Amid higher energy prices, the company shed almost 1.3 million energy accounts in last year alone.
UK wages up and unemployment down in three months to March
UK wages rose in real terms in the three months to March, whilst unemployment fell to 1.42 million.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed average weekly earnings increasing for employees over the period. UK wages excluding bonuses rose 2.9 percent in the three months to March, compared to an inflation rate of 2.7 percent for the same period.
Unemployment fell by 46,000 between January and March to 1.42 million, with employment up by 197,000 during the first three months of this year. This was the biggest jump since late 2015 and higher than 130,000 expected by economists.
Senior ONS statistician Matt Hughes says that growth in total pay remains in line with inflation, “meaning real earnings are flat on the year.”
“The growth in employment is still being driven by UK nationals, with a slight drop over the past year in the number of foreign workers.”
Toshiba shares up after narrowly avoiding being delisted
Japanese electronics giant Toshiba (TYO:6502) has narrowly avoided being delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, after a stronger set of results for the full year to March put them back in the black.
The group posted record profits of 804 billion yen on Tuesday for the full year, a huge improvement 965.7 billion yen loss recorded the previous year.
The results were largely boosted by the one-off revenue from tax cuts linked to the sale of its nuclear units. Last year Toshiba faced increasing pressure after a series of accounting scandals and cost-overruns following the acquisition of the US nuclear energy firm Westinghouse. The group was then placed under bankruptcy protection.
Operating profits dropped 21.9 per cent to 64.1 billion yen over the period, however, while sales declined 2.4 per cent to 3.95 trillion yen.
Toshiba is expecting a net profit of 1.07 trillion yen for the current financial year, up 33.1 per cent from the previous year on sales of 3.6 trillion yen.
Shares in Toshiba (TYO:6502) are currently trading up 3.46 percent at 299 JPY (0946GMT).
Patisserie Valerie shares up after strong set of Christmas results
Soaring Christmas sales lent a hand to Patisserie Valerie’s (LON:CAKE) latest results, sending shares soaring at market open on Tuesday.
The chain bucked the gloomy trend on the high street, with “affordable treats” pushing up sales over the Christmas period.
Revenue rose 9 percent in the six months to the end of March, with pre-tax profit up 14 percent to £11.9 million. The company also hiked its interim dividend by 20 percent to 1.44p.
“The period started well with a good build up to Christmas with our new festive range, including the limited edition Reindeer slice, selling well,” the company said.
“The group has delivered a strong set of results in a sector which has well documented challenges,” Luke Johnson, executive chairman, added.
Shares in Patisserie Valerie are currently trading up 0.23 percent at 434.00 (0934GMT),
UBM trading in line with expectations, shares broadly flat
UBM (LON:UBM) confirmed it traded in line with forecasts in the year to date, despite challenging conditions in the US fashion sector.
The events organiser said major events like the Game Developers’ Conference, Enterprise Connect and Hotel Plus grew ‘strongly’, during the period, whilst CPhI North America, MD&M West, Hotelex & FineFood and Seatrade Cruise Global delivered ‘good’ growth.
Events in the US fashion industry performed in line with expectations, despite a challenging environment.
UBM is currently undergoing integration with rival Allworld, with performance in line with expectations. Allworld’s Food and Hospitality Asia event had delivered strong growth for UBM. Allworld is one of four bolt-on events businesses that were acquired for £20.2 million.
Shares in UBM are trading largely flat, down 0.015 percent at 989.00 (0919GMT).
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.
Shares in Hargreaves Lansdown are currently trading down 0.40 percent at 1,867.50 (0955GMT).
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”.
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
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
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
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
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.
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).
