Hargreaves Lansdown reports £3.3bn in new business

Miranda Wadham
-
0
Hargreaves Lansdown reports £3.3bn in new business
Investment provider Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:HL) brought in £3.3 billion worth of new business in the four months to April 30th, helped by an increase in digital marketing and ongoing wealth consolidation on its platform. Total new business for the year to date hit £6.6 billion, up from £5.6 billion last year, despite a 0.6 percent fall in market growth. Assets under administration stood at £88.8 billion as of 30 April. Year-to-date total revenue came in at £366.6 million, up 16 percent from the same period a year ago. “Hargreaves Lansdown had another good tax year end, delivering strong net new business of £3.3 billion over the busiest time of our year and welcoming another 60,000 net new clients,’ Chris Hill, the group’s CEO, commented.
Net revenue for the period rose to £150.6 million, after benefitting from “net new business, higher market levels than last year and strong share dealing volumes”.
Shares in Hargreaves Lansdown are currently trading down 0.40 percent at 1,867.50 (0955GMT).

Vodafone shares fall despite moving into profit for the full year

Miranda Wadham
-
0
Vodafone shares fall despite moving into profit for the full year
Vodafone (LON:VOD) shares sunk nearly 4 percent on Tuesday morning, despite moving into profit for the full year to March. Net profit for the year hit €2.79 billion, compared to a loss a year earlier of €6.08 billion due to a large tax expense. Operating profit also rose, up 15.4 percent to €4.3 billion, despite a 2.2 percent fall in revenue to €46.6 billion due to the deconsolidation of Vodafone Netherlands and FX movements. The group also announced that chief executive Vittorio Colao will be replaced in October by current chief financial officer Nick Read. Deputy CFO Margherita Della Valle will become CFO when Read moves into the top job. Vodafone declared a final dividend of 10.23 cents per share on Tuesday, up 2.0 percent, with a total dividend per share of 15.07 euro cents. Shares in Vodafone are currently trading down 3.67 percent at 199.60 (0935GMT).

easyJet shares rise on narrowing full-year loss

Miranda Wadham
-
0
easyJet shares rise on narrowing full-year loss
Budget airline EasyJet (LON:EZJ) narrowed their losses in the first half of the year, sending shares up nearly 3 percent in early morning trading. In the six months to the end of March EasyJet reported a total loss before tax of £68 million, a large improvement on the £236 million in the first six months of 2017. The continuing loss was mainly due costs associated with the expansion of operations at Berlin’s Tegel airport. Headline cost per seat excluding fuel rose by 2.2 percent to £43.11, up by 1.6 percent at constant currency. The group’s figure was influenced by increased loads, inflationary costs and the hit from severe weather. Revenue per seat trend is expected to be slightly positive in the second half of the year, rising 10.9 percent to £54.10 in the first half of the year. Full-year profits to be between £530 million and £580 million. “Total revenue was above £2bn for the first time, up almost 20 per cent year on year. This was driven by a record number of passengers at 37 million and our highest ever ancillary sales due to giving passengers more options and lower prices on hold luggage along with our improved inflight bistro,” said Johan Lundgren, easyJet Chief Executive. Shares in easyJet are currently trading up 2.88 percent at 1,753.00 (0925GMT).

Uber announce new European boss

Safiya Bashir
-
0
Uber announce new European boss
Former Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) director Jamie Heywood has been appointed as Uber’s new Northern and Eastern European boss. Heywood is replacing former European chief Jo Bertram, who left the group after transport regulators removed Uber from London last year. Amazon’s former director will join Uber and be responsible for the ride-sharing app in over 70 cities and 12 countries where the app is used by over 110,000 drivers and around eight million riders. Many cities have had issues with the car-hailing group over issues including sexual assaults to the use of software to dodge regulators. “I’m delighted that Jamie is joining Uber to lead our operations across Northern and Eastern Europe,” said the European chief Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty. “His wide-range of international experience in both regulated industries and scaling fast-growing businesses will be invaluable for the next phase of Uber’s development.” “Jamie’s leadership will also be crucial as we implement major changes across Europe including more safety features, improvements for drivers and a new approach to partnering with cities,” he added. Heywood will take to his new role at the company later this month. “I’m really looking forward to joining Uber at a time of exciting change and growth for the company,” he said. Having been banned from London from a “lack of corporate responsibility”, the company will have a London licence appeal hearing on 25 June where a judge will decide if the group are able to continue operating in the capital. The group recently acquired New York City-based e-bike startup, Jump Bikes in a deal estimated to be worth £100 million in cash and stock. The CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, said in a blog post that the deal would help in his mission of “bringing together multiple modes of transportation within the Uber app—so that you can choose the fastest or most affordable way to get where you’re going, whether that’s in an Uber, on a bike, on the subway, or more.”  

