Watches of Switzerland holds guidance, Bunzl hikes profit forecast

Stocks to watch

Luxury timepiece seller Watches of Switzerland on Thursday held current-year guidance and said it was “cautiously optimistic” after annual profits fell amid a wind-back of discretionary spending. Pre-tax profit for the year to April 28 fell 40% to £92m with revenues flat at £1.53bn in a “challenging” market hit by rising prices and low consumer confidence.

Bunzl upgraded its full-year profit forecast on Thursday, due to improved margin performance driven by effective margin management and acquisitions. Despite a projected 3% to 4% year-on-year revenue decrease for the first half at actual exchange rates, operating margins were expected to show strong improvement, leading to robust adjusted operating profit growth at constant exchange rates. The company highlighted recent acquisitions in Brazil and Canada, which were expected to strengthen its market position and contribute to margin growth.

Newspaper round-up

The UK’s current trade deal with the EU is not working and the country must stop “walking on eggshells” around the issue of building closer ties with its biggest trading partner, the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is expected to say. At the annual BCC global conference in London on Thursday, Shevaun Haviland will say that the UK must forge closer ties with the EU and the next government should focus on improving trading relations to grow the economy. – Guardian

The UK’s leading gambling charity has called on the next government to ban betting advertising at sports events and on pre-watershed television, citing research that indicates strong public support for stricter controls. The survey, for GambleAware, which comes amid the usual marketing frenzy that accompanies a major football tournament such as Euro 2024, found that two-thirds of people in the UK think there are too many betting adverts. – Guardian

Ferrari is to charge customers a €7,000 (£5,900) annual subscription fee in exchange for free battery replacements amid fears of burnout in its supercars. The luxury car maker will reportedly offer an extended warranty service for its next generation of electric and hybrid vehicles in a bid to allay concerns about ageing battery packs. The subscription will entitle drivers of supercars such as the €418,000 plug-in hybrid SF90 Stradale to a replacement battery after eight years, while defects will also be covered. – Telegraph

Mike Ashley, the billionaire founder of Sports Direct, is in talks with the Crown Estate to take full ownership of the Princesshay shopping centre in Exeter. Through his Frasers Group retail empire, Ashley is already the frontrunner to buy a 50 per cent stake in Princesshay from Nuveen, a US-based asset manager that invests the retirement savings of American teachers. – The Times

Car manufacturing output in the UK fell by nearly 12 per cent in May as assembly lines continued to retool for electric vehicles. The latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the trade body, show production was down 11.9 per cent to 69,652 units last month. Almost three quarters of all cars built in Britain were exported to global markets, with 52.5 percent going to the European Union followed by the US, at 18.2 per cent, and Turkey, which took 8 percent of shipments. – The Times

US close

US stocks finished moderately higher on Wednesday with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq inching back towards their recent record highs on what was a relatively quiet day for data and earnings.

The second-quarter earnings season has officially begun, but doesn't really ramp up for a couple of weeks when the heavyweight banking sector reports.

The S&P 500 finished the session up 0.2% at 5,477.9, coming close to last week's all-time closing high of 5,487.03, while the Nasdaq gained 0.5% to 17,805.16, a whisper below its peak of 17,862.23.

The Dow meanwhile rose just 0.04% to 39,127.8.

In economic news on Wednesday, data showed that new-home sales plunged by 11.3% in May to an annualised rate of 619,000, down from a revised 698,000 the month before.

This was well below the 640,000 expected by the market and the worst level since November.