Informa reaffirms upgraded guidance, Vesuvius reports weakening markets

Stocks to watch

Events and digital services group Informa on Tuesday reaffirmed its recently upgraded full-year guidance and said strong forward bookings were providing momentum into 2025. The company forecast double-digit underlying revenue growth - updated for the now completed Ascential acquisition - and currency movements, which would take full year group revenue guidance to at least £3.5bn and adjusted operating profit to £975m.

Vesuvius reported weakening steel and foundry markets outside India and the EEMEA region in an update on Tuesday, with trading profit for 2024 was expected to be slightly below 2023 as its focus remained on cost efficiencies and a second £50m share buyback. The FTSE 250 company said it had achieved market share gains, cost savings, and maintained pricing. It added that the acquisition of a majority stake in Turkey's Piromet underscored its strategic expansion in the growing EEMEA market.

Newspaper round-up

Staff have resigned at Starling Bank after its new chief executive demanded thousands of workers attend its offices more regularly, despite lacking enough space to host them. In his first major policy change since taking over from the UK digital bank’s founder, Anne Boden, in March, Raman Bhatia has ordered all hybrid staff – many of whom were in the office only one or two days a week, or on an ad-hoc basis – to travel to work for a minimum of 10 days each month. – Guardian

Asos has been accused of rewarding its chief executive for “spectacular failure” after giving him a £300,000 pay rise even as the online fast-fashion retailer cut jobs and recorded widening losses. José Antonio Ramos Calamonte’s total pay rose from £814,000 to £1.17m in 2024, a 44% increase, according to its annual report, published on Monday. – Guardian

Dozens of Britain’s biggest retailers have warned Rachel Reeves that her plans to hike National Insurance will cause staff to be laid off and shops to be shut. Major companies including Tesco, M&S, Boots and B&Q have written to the Chancellor saying that job losses were now “inevitable”, as a result of the “sheer scale” of the new costs on business. – Telegraph

The private equity-owned supermarket chain Wm Morrison has almost halved its hefty debt burden as part of a turnaround effort under its new boss. Britain’s fifth-largest grocer, which was saddled with debt after its takeover by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) in 2021, said it had paid down a further £200 million of borrowings and extended the maturity of its revolving credit facility to 2030, reducing its overall leverage levels. The restructuring also included extending its term loan facilities from 2027 to 2030. – The Times

Levying big fines on big tech companies is not an effective way of keeping them in line, the UK’s privacy chief has said, in comments that have prompted a backlash from data privacy experts and transparency campaigners. John Edwards, the information commissioner, said that issuing penalties in the hundreds of millions of pounds, as his counterparts in Europe do, would only tie up his office in litigation. – The Times

US close

US stocks finished mixed on Monday ahead of a busy week for corporate earnings, though the Nasdaq managed to push higher, led by gains from Tesla.

The Dow fell for the third straight session, falling 0.1% to 43,389.60; while the S&P 500 gained 0.4% to 5,893.62 and the Nasdaq finished 0.6% higher at 18,791.81, snapping a four-day losing streak.

Monday was a quiet day for economic data. The only major release was the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing market index, which rose to 46 in November, up from 43 in October.

November's print was the highest reading in seven months and above market expectations for a reading of 44. Current sales conditions rose by two points to 49, while sales expectations went up by seven points to 64.

Shares in electric carmaker Tesla surged following news that president-elect Donald Trump would look to establish a federal framework for fully self-driving vehicles and make it the Department of Transportation's priority number one.