Weekly review

Equity view

Woodside Energy reported a 7% quarter-on-quarter decline in output to 44.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day over the three days ending in March. Quarterly revenue therefore shrank 12% versus the prior three-month stretch to reach $2.7bn as a result of lower prices and volumes.

Old Mutual clinched approval from the Prudential Authority to set up a bank subject to specific licence conditions. That allows Old Mutual to move to the testing phase with selected bank partners, which if successful would see OM Bank integrate into the National Payments System.

Shares in gambling group 888 Holdings rose on Friday after the company delivered first-quarter revenues ahead of guidance and reiterated its confidence in hitting full-year targets. The William Hill, 888 and Mr Green owner said revenues came in at £431m, down from £446m in the first quarter last year but up 2% on the fourth quarter and above the £420-430m guided to at its full-year results last month.

Home REIT announced the successful exchange of 65 properties on Friday, at a public auction held on 18 April. The company said the sale yielded gross proceeds of £15.9m, accounting for 4.8% of its portfolio value based on JLL's August draft valuation.

Electronics specialist DiscoverIE said group sales for the year to March 31 were 1% ahead of last year on a constant currency basis, after two years of strong growth when the rose 48%. Net revenue growth of 2% from acquisitions, less disposals, was partly offset by a 1% reduction in organic sales with customers processing inventory reductions in the middle part of the year, the company added.

National Grid has lifted its profit guidance for the year to 31 March after an accounting change due to a tax relief change announced by the government. The multinational electricity and gas utility group said underlying earnings per share are now expected to be "in line" with the period year at actual exchange rates.

Low-cost airline easyJet reported a significant reduction in its winter losses in an update on Thursday, of more than £50m year-on-year, as demand for flights and holidays continued to rise, particularly for the upcoming summer season. The FTSE 100 carrier said it saw a particularly strong revenue performance in its second quarter, with an 8% year-on-year increase in both passengers and revenue per seat (RPS), surpassing mid-single digit guidance.

Rentokil Initial reported revenue of £1.27bn in a first quarter update on Thursday, making for a 0.9% increase at actual exchange rates, while at constant exchange rates, revenue advanced 4.9% to £1.29b. The FTSE 100 company attributed 3.1% of that to organic revenue growth, driven by continued pricing momentum.

Mining giant Rio Tinto on Wednesday held annual production guidance, despite a sharp fall in first-quarter iron ore shipments and production. Iron ore production from Western Australia Pilbara assets fell 11% quarter on quarter to 78 million tonnes. Shipments were down 5% year on year to 78 million tonnes, and were 10% behind the fourth quarter. Rio cited weather disruptions leading to a lower stock drawdown compared to last year as the cause.

Entain reported an in line performance for its first quarter. In a trading update, boss Stella David said management was "particularly encouraged" by customer engagement in the US with its first quarter performance having been bolstered by "strong" performances in many of its markets.

Provisional rough diamond sales from Anglo-American's De Beers' unit fell to $445m in the third sales cycle compared with $542m a year ago amid a subdued market. The figure was up from the prior cycle’s $431m. "Many diamond businesses are continuing to take a cautious approach to purchases amidst the uncertain economic landscape and the slow pace of growth in China,” said De Beers chief executive Al Cook.

GSK unveiled encouraging outcomes from a pivotal phase three trial on Wednesday, on the potential of gepotidacin as an oral treatment for uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhoea (GC), amid escalating resistance to current therapies. The FTSE 100 pharmaceutical giant said the trial’s primary endpoint, microbiological response at the test-of-cure (ToC) visit, showed a 92.6% success rate, rendering it non-inferior to the leading combination therapy comprising intramuscular (IM) ceftriaxone and oral azithromycin.

Vodafone announced the appointment of Marika Auramo as chief executive of Vodafone Business on Tuesday, effective from 1 July. The FTSE 100 telecoms provider described Auramo as a respected business leader with more than 25 years of experience in the global IT industry, adding that she would also join its executive committee from the same date.

Moneysupermarket Group reported continued growth in insurance segments in its first quarter on Tuesday, with overall revenue up 8% at £114.6m. The FTSE 250 price comparison platform said it saw a robust performance in the insurance sector, where revenue jumped 21% year-on-year in the three months ended 31 March, to £61.4m.

Plus500 reported a solid first-quarter performance in an update on Tuesday, with the company tracking ahead of market expectations for the 2024 financial year. The FTSE 250 firm recorded a 4% increase in revenue year-on-year to $215.6m, and a 2% rise in EBITDA to $102.6m, with an EBITDA margin of 48% for the three months ended 31 March.

Global payments technology company Wise continued to enjoy a strong uptake for its services during the last quarter of its fiscal year. "Our continued customer growth laps strong results and tells us that the investments that we're making are meeting real needs, giving me confidence that we're progressing well on our mission," the company's chief executive officer, Kristo Käärmann, said.

B&Q and Screwfix owner Kingfisher has announced that chair Andrew Cosslett will step down after seven years at the helm of the board. Cosslett has decided not to stand for re-election at the company's AGM in June and will be succeeded by Claudia Arney, who has been an independent non-executive director since 2018 and is currently chair of the remuneration committee.

Great Portland Estates announced on Monday that British luxury brand Represent had agreed to open its new London flagship store at the company’s 135/141 Wardour Street property in Soho. The FTSE 250 firm said the shop, spanning 5,000 square feet across two floors, would mark the brand's second global outlet after its successful store in West Hollywood, Los Angeles.