Retail footfall experiencing an “unprecedented” decline

Nicole Jeary
-
2
Retail footfall experiencing an “unprecedented” decline
Retail footfall fell by 3.3 per cent last month according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Springboard. The considerable decline was attributed to poor weather conditions and lower dispensable incomes. Whilst a lower decline than the 6 per cent recorded in March, it still marked an “unprecedented” 4.8 per cent decline over the two months. Diane Wehrle, of Springboard, commented on the figures: “Not since the depths of recession in 2009 has footfall over March and April declined to such a degree.” “Even then the drop was less severe at minus 3.8 per cent.” 2018 has market a difficult year thus far for retail, with high street giants such as Toys R Us and Maplins closing their doors. Moreover, the Visa consumer spending index, also revealed today, showed that spending in stores to have fallen 5.4 percent in April compared to the same period the year previously. Whilst shoppers have been turning to the convenience of online, UK online retail sales growth similarly slowed to 12.1 per cent in 2017, according to the latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index. What’s more, forecasts for 2018 are also set to slow, in part due to rising inflation rates and wages pressures.    

British gas owner Centrica loses 110,000 accounts

Nicole Jeary
-
2
British gas owner Centrica loses 110,000 accounts
British gas owner Centrica (LON:CNA) lost 110,000 accounts in the first four months of the year. Despite the loss in customers, Centrica said it remains set to meet its full-year targets, sending shares up on Monday morning.
Amid higher energy prices, the company shed almost 1.3 million energy accounts in last year alone.
Moreover, the company was also hit by a surge in call-outs related to boiler breakages, as a result of unseasonably cold weather.
The so-called “Beast from the East” necessitated the fixing of 145,000 boilers in a week.
However, these pressures were mitigated by growth in its Connect Home business.
Connected Home, which supplies smart home products, saw revenue rise 37 per cent in the first half of the year.
Centrica said it intends to continues to aim for “doubling” of revenue in the businesses for the ear with 500,000 new customers.
Last week British gas, which is the UK’s largest energy provider, confirmed customers would see a 5.5 percent rise in prices, affecting some 4.1 million customers.
The price rises were condemned by the government last week, branding the energy price hikes “unjustified”.
Energy minister Claire Perry said: “We are disappointed by British Gas’s announcement of an unjustified price rise in its default tariff when customers are already paying more than they need to.”
Commenting on the decision, Mark Hodges, chief executive of Centrica Consumer, said:
“We fully understand that any price increase adds extra pressure on customers’ household bills. This increase we are announcing today is reflective of the costs we are seeing which are beyond our control.”
However, the company attributed the rise in bills to the additional prices it faced as a result of government legislation.
Mr Hodges added:
“Government policies, intended to transform the energy system, are important but they are putting pressure on customers’ bills. We believe government should level the playing field so the customers of all suppliers pay a fair share of energy policy costs,” Mr Hodges said.
“We continue to encourage government to consider moving these costs out of energy bills altogether and into general taxation.”
Shares in Centrica are currently trading -0.034 percent as of 11.05AM (GMT).
Shopper

