LVMH is Europe’s most valuable
Macro & Overnight
China is signalling less stimulus and more reforms, unsettling markets previously buoyed by POBC liquidity. GDP data last week indicated a strong consumer component but less strong industrial production. The CCP wants to change this.
Supercharged Chinese consumer spending has helped propel LVMH into becoming Europe’s largest listed company by market value.
First Republic Bank said it lost $100bn of deposits during the Mad March banking crisis. There is nothing to see here.
UK Company News
Whitbread produced strong results.
Active Ops, the Managed Process Automation software provider, expects to deliver results ahead of market expectations. The stronger-than-expected performance gave a year-end cash position of £15.4m, increasing to £17.5m following subsequent additional cash receipts.
Focusrite saw H1 Revenue decrease by 7.2% and a profit of £11.5 m impacted by increased amortisation from acquisitions and new product launches. The outlook for the Group is positive, with inventory in the channel beginning to improve and continued strength in the buoyant live sound market. It sees revenue growth in the second half in line with current expectations.
Global Data remain on track to deliver against its stated objectives. It sees progress underpinned by solid revenue visibility from existing and new customers. It announced an AI Seminar in June.
Hornby said Q3 sales performance fell short of expectations. Group sales for Q4 were more encouraging. However, it remained behind internal budgets for the year. It expects to report a modest underlying loss before tax this year due to increased overheads. It is cautious regarding the outlook due to uncertainty around several factors, such as inflation, mortgage increases and the rising cost of living for all consumers.
McBride, the manufacturer and supplier of private label products for the domestic household cleaning market, now expects profit to be between £5m and £10m ahead of current market expectations. Net debt is expected to be £15m to £20m lower than current market expectations.
RWS, the provider of technology-enabled language, content and intellectual property services, guided to revenue growth of 2.5% in “challenging market conditions”. It said that profit is expected to be approximately £54m in the first half, compared with £60.7m. The market has become significantly more challenging in the last 12 months. PBT for the year is now expected to be at the lower end of the range of market expectations.
Prognosticator
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