Belluscura, the portable oxygen unit manufacturer and distributer, announced a substantial expansion of their distribution channels and sharply higher sales in a trading update on Friday.

By the end of 2022, Belluscura had shipped or received orders for 2,850 X-PLOR units and shipped 1,226 units, dramatically higher than the 377 shipped in the same period last year.

The company said adjusted EBITDA loss was expected to be inline with expectations for the year.

Following the update, Belluscura shares had jumped over 4% to 46p in early trade on Friday, before reversing as the session progressed.

Belluscura cash balances stood at $1.8m while inventory and inventory deposits combined with cash balances total $11.8m.

“During the year we have made considerable progress. We have enhanced our production, quality accreditation and supply chain, positioning us well to deliver on the demand we are seeing for our devices, as we expand our distribution partners and geographical reach,” said Robert Rauker, CEO of Belluscura.

“Market reception for the next generation X-PLOR and Nomad App has been extremely positive, with an encouraging level of forward orders.”

Belluscura distribution expansion

Belluscura took the decision to take manufacturing in-house last year due to high demand. This has helped achieve a lower production cost with 536 X-PLOR units produced in-house so far. There have been zero returns due to defects.

Manufacturing is set is ramp up in 2023 as demand increases and Belluscura launches the DISCOV-R oxygen units. DISCOV-R are lighter in weight than competitors and have the ability to deliver more oxygen.

The company are expanding their distribution network through an agreement with VGM Group which has yielded 17 new agreements in the last 3 months.

A South African deal with MedHealth Supplies attracted over 1,000 orders and sold out the first shipment within 48 hours.

Tekcapital portfolio company

Belluscura was established by Tekcapital (LON:TEK) who identified the need to help the millions of people suffering from breathing-related diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Tekcapital developed Belluscura ready for an AIM listing in 2021. Tekcapital retains a 12% holding in Belluscura.

Lithium Chile has expanded the area of their Salar de Llamara Project by 21,700 hectares to now total 35,500 hectares ahead of transient electromagnetic analysis of the project, and a conditional drill programme later in 2023.

The project has previously returned lithium values of more than 350mg/l and the company now hopes for further positive results in Chile after recent success in their Argentinian exploration campaign.

“Following the success of our exploration program in Arizaro, Argentina, we are eager to commence operations on the vast portfolio of prospective lithium projects the Company owns in Chile,” said Michelle DeCecco, Vice President & COO.

“Recent movements and policy statements from Chiles, Ministry of Mines has increased the interest in Chilean lithium projects; Lithium Chile is in a strong position to capitalize on that interest.”

Elsewhere in Chile, Lithium Chile is pushing ahead with a drill campaign at their Salar de Los Morros project and will undergo rock sampling at Aguas Calientes.

Lithium Chile’s portfolio of lithium assets consists of 111,978 hectares covering sections of 11 salars and 1 laguna complex in Chile and 20,800 hectares in Argentina.

Strong results from FTSE 100 constituents helped drive further gains for the index on Thursday as investors digested updates from Persimmon, Tesco and Whitbread.

UK equities were also buoyed by confirmation of a falling US inflation rate. Headline US CPI for December came in bang in line with expectations at 6.5%. A reduction in the US inflation rate had largely been priced in and the meeting of estimates caused little initial reaction in stocks.

“No nasty surprises today. Inflation is making all the right noises for stock bulls,” said James Bentley, Director of Financial Markets Online.

The FTSE 100 was trading at 7,773, up 0.6%, at the time of writing and continued to break to the highest levels for four years.

The FTSE’s gains were made earlier in the session following upbeat corporate update in sectors with strong links to the UK economy.

Persimmon

Housebuilder Persimmon was storming ahead in afternoon trade, gaining 6.3%, after the company provided an update on trading for the end of 2022, accompanied by a sharp decline in forward sales. The group’s forward sales are down 36% on the same period last year.

The jump in Persimmon shares today suggests the destruction of their share price last year more than priced in a downturn in housing markets, and there is room for a rebound. These sentiments were also evident in Barratt Developments shares which gained 5.5%.

“Persimmon have followed in the footsteps of rival housebuilder Barratt, warning of a material slowdown in demand over the fourth quarter as consumers battle higher mortgage costs. This fed through to lower sales rates, higher cancellations, and a hefty drop in forward orders,” said Matt Britzman, Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown

“Though, it must be said, a lot of that was largely expected.”

Tesco

Tesco’s held their own during the Christmas trading period by maintaining market share and recording a 7.9% increase in group retail sales. The company will lock in prices on 1,000 products through to Easter to fight off pressures from the discounters, likely at the cost of margins. Tesco shares rose tentatively 0.9% to 254p.

Tesco was the latest in a long line of retail companies to dispel fears about the UK consumer with a strong set of results for the Christmas trading period.

Total UK sales excluding fuel during the festive period rose 7.2% as group retail sales jumped 7.9%. The Booker business unit sales increased 11.7%.

