UKX FTSE 100 Index

FTSE 100 Rises After Wall Street Gains on Fed Decision

0845 GMT - The FTSE 100 rises 0.6% to 7806 points following a rally in U.S. stocks overnight after the Federal Reserve further slowed the pace of interest rate rises to 25 basis points on Wednesday. "During Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference, equities started turning higher when the Chair said that the 'disinflation process has started'," Deutsche Bank analysts write. The focus now turns to the Bank of England and European Central Bank, which announce rate decisions at 1200 GMT and 1315 GMT respectively. Shell shares rise 1.4% after the energy giant announced record annual profits. Telecoms companies BT and Airtel Africa fall 1.1% and 5.1% respectively after both reporting lower pre-tax profit for the nine months to December 31. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

 
Companies News: 

Airtel Africa 3Q Pretax Profit Fell on Rising Costs

Airtel Africa PLC said Thursday that third-quarter pretax profit fell despite a revenue increase, due to inflationary pressures across its markets.

---

Superdry CEO Julian Dunkerton Has No Plans to Take Company Private

Superdry PLC founder and Chief Executive Officer Julian Dunkerton said Thursday that he has no plans to take the company private.

---

BT Group Nine-Month Pretax Profit Fell Depreciation Offset Ebitda Growth

BT Group PLC said Thursday that nine-month pretax profit fell due to increased depreciation that offset earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization growth.

---

Shell Joins US Oil Majors in Posting Record 2022 Profit

LONDON--Shell PLC became the latest oil giant to post record annual profit last year, joining U.S. peers in surging back from early pandemic losses on soaring energy prices.

---

Cranswick Says 3Q Revenue Grew; Sees In-Line FY 2023 Outlook

Cranswick PLC on Thursday said its full-year outlook remains in line with the board's expectations as it saw revenue growth accelerating in the third quarter of fiscal 2023.

---

Shell Joins U.S. Oil Majors in Posting Record 2022 Profit -- WSJ

By Jenny Strasburg

---

JTC Sees Double-Digit 2022 Revenue Growth; Ebitda at Top End of Market Views

JTC PLC said Thursday that for 2022 it booked double-digit net organic revenue growth and that underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization will be at the top end of the range of market expectations

---

James Halstead Sees 1H Pretax Profit Slipping But Remains Positive for FY 2023

James Halstead PLC said Thursday that it expects profit for the first half of fiscal 2023 to be slightly hit by continued though improving headwinds, and expectations for the full-year performance remain positive.

---

ScS Group 10-Weeks Order Intake Rose; To Meet FY 2023 Market Views

ScS Group PLC said Thursday that like-for-like order intake rose in the last 10 weeks and that it is on track to meet fiscal 2023 market expectations.

---

Hotel Chocolat Appoints Jon Akehurst as CFO

Hotel Chocolat Group PLC said Thursday that it has appointed Jon Akehurst as chief financial officer with effect in May 2023.

---

Safestyle Sees 2022 Swing to Underlying Pretax Loss, Revenue Rising

Safestyle UK PLC said Thursday that it expects to swing to an underlying pretax loss for the year ended Jan. 1, in-line with market expectations, and revenue to rise.

---

Shell Adds $41 Billion in Profit to Record Annual Haul From Oil Majors -- WSJ

By Jenny Strasburg

---

BT Group Nine-Month Pretax Profit Fell as Depreciation Offset Ebitda Growth -- Update

BT Group PLC said Thursday that nine-month pretax profit fell due to increased depreciation that offset earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization growth.

---

Renishaw 1H Pretax Profit Fell on Higher Costs

Renishaw PLC said Thursday that pretax profit fell for the first half of fiscal 2023 after it higher costs, and that weaker demand in the semiconductor and electronics sectors was offset by revenue growth from strategic priorities.

---

Dillistone Expects to Report 2022 Revenue Growth on Improving Performance

Dillistone Group PLC said Thursday that it expects to report full-year revenue growth for 2022 after improving performance trends continued through the second half.

---

Altona Rare Earths Now Raise GBP1.3 Mln Ahead of Delayed AIM IPO

Altona Rare Earths PLC said Thursday that it now plans to raise 1.3 million pounds ($1.6 million) through a share placing ahead of a planned initial public offering on London's junior AIM, after a previous fundraise expired.

---

Shell 4Q Net Profit Boosted by Higher LNG, Deferred Taxes -- Energy Comment

Shell PLC on Thursday reported a 54% rise in net profit for the fourth quarter compared with the earlier quarter, which it attributed to higher liquefied natural gas trading and optimization results, favorable deferred tax movements and partly offset by lower realized oil and gas prices, and higher operating expenses. Here's what the energy giant had to say:

---

PCI-PAL 1H Revenue Rose, Sees FY 2023 in Line With Views

PCI-PAL PLC said Thursday that first-half revenue rose and that adjusted Ebitda loss was better than expected as the group pipeline continues to grow.

---

Xpediator Shares Rise as 2022 Pretax Profit Seen Ahead of Views

Shares in Xpediator PLC rose 13% on Thursday after the company said that it expects to report 2022 revenue at just below 400 million pounds ($494.9 million) with adjusted pretax profit significantly ahead of previous management guidance of GBP9.0 million.

 
Market Talk: 

BT Group's 2023 Won't Only Be Plain Sailing

0845 GMT - BT Group has tailwinds in 2023 but it won't all be plain sailing, Jefferies's Jerry Dellis and Yi Hsin Yeoh say in a research note. The U.K. telecommunications company approaches fiscal 2024 supported by an around GBP700 million pricing tailwind, a competitive consumer market and accelerating fiber-to-the-premise monetization, they say. While the wage deal improves visibility on costs, the company faces free cash flow compression in fiscal 2024 and upside risk to the pension deficit, they add. Jefferies has a buy rating on the stock with a 190.00 price target. Shares trade down 0.9% at 122.75 pence. (kyle.morris@dowjones.com)

Bunzl's Walmart Contract Extension Is Favorable, Says RBC

0838 GMT - Bunzl's renegotiation of terms with its largest customer in the U.S.--which RBC Capital Markets identifies as Walmart--is a key positive and removes an overhang to the stock, the Canadian bank says in a note. "Residual 'consolidate & source' contracts now down to just c.5% of revenues which should lead to greater revenue certainty going forwards," analysts Karl Green and Andrew Brooke say. They estimate Walmart represents around 8% of group sales and note the retention of the client, while limiting its exposure to future customer-negotiated product deflation and preserving economies of scale, is an important milestone. RBC has a sector perform rating on the stock. Shares rise 2.6% at 3,058.0 pence. (elena.vardon@wsj.com)

Shell's Record 2022 Profit Allow It to Flex Fiscal Muscles

0823 GMT - Shell has posted record annual profits, erasing the financial pain from the pandemic on a combination of higher prices, trading and refining margins, Interactive Investor head of markets Richard Hunter says in a comment. The energy major has flexed its financial muscles on a massive scale, reducing net debt, introducing a $4 billion share buyback and increasing the dividend--a healthy additional to any capital return on shares, Hunter says. "Over the last year, the shares have [risen] 22%, as compared to a gain of 2.3% for the wider FTSE 100, and the market consensus of the shares as a buy is reflective of Shell's ongoing position as an important constituent of most portfolios," he says. Shares are up 0.9% at 2,388.0 pence. (joseph.hoppe@wsj.com)

Contact: London NewsPlus; paul.larkins@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 02, 2023 04:04 ET (09:04 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.