Weekly review

Equity view

GCP Infrastructure Investments announced the proposed combination of its assets with the GCP Asset Backed Income Fund (GABI) on Friday. The FTSE 250 company said the agreement would lead to the solvent winding-up of GABI, transferring its assets to GCP Infra in exchange for new ordinary shares.

UnitedHealth Group’s acquisition of EMIS Group received a tentative regulatory go-ahead on Friday, with the Competition and Markets Authority provisionally clearing the deal. On 17 June last year, Bordeaux UK Holdings II (Bidco) - associated with Optum Health Solutions UK and a direct subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group - reached a mutual agreement to acquire the full issued share capital of EMIS.

Rio Tinto reported on Friday that it had reached an important milestone in its Simandou iron ore project, with the Guinean government giving the green light to build more than 600km of railway to help exports. The mining group said it had concluded agreements to create the legal framework for the development of new multi-use rail together with port facilities to export mined iron ore from far southeast of Guinea to its maritime borders and beyond.

Grocery giant J Sainsbury announced on Friday that its financial subsidiary, Sainsbury’s Bank, has sold its mortgage portfolio to the Co-operative Bank in a cash transaction worth £464m. The FTSE 100 company said the mortgage book as of 30 April was valued at £479m, and after accounting for hedging, the net asset value stood at £467m.

Copper-focussed miner Antofagasta reported significant first-half growth and progress in various sectors on Thursday, with revenue rising 14.3% year-on-year to $2.89bn. The FTSE 100 company put the growth down to higher copper and by-product sales volumes, coupled with enhanced realised by-product prices.

Persimmon said that it was on track to meet expectations for full-year profit, despite higher mortgage rates, the removal of Help-to-Buy and "significant" market uncertainty. Top line growth, excluding bulk sales, was described as "robust" at the half-year stage by the homebuilder, with private average selling prices increasing in its order book and costs savings achieved.

Spirax-Sarco Engineering presented a first-half performance broadly in line with expectations on Thursday, showing a mixture of gains and challenges across its sectors. The FTSE 100 company reported an overall revenue increase of 13%, amounting to £850.8m.

Beazley announced on Thursday that its chief financial officer Sally Lake is to leave the company next year, just two weeks after the company delivered an impressive set of results for the first half. Lake will exit the insurance group in 12 months' time, and the board will now start to look for an external successor.

Coca-Cola HBC saw its net profits more than double over the first half. Net sales revenues surged by 19.3% to €5.02bn while comparable earnings before interest and taxes was ahead by 21.2% to €560.7m.

Gambling giant Flutter Entertainment reported a return to first-half profitability on Wednesday, after a period of substantial growth, particularly in the United States. The FTSE 100 company said that on a reported basis, its profit after tax was £128m, swinging from a loss of £112m in the first half of 2022.

Logistics-focussed real estate investor Tritax EuroBox announced on Wednesday that it has finalised the sale of its warehouse asset in Hammersbach, Germany. The FTSE 250 company said the successful transaction, valued at €64.6m, was completed with an unnamed prominent pan-European real estate investment manager.

Global insurer Hiscox reported a robust set of interim financial figures on Wednesday, with its insurance contract written premiums rising 6.3% year-on-year to $2.72bn. The FTSE 100 company said net insurance contract written premiums stood at $1.95bn for the six months ended 30 June - up 11.4% from the same period last year.

UK Commercial Property REIT (UKCM) reported robust growth and stability in its £1.26bn portfolio of UK real estate in a second-quarter update on Tuesday. The FTSE 250 real estate investment trust said it observed a 0.6% uptick in its net asset value in the quarter, while the portfolio's capital value saw a similar 0.6% rise to £1.26bn, outperforming the MSCI UK Monthly Property Index, which registered a 0.4% decline over the same period.

LondonMetric Property has finalised its acquisition of CT Property Trust (CTPT), it announced on Tuesday, issuing 105.6 million new shares to CTPT shareholders. The FTSE 250 company said the new acquisition introduced a complementary range of quality assets into its portfolio, offering substantial asset management possibilities and notable rental growth potential.

Building materials group SIG reported a 23% drop in first-half profits on Tuesday, but stuck to its full-year forecasts and painted an upbeat picture around the long-term demand for sustainable construction projects. Underlying operating profits came in at £32.7m in the six months ended June 30, down from £42.5m the year before.

Wealth manager Quilter announced a 2% increase in assets under management and administration (AuMA) on Tuesday, standing at £101.7bn at the end of June. The FTSE 250 company said the rise was mainly due to favourable market movements, contributing £1.9bn, and a robust performance in its core business.

