Associated British Foods Sees FY Adj. Operating Profit Slightly Better Than Prior Outlook
Associated British Foods PLC (ASBFY.PK,ABF.L) issued an update prior to entering the close period for its full year results for the 52 weeks to 16 September 2023. The Group said, overall, outlook for the financial year is slightly better than previous expectations of Group adjusted operating profit to be moderately ahead of last year.
At Primark, fourth-quarter sales are projected to be around 15% higher than in the same period in the previous financial year, with like-for-like sales growth of around 8%. For the financial year 2022-2023, retail sales are expected to be 9.0 billion pounds, around 15% ahead of sales last year. Like-for-like sales growth for the fiscal year are expected to be around 9%. Second half adjusted operating profit margin is estimated to be slightly below 8% and for the full financial year to be around 8%.
The Group expects Primark adjusted operating profit margin to recover strongly in the next financial year, 2023-2024.
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JTC H1 Profit Before Tax Falls, But Revenue Improves
JTC PLC (JTC.L) an asset management company, on Tuesday reported lower profit before tax for the first half of the year mainly on a one-time loss. However, revenue increased by 30.6 percent.
Half yearly profit before tax decreased 43.3 percent to 11.9 million pounds from 21.0 million pounds of last year.
After tax, earnings fell to 11.186 million pounds or 7.54 pence per share from 20.520 million pounds or 13.96 pence per share of previous year.
Excluding items, profit before tax increased 16.3 percent to 19.7 million pounds from 16.9 million pounds a year ago.
Adjusted earnings per share grew by 11.9 percent to 18.16 pence from 16.23 pence last year.
Revenues surged to 121.5 million pounds from 93 million pounds of the prior year.
Additionally, the company declared an interim dividend of 3.5 pence per share 12.9 percent higher than last year’s 3.1 pence per share, payable on October 20 to shareholders of record on September 22.
Looking ahead, the company continues to expect an underlying EBITDA margin of 33 percent-38 percent over the medium term.
On Monday, shares of VJTC closed at 674.50 pence down 0.07% on the London Stock Exchange.
EKF Diagnostics Updates FY23 Guidance; Appoints Stephen Young New CFO
EKF Diagnostics Holdings plc (EKF.L), on Tuesday said that its removing its guidance for fermentation revenues for the full year.
According to the company,” Whilst good progress is being made to increase the Company’s fermentation capacity, the process of validation and verification had not been sufficiently factored into current timescales for installed equipment to become fully operational.”
Consequently, the company said that it now expects adjusted EBITDA in the region of 10 million pounds and revenues around 53 million pounds for the full year.
EKF will publish its half yearly results on September 26.
Separately, EKF said it appointed Stephen Young as the new chief financial officer effective immediately. Stephen Young has been working as a consultant at EKF for the last two months.
In June, the company had announced the resignation of the then finance chief Marc Davies.
Currently, shares of EKF are trading at 23.05 pence down 11.35% on the London Stock Exchange.
Gold Drifts Lower As Dollar Recovers Ahead Of US Inflation Update
Gold edged lower on Tuesday and the dollar recovered some lost ground as investors looked ahead to the release of key U.S. inflation and other macroeconomic indicators this week ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision due September 20.
Spot gold slipped 0.2 percent to $1,919.30 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were down 0.3 percent at $1,942.15.
The highly anticipated U.S. consumer price inflation report is due on Wednesday, with a surprise upside in inflation likely to spoil the market mood and boost the appeal for the U.S. dollar.
The Federal Reserve is likely to pause its recent series of rate hikes next week but the outlook for November remains a little more uncertain, with the FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 42.6 percent chance of another quarter point rate hike.
Traders also await cues from the European Central Bank’s latest policy decision due on Thursday.
The ECB is expected to hike all three policy rates by 25 basis points, citing a weaker growth outlook and no clear evidence of a peak in core inflation. Few economists, however, predict it will be a close call.
GigaCloud Technology Enters Definitive Stalking Horse Agreement To Buy Noble House Assets
GigaCloud Technology Inc. (GCT), a B2B ecommerce solutions provider, said on Tuesday that it has entered into a definitive agreement as the stalking horse to acquire substantially all of the assets of Noble House Home Furnishings, LLC for $85 million.
The deal is in connection with Noble House’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. On Monday, the company filed for bankruptcy with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division.
Noble House is a manufacturer and retailer of indoor and outdoor home furnishings and sells its products through a set of third-party channels with leading positions at major retailers.
“With over 8,000 SKUs and a strong supply chain system, we believe Noble House will add significant depth to our 1P and 3P businesses, supplementing our already diverse range of product offerings,” said Larry Wu, Chief Executive Officer of GigaCloud.
Giga Cloud believes that its B2B platform will enhance Noble House’s operational efficiency and expand Noble House’s sales channels in return.
In pre-market, shares of Giga Cloud are trading at $17.60, down 0.73% on Nasdaq