“Tesco has followed in Sainsbury’s footsteps to record an exceptional set of results over the Christmas and third quarter period. The group’s dominant market share has also helped keep tills ringing, despite the growing pressure on household incomes, and the unstoppable rise of the discount supermarkets,” said Sophie Lund-Yates, Lead Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“The other string to Tesco’s bow is wholesaler Booker, which offers a diverse source of income. Especially as catering trends normalise, the group’s benefitting from the wheels of hospitality turning once more.”

Tesco maintained a strong market share of 27.5% as they take on discounters with value lines, a similar strategy to Sainsbury’s. Tesco have laid down plans to lock prices on 1,000 products through to Easter to help those struggling with rising prices.

The shift to online shopping during the pandemic has proved to be sticky business for Tesco with online sales 59% higher than pre-pandemic levels during the most recent period.

Like all supermarkets, the focus will be Tesco’s margins in upcoming results as they fight to maintain market share while input costs increase.

Tesco shares were marginally higher at 245p at the time of writing.

Housebuilder Persimmon completed the sale 14,868 new homes in 2022 shaking off the cost-of-living crisis, but see their sales rate deteriorating significantly in 2023.

Home sales were at the top end of expectations in 2022 and the builder pushed on with a higher build rate of 276 units per week than 2021’s 255 per week.

However, the company are now seeing falling sales rates as the impact of higher interest rates and soaring mortgage rates curtail demand for new homes.

Persimmon said forward sales were down 36% to £1bn and private forward sales were down 56% to £0.5bn.

“Persimmon have followed in the footsteps of rival housebuilder Barratt, warning of a material slowdown in demand over the fourth quarter as consumers battle higher mortgage costs. This fed through to lower sales rates, higher cancellations, and a hefty drop in forward orders.  Though, it must be said, a lot of that was largely expected,” said Matt Britzman, Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

The visibility of falling sales meant the declines have been largely priced into Persimmon shares throughout 2022 when the stock lost more than half of its value. On Thursday, Persimmon shares jumped 6% on confirmation declining sales were better than the worst case scenarios.

Rising housing prices helped offset building cost inflation but inflationary pressures are expected to cap margins through 2023. Analysts at Third Bridge highlighted the difficulties in the labour market that are likely to persist for the foreseeable future.

“Getting enough trained staff on site is getting harder thanks to an exodus of foreign workers and a lack of interest in the construction industry from the younger generation,” said Zainab Atiyyah, Analyst at Third Bridge.

Online fashion retailer ASOS experienced falling revenue at the end of 2022 due to a challenging macro backdrop. The retailer also see losses in the first half of 2023.

It is very difficult to take away out-and-out positives from the ASOS update; revenue is falling, losses are expected in H1 2023, and free cash flow for full year 2023 is expected to be negative.

Nonetheless, ASOS shares surged in early trade on Thursday following their update for the four months to 31st December.

The results were not as bad as they could have been, and the company was very positive about a bounce back in H2 2023 when they foresee cash generation increasing, as well as profitability.

The ASOS cash position would be a relief for investors. The retailer said they had the availability of £430m in cash and undrawn facilities that is likely to see them through to the second half without any undertaking any drastic capital raising.

Although shares were higher on Thursday, there are concerns among analysts about the health of ASOS’ margins in the current economic environment.

“Our experts think the outlook for Asos’s sales and margin growth is going to remain pretty challenging in 2023. Especially as many of their existing customers are set to trade down to lower-cost Asos products from more expensive and higher-margin items,” said Zainab Atiyyah, Analyst at Third Bridge.

ASOS share were 14% higher at 586p at the time of writing.

At the time of writing, The FTSE 100 was trading at 7,742, the highest level since July 2018 as economic sentiment showed signs of improving and strong corporate results helped lift the index.

After a gloomy end to 2022, investors were becoming more optimistic on the outlook for the year ahead. A Chinese reopening is being seen as a tailwind for the global economy and the US is enjoying lower inflation rates.

“Ahead of US inflation numbers on Thursday, markets were relatively upbeat with a good showing on Wall Street last night which spilled over into a positive sentiment among investors in European stocks,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould. 

“It helped that a speech by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell yesterday didn’t contain any shocks which would cause investors to worry about markets even more.”

A day after Goldman Sachs said they no longer saw a recession in the Europe in 2023, European indices surged with the DAX gaining 1.11% and French CAC 1%.

UK retail

The FTSE 100 was also helped higher by strong results from UK retailers. JD Sports said of their stores had a record Christmas trading period and revenue in the 22 weeks to the end of December increased by 10%.

JD Sports update followed similarly strong results from Next last week and helped Fraser Group shares higher. JD Sports were the FTSE 100’s top riser gaining 6% while Fraser Group jumped 3%.

Although Sainsbury’s shares were negative on the day, the supermarket said they had a record festive trading period as like-for-like sales rose 5.9%.

Barratt Developments shares slipped after the housebuilder said forward sales were down around 29%, despite a strong finish to 2022.

Admiral was the FTSE 100’s top faller, down 8%, after FTSE 250 peer Direct Line shares were smashed 27% lower on higher than expected claims for bad weather.