Recruitment specialist PageGroup reported a 5.8% rise in revenue in its first half on Monday, reaching £1.03bn, although it saw a dip in several profitability metrics. The FTSE 250 company said its gross profit decreased 2.2% year-on-year to £526.8m for the six months ended 30 June, while operating profit plummeted 44.6% to £63.9m.

Internet marketing platform specialist CentralNic reported a string of new strategic alliances and advancements in an update on Monday. The AIM-traded firm said its commerce media arm Zeropark has been elevated to ‘tier 1 demand partner’ status by Sovrn, a major publisher tech platform which serves 500 million active consumers daily.

Volex announced that its acquisition of Murat Ticaret had moved a step closer on Monday, as it received the go-ahead from two relevant competition regulators. The AIM-traded manufacturer of critical power and data transmission products confirmed that it had secured the necessary competition authority clearances in both Turkey and Macedonia for its acquisition of Murat Ticaret Kablo Sanayi.

Greeting cards and gifts retailer Card Factory updated the market on its trading performance for the first half of its financial year on Monday, lifting its expectations despite some economic uncertainty. The London-listed firm had indicated a promising start to the year in its preliminary results - a trend which it said had persisted.

Economic news

UK gross domestic product increased by more than expected in the second quarter of 2023, according to figures released Friday morning. The economy expanded 0.2% between April and June, the Office for National Statistics reported in its first official estimate, with growth picking up from 0.1% in the first quarter.

Heavy rain and high inflation hit UK retail sales in July, forcing firms to cut prices, a survey showed on Tuesday. The British Retail Consortium (BRC)/KPMG monthly survey said retail sales values rose 1.5% year on year, compared with the 12-month average growth rate of 3.9%. Retailers have been forced to increase promotions in an attempt to get price-conscious customers through the door.

UK house prices fell again in July but the market showed some signs of holding up thanks to first-time buyers and despite soaring mortgage costs. The average cost of a property fell 2.4% in the year to July, according to the Halifax house price index, after dropping by 2.6% in June.

International events

Consumer confidence in the US was little changed at the start of August, the results of a closely followed survey revealed. The University of Michigan's consumer confidence index dipped from a reading of 71.6 for July to 71.2 at the start of August. Economists had pencilled in a print of 71.0.

US producer price inflation ticked up in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed on Friday. Seasonally adjusted figures showed that the producer price index (PPI) increased 0.3% last month, from a revised flat reading in June. Economists were expecting a smaller rise at +0.2%.

US consumer prices inflation ticked up 0.2% in July, according to official government statistics on Thursday, matching economists' expectations. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that month-on-month growth rate in the consumer price index (CPI) remained steady with the rate seen in June.

Jobless claims rose by 248,000 in the week ended 5 August, according to statistics released Thursday by the Department of Labor. The number of people filing to receive unemployment insurance benefits for the first time increased 21,000 from 227,000 the week before.

The cost of living in the People's Republic of China fell by a tad less than expected last month. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the annual rate of increase in the country's Consumer Price Index slipped from 0.0% in June to -0.3% for July. Economists had pencilled in a drop of 0.4%.

A surprise 40% windfall tax has been levied on Italian bank profits to help households and small businesses struggling with the cost of living, the government has announced. The shock move, which still requires parliamentary approval, sent Italian stocks into a tailspin on Tuesday, with shares in UniCredit, FinecoBank, Intesa Sanpaolo and Banco BPM all down between 6% and 10% by the afternoon session in Milan.

The US central bank may have reached a point at which it no longer needs to hike interest rates further - maybe - a top official said. However, in a speech at an event hosted by the Philadelphia Business Journal, the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Fed boss, Patrick Harker, added a caveat.

America's shortfall on trade with the rest of the world narrowed in June as imports fell. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms the deficit on trade in goods and services declined by 4.1% month-on-month to reach $65.5bn.

Small business confidence in the States improved slightly last month, the results of a closely followed survey revealed. Gauges for hiring and investment intentions both improved, but the proportion of firms reporting higher selling prices fell.

China’s imports and exports slumped further than expected last month, official data showed on Tuesday, reflecting a stagnating recovery in the world's second-largest economy and increasing pressure on Beijing to provide more stimulus. Imports in July fell 12.4% year-on-year, much worse than the 5.6% forecast by economists. Exports also fell faster than expected, contracting by 14.5%, after June’s 12.4% fall.

Reporting by staff and contributors at Sharecast.com.