Business and industrial park specialist Sirius Real Estate said in an update on Monday that, despite prevailing macroeconomic challenges, it achieved a 8.2% increase in overall rent roll in the financial year just ended, or 7.2% on a like-for-like basis. The FTSE 250 company said that marked the 10th consecutive year of achieving like-for-like rent roll growth of over 5%, with similar levels attained in both the UK and Germany.

Ceres Power posted higher full-year sales and gross profits and said that it was on track for a "strong" 2024. "After a challenging 2023, Ceres is already on track for a strong year in 2024, underpinned by a significant new licence deal with Delta, our first to include SOEC," chief executive officer Phil >Caldwell said.

Economic news

Thames Water has submitted a revised business plan to regulators, proposing an increase in bills of 56%, it was reported on Friday. The plan, reported by the Times, would see average annual bills nearing £700 for the troubled utility’s 16 million customers. It would see charges rise over next five years, making for a substantial escalation from previous estimates.

UK consumer confidence hit its highest level in two years in the first quarter of 2024 as inflation eased, according to a survey released by Deloitte on Friday. The Deloitte Consumer Tracker rose 6.5 percentage points on the same period a year earlier. This marked the sixth consecutive increase and put the measure at its best level since the third quarter of 2021.

UK retail sales were flat in March, undershooting expectations, according to figures released on Friday by the Office for National Statistics. Retail sales were unchanged on the month following a revised 0.1% jump in February and versus expectations for a 0.3% increase.

The annual fall in UK house prices eased to just 0.2% in February, its lowest rate of decline in eight months, according to figures released on Wednesday by the Office for National Statistics, while rent inflation reached a record high. The average price of a house in February was £281,000, with the year-on-year decline slowing from -1.3% in the 12 months to January.

UK inflation fell to its lowest in three and a half years last month, but eased less than expected, which is likely to prompt caution from the Bank of England to get price pressures in check before cutting interest rates. The consumer price index rose at a year-on-year rate of 3.2% in March, down from 3.4% in February but ahead of the 3.0% expected by analysts.

Interest rate cuts by central banks across Europe is "the direction of travel", according to the incoming deputy governor of monetary policy at the Bank of England, though the timing for monetary easing is still uncertain. Clare Lombardelli, the current chief economist of the OECD who will join the BoE this summer, told a House of Commons Treasury Committee hearing on Tuesday that monetary loosening was likely over the coming months but refused to predict when the first rate cut would cut.

The UK's unemployment rate rose by 4.2%, official data revealed on Tuesday, with the number of people classed as "economically inactive" on the rise while employers started to cut back on hirings. Unemployment total rose by 85,000 in the three months to February to 1.44 million, taking the jobless rate to its highest level since the summer of 2023. The number of people in employment fell by 156,000 in the quarter to 32.98 million.

International events

Israel struck a target in the central Iranian province of Isfahan, where the country's nuclear installations are located. The province was also the location of the air base from which Iran had launched drones against Israel one week before. According to two officials cited by CBS News, the BBC's US partner, an Israeli missile had struck Iran.

German industrial producer prices fell 2.9% in March year on year, driven by lower energy prices, the federal statistics agency said on Friday. Prices rose by 0.2% compared with February, it added. Energy prices in March were down 7% annually and unchanged versus February 2024.

New car registrations in the European Union dropped in March, with the timing of the Easter holidays hammering sales, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association or ACEA. Sales across the bloc totalled 1.03m last month, down 5.2% on March 2023, following annual increases of 12.1% and 10.1% in January and February, respectively. This was the worst year-on-year decline in sales since November 2022.

Existing home sales in the US dipped last month. According to the National Association of Realtors, in seasonally adjusted terms the number of existing home sales dropped at a month-on-month pace of 4.3% to reach 4.19m. Economists had penciled-in a decline to 4.2m.

Manufacturing sector conditions in the US mid-Atlantic region improved unexpectedly in April, the results of a closely-followed survey revealed. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's factory sector index rose from 3.2 in March to 15.5 in April (consensus: 1.5).

Eurozone construction sparked in February, official data showed on Thursday, up notably on the previous month. According to first estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, seasonally-adjusted production in construction increased by 1.8% in February in both the Eurozone and wider bloc.

The March slowdown in eurozone inflation was confirmed on Wednesday, with consumer price growth matching the 28-month low set last November. According to the final estimate of the eurozone's harmonised index of consumer prices, released by Eurostat, the annual rate of inflation fell to 2.4% last month – in line with the initial estimate released two weeks ago and matching consensus forecasts.

Builders broke ground on fewer new homes last month than anticipated. According to the US Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms housing starts dropped at a month-on-month pace of 14.7% in March to reach an annual rate of 1.321m (consensus: 1.48m). Starts for single family homes fell by 12.4% to 1.022m.

Investor morale in Germany improved by more than expected this month, a closely-watched survey showed on Tuesday. The latest ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment came in at 42.9, a rise of 11.2 points on March and well ahead of analyst expectations, for 35.1.

The number of air travellers in China surged to above pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter of 2024, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China on Tuesday. Passenger traffic reached a record quarterly high of nearly 180m over the first three months of the year, up 38% on a year earlier and 10% higher than the first quarter of 2019.

Economic growth in China unexpectedly picked up in the first three months of the year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, though separate data revealed that momentum had eased somewhat by March. The news sent Asian stock markets into a tailspin overnight, with the Nikkei 225 and Hang Seng both dropping 2% each, after economic data underwhelmed.

Industrial output in the eurozone rebounded slightly in February after a significant downturn the month before, according to figures released on Monday by Eurostat. Seasonally adjusted industrial production was up 0.8% over the month, following a 3.0% drop in January, which was revised up from the initial reading of -3.2%. The reading was in line with economists' projections.

Reporting by Sharecast.com staff and contributors.