Howden Joinery Annual Earnings Rise; Lifts Full-year Dividend
Howden Joinery Group Plc (HWDN.L), a furniture commercial firm, on Thursday reported a rise in earnings for 2022, helped by