Weekly review

Equity view

Computacenter on Friday lifted full-year profits guidance after trading continued strongly until the end of the year driven by sales to public sector and services-based customers.

Mediclinic International's third-quarter revenue rose 2.5% as the private healthcare group experienced unusually high inpatient levels in southern Africa and the Middle East.

IT provider Kainos Group lifted full-year guidance as it reported strong trading momentum towards the end of 2020.

Treatt shares jumped to a record after the ingredients supplier predicted annual profit would be well above market expectations.

Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain reported flat full-year net gaming revenue (NGR), with online gambling offsetting the closures of betting shops due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

IG Group is to expand its US presence after agreeing a $1bn deal to acquire American broker tastytrade, the online trader announced on Thursday, as it posted record interim numbers.

Tate & Lyle has appointed Vivid Sehgal as its chief financial officer with effect from 1 May.

4imprint, a direct marketer of promotional products, said that full-year underlying pre-tax profit is set to be in line with the board’s expectations, as the order intake continues to recover.

Online trading platform CMC Markets said on Wednesday that full-year net operating income is set to be at the upper end of market expectations following a continued strong performance, underpinned by high client income retention.

Temporary power provider Aggreko said on Wednesday that 2020 pre-tax profit is set to be above the top end of its previous guidance range as activity levels across a number of its markets continue to recover.

BHP said it produced a strong operational performance in the first half but that it would take a charge of up to $1.25bn (£910m) on its coal operation in New South Wales.

South America-focused Hochschild Mining lifted 2021 output guidance after full-year production came in at the upper end of forecasts, despite Covid-19 pandemic disruption.

Engineering company Wood Group said it had won a $130m services contract from Spirit Energy to extend the life of its Morecambe Bay gas fields in the UK.

Credit-checking firm Experian said on Tuesday that its third-quarter performance was better than it had expected, with organic revenue growth of 7% despite the pandemic.

Premier Foods has upped its full-year profit guidance, after the introduction of fresh lockdown restrictions saw people spend more on eating at home during the key festive trading season.

Online gambling company 888 Holdings said on Tuesday that it has agreed to a multi-year extension of its exclusive B2B poker partnership with Caesars Interactive Entertainment.

Telecommunications testing firm Spirent said full-year profits were expected to be in line with expectations after a strong fourth quarter driven by work on 5G infrastructure.

Animal genetics company Genus said on Monday that profit growth for the year ending 30 June 2021 is set to be ahead of its previous expectations following a strong first-half trading performance.

LXI REIT said on Monday that it was lifting its quarterly dividend guidance following "robust" rent collection.

Centrica Chief Financial Officer Johnathan Ford has quit after seven months in the job in the middle of a turnaround plan for Britain's biggest energy supplier.

Economic news

The UK borrowed £34.1bn in December, exceeding forecasts and recording the highest level for that month on record as Covid-19 forced the government to issue more debt, official figures showed.

Business activity tumbled in January as the third lockdown took its toll, putting the UK on course for a double-dip recession, according to a survey released on Friday.

UK factory output flattened in January after more than a year of declines but production is expected to drop again after orders fell, a survey showed.

Demand for mortgages is expected to ease in the coming months, a Bank of England survey of UK lenders found on Thursday, while borrowing on credit cards is set to rise.

UK inflation nudged higher in December, official data showed on Wednesday, despite the latest round of lockdown restrictions closing many shops and leisure outlets.

Britain’s exit from the European Union is the cause of 2,500 finance jobs and €170bn in assets moving to France, said the governor of the Bank of France on Wednesday.

The Confederation of British Industry has called on the chancellor to extend the furlough scheme, warning that companies had been hit hard by the latest round of lockdown restrictions.

One in three people have had payments refused and have been unable to pay in cash since the start of the pandemic, shows Which?.

Visits to UK shops continued to fall in the second full week of lockdown but the rate of decline was less than under the first Covid-19 shutdown, a survey showed.

A group of high profile names in the film industry have written an open letter calling for government support cinemas that are struggling due to the onslaught of the pandemic.

International events

Eurozone business activity fell faster in January as companies were affected by the Covid-19 crisis and tightening restrictions, a survey showed.

Business activity in the US jumped at the start of 2021 amid hopes that Covid-19 vaccines would put an end to the pandemic and in anticipation of the new administration's policies, the results of two surveys showed.

Manufacturing conditions in the Philadelphia region improved significantly in January, according to a survey released on Thursday.

China has imposed sanctions on 28 Trump administration officials including former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for violating its sovereignty.

Eurozone inflation dipped in line with expectations in December as declines in countries such as Greece and Ireland offset rising prices in Poland and Hungary, official figures showed.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged US President-elect Joe Biden on the day of his inauguration to return to the 2015 nuclear deal and to lift the sanctions on the Middle Eastern country.

The US needs to take "act big" to counter the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen was expected to say at her Senate confirmation hearing later on Tuesday,

German investor sentiment improved more than expected in January despite the Covid-19 crisis, according to the latest survey from the ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim.

China’s economy grew by 2.3% in 2020 in a sharp rebound from the coronavirus pandemic which tore through the country in the early part of the year, according to official figures released on Monday.

The head of the World Health Organisation called for what he said would be a more equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines globally, warning that it was more important than ever given the appearance of new strains of the novel coronavirus.