Source: Sharecast
STOCKS TO WATCH
Safety equipment specialist Halma posted a jump in full-year earnings on Thursday, despite an uncertain economic backdrop. Halma saw revenues rise 15% to £2.58bn, or by 16% on an organic basis, in the year ended 31 March, while earnings before interest and tax rose 22% to £594.5m. It was the first time earnings have come in above £500m. Halma said demand had been broad-based across its three sectors, with premium growth in its photonics business, despite an "uncertain" economic and geopolitical environment.
Low cost airline Wizz Air said it had suspended guidance due to the impact of the Iran war which had led to "a lack of visibility across our trading seasons". Despite the cancellation of routes to the Middle East and Cyprus as the conflict started in February, Wizz Air reported a rise in underlying earnings for the year to March to €1.32bn from €1.13bn a year earlier.
Investment manager Foresight Group said on Thursday that it has agreed to sell its public markets arm, Foresight Capital Management, to Guinness Global Investors as it continues to streamline the business and sharpen its focus on core areas. Foresight said the deal will see around £1bn of assets under management - roughly 7% of group AUM at 31 March — and 16 employees transfer to Guinness. Completion was expected in the third quarter.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
Ministers are expected to drop some planned tariffs on foreign steel after UK manufacturers said the measures would significantly increase their costs. Representatives of the Department for Business and Trade are meeting leaders of steel trading business groups on Wednesday and Thursday with a view to finalising details of a reprieve for certain industries. – Guardian
Ministers have rejected accusations that recent changes to student loans are unfair, arguing that they are so heavily subsidised that the government has the right to alter their terms. Pressure has been intensifying on the UK government to reform the student loans system but the chief secretary to the Treasury, Lucy Rigby, told MPs on Wednesday that less than half of young people go to university, and the government had to bear in mind "fairness to taxpayers as a whole". – Guardian
Scientists have accused Anthropic of cutting them off from its latest AI technology in case they use it to create a bioweapon. The US tech giant this week released its new Fable chatbot, built using the same technology as the company's most advanced Mythos model, which was previously deemed too dangerous to release. – Telegraph
Ed Miliband is resisting pressure from Sir Keir Starmer to cut spending in his department amid a Cabinet row about how to fund defence. Sources said the Energy Secretary was pushing back against demands to find capital budget savings of at least 1% within the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to help fund the long-delayed defence investment plan. - Telegraph
A partner at a City law firm who advised a client to "burn" evidence in a dispute involving Ocado has been suspended for two years. In what is likely to be the final instalment in a six-year legal saga, Raymond McKeeve avoided being barred permanently from practising in the UK after a disciplinary tribunal ruled that he was guilty of a "spontaneous act of colossal stupidity". – The Times
US CLOSE
US stocks plummeted on Wednesday, with the Dow and Nasdaq falling nearly 2% apiece, as heightened geopolitical conflict in the Middle East and concerns about rising inflationary pressures hammered risk appetite.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.87% at 49,918.78, while the S&P 500 shed 1.62% to 7,266.99, and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.98% weaker at 25,169.50.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