Entertainment One shares fall 2pc after ABC cancels Designated Survivor

Safiya Bashir
-
1
Entertainment One shares fall 2pc after ABC cancels Designated Survivor
Shares in Entertainment One (LON: ETO) dropped over two percent in early trading after the Canadian producer warned of the “modest” profit hit it could face next year. The group warned of lower earnings after ABC cancelled the political drama Designated Survivor after the second season, a political conspiracy thriller starring Kiefer Sutherland as the US president. The FTSE 250-listed group insisted there would be no impact on its annual results, which will be released next week. “There may be a modest impact on next year’s earnings, depending on the outcome of discussions with other parties,” said Entertainment One. “However the Group remains on track to deliver against its stated strategic management expectations for the future.” The group told the London Stock Exchange in a statement that it is in “active discussions with other parties for further series of the show”. The cancelled series saw high ratings and viewing figures throughout the first season, which then plummeted during the second season. The group’s flagship show is Peppa Pig, which has continued to perform well in the UK and Australia but “significant demand” in China has been driving growth. “The Peppa Pig children’s series remains a big driver for the company as it performs well in mature markets like the UK and Australia and expands in newer geographies like China and Japan,” said Russ Mould, AJ Bell investment director. “Being too closely tied to one blockbuster franchise is a risk though, as investors in Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury could attest. Bloomsbury traded close to £4 when Pottermania was at its height in the mid-noughties but now changes hands for just 176p.”

Dignity results boosted by uptake in premium services

Miranda Wadham
-
0
Dignity results boosted by uptake in premium services
Funeral planner Dignity (LON:DTY) recorded stronger than expected results for the first quarter of the year, with a higher death rate and an increased interest in premium services boosting figures. Revenue rose 2 percent to £95.1 million, up from £93.3 million, with underlying operating profit coming in at £37.5 million, a slight increase from £37.4 million. The absolute number of deaths rose by 8 percent on the same period last year, with the group saying that it expects ‘at least’ the same number of deaths as last year, which was 590,000. ‘While the first quarter produced a much stronger result than we had anticipated when implementing the price changes in January, the current year is all about completing our review of our funeral business and ensuring we provide the excellent service our clients expect from us. “We will also continue to demonstrate industry leadership by calling for stronger regulation in the funeral plan sector to protect customers,’ said Mike McCollum, Chief Executive of Dignity. Shares in Dignity (LON:DTY) are currently trading up 3.04 percent at 1,253.00 (1028GMT).

Church of England investment returns failed to impress in 2017

Miranda Wadham
-
0
Church of England investment returns failed to impress in 2017
The Church of England’s investment returns dropped slightly in the 2017 financial year, after its set of impressive figures in 2016. Investable assets increased to £8.3 billion in 2017, up from from £7.9 billion in 2016. However, its total return on investments in 2017 was 7.1 percent, lower than its target of 9.1 percent and far lower than 2016’s impressive return of 17.1 percent. In a statement, the Church Commissioners said they were preparing for higher interest rates, higher volatility and lower returns than recent years. First Church Estates Commissioner Loretta Minghella said its investment focus was about “consistency over the long term”. “The macro economic environment is changing and anticipating muted returns in the future we will continue to develop our focus on non-traditional asset classes,” she added. The group said that active management in 2017 was an important contributor to gains in public equities and real assets, while bond markets remained weak. “Sterling strength had an impact on performance, as did being globally diversified across multiple asset classes, resulting in the fund doing less well than equities markets which were the strongest source of returns in 2017.”

Caledonia shares wobbled despite 35pc rise in profits

Miranda Wadham
-
0
Caledonia shares wobbled despite 35pc rise in profits
South African mining company Caledonia (LON:CMCL) reported a 35 percent rise in profit over the first quarter of the year, boosted by lower costs and higher gold prices. Adjusted earnings rose 51 percent over the three month period, with net attributable profit up 34.9 percent to $3.15 million. Caledonia mined 12,924 ounces of gold, up 1 percent from the same period last year, with results boosted by an 8.2 percent rise in the released price of gold per ounce. The group expects to produce between 55,000 and 59,000 ounces of gold for the full year, with earnings expected to be between 165 to 190 cents per share. “We expect that production will deliver the usual increase in the second half of the year as we see the benefit of the increased level of mine development in the first half of the year, which will improve our access to higher grade areas,” the firm said. “As we continue to grow production to our target of 80,000 ounces by 2021, maintain cost control and benefit from economies of scale we look forward to further increasing cash flows and earnings,” said Steve Curtis, Caledonia’s Chief Executive Officer. Shares in Caledonia Mining (LON:CMCL) are currently down 1.46 percent at 675.00 (1011GMT).
1...1,5301,5311,532...1,761Page 1,531 of 1,761