspaper round-up

The next government will be forced to hit voters with post-election tax rises and delay net zero investment unless it is prepared to rip up Treasury rules for managing the state finances, a leading thinktank has said. The National Institute for Economic and Social Research (Niesr) called for a radical overhaul of the self-imposed constraints imposed on government borrowing and debt as it warned that persistently weak growth and lower inflation would make hitting the rules more difficult. – Guardian

The boss of British Gas has called for households to face mandatory smart meter installations weeks after government figures showed that almost 4m meters are not working. Chris O’Shea, the chief executive of the British Gas owner Centrica, told a committee of MPs that smart meters should be installed in all homes through a “street by street” programme, in order to cut the costs of creating a smart grid. – Guardian

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has called for the ban on all petrol car sales to be delayed beyond 2035, as the British industrial tycoon warns that demand for electric vehicles (EVs) has “dried up”. The billionaire behind petrochemicals giant Ineos is lobbying the UK government to relax net zero laws so that low-emission vehicles can be sold even after the planned cut-off point, as an “interim” step towards cleaner technologies. – Telegraph

A drugs company developing cannabis-based medicines backed by the tobacco group Imperial Brands is to delist from the London stock market, blaming turbulent UK markets for exerting “continuous, irrational and regressive pressure” on its share price. Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies (OCT), a clinical stage biopharma company developing prescription medicines for the pain market, said the “turbulence” in the UK public markets has had a “punitive effect on sentiment in biopharma as a sector, and on quoted biopharma businesses in particular”. – The Times

New job losses at Selfridges have been blamed on the end of VAT-free shopping for tourists and a slowdown in luxury spending. In a memo to staff Andrew Keith, chief executive of the luxury department store group, said the latest round of redundancies was due to the scrapping of tax-free purchases for international visitors. – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday as corporate earnings continued to dominate markets.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.44% at 39,056.39, while the S&P 500 was flat at 5,187.67 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.318% weaker at 16,302.76.

The Dow closed 172.13 points higher on Wednesday, extending gains recorded in the previous session and giving the blue-chip index a sixth straight winning session.

Earnings were again in focus on Wednesday, with ridesharing giant Lyft and hotel operator Wynn Resorts trading higher on the back of stronger-than-expected quarterly results, while Reddit shares rallied following its first earnings as a public company.

Shopify earnings topped estimates but shares still headed south following weaker-than-expected guidance, Uber revealed it had swung to a quarterly loss despite reporting improved quarterly revenues, Airbnb beat on earnings expectations but issued some weak guidance, and AMC also bested projections thanks to the likes of Dune 2 and Kung Fu Panda 4.