Burberry launches strategic review, Spirax maintains full-year outlook

Stocks to watch

Luxury goods brand Burberry on Thursday suspended its dividend and launched a strategic review of the business in an “urgent” effort to turnaround its struggling fortunes after slumping to a £80m half-year loss. The company said “Burberry forward” would focus on “reconnecting our brand with its original purpose and leveraging our strengths ... to attract a broad base of luxury customers”. The loss compares with a £223m profit a year earlier. Revenues plunged 22% to £1.08bn.

Fluid technology and thermal solutions group Spirax has left its full-year outlook unchanged after increasing organic sales across all three of its businesses in the third quarter despite ongoing macroeconomic challenges. The company said it continues to expect mid-single digit organic revenue growth in 2024 with an adjusted operating profit margin of 20%, in line with last year when adjusted for currency headwinds.

Newspaper round-up

The struggling DIY chain Homebase has collapsed into administration, leaving thousands of workers facing an uncertain future, despite the purchase of the bulk of its stores by the owner of The Range homeware retailer. Gavin Park, Gavin Maher and Adele Macleod from the financial advisory firm Teneo were appointed as joint administrators of Homebase’s owners, HHGL Limited and Hampden Group Limited. – Guardian

P&O Ferries spent more than £47m on sacking hundreds of UK seafarers in 2022, according to its long overdue accounts that will be published in the coming days. The filings, which the Guardian has seen, confirm the financial cost of the company’s actions two and a half years ago when it outraged the public and parliament by dismissing 786 mainly British ferry workers – and then largely replacing them with low-cost agency staff from countries including India, the Philippines and Malaysia. – Guardian

Boohoo has urged shareholders to reject Mike Ashley’s attempts to take control of the fashion brand, claiming the Sports Direct billionaire could have “ulterior motives” in his approach. The fast fashion company has written to investors calling for them to vote against demands being made by its largest shareholder Frasers, which is seeking to add its founder Mr Ashley to the Boohoo board, along with Mike Lennon, its restructuring expert. – Telegraph

Consumer group Which? has launched a £3 billion claim against Apple, claiming the tech giant has breached competition law by “forcing its iCloud services on customers”. It says Apple has encouraged users to sign up to iCloud to store photos, videos and other data and is therefore favouring its own products, while simultaneously making it difficult to use alternative providers, ultimately stifling competition. – The Times

An independent interest rate setter at the Bank of England who has consistently favoured restrictive monetary policy said on Wednesday that she is prepared to “move big” on cutting interest rates once it is clear inflation has stabilised. Catherine Mann, an external member of the monetary policy committee (MPC), said that “when I have evidence that there has been a removal or sufficient moderation of inflation persistence, then I will move at a bigger step”. – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks delivered a mixed performance on Wednesday as market participants digested fresh inflation data.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.11% at 43,958.19, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.02% to 5,985.38 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.26% softer at 19,230.73.

The Dow closed 47.21 points higher on Wednesday, doing little to reclaim losses recorded in the previous session as major indices took a break from their recent post-election rally.

Wednesday's primary focus was news that the US consumer price index increased to 315.66 points in October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, up from 315.30 points in September.

The reading will likely play a big part in influencing the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decisions going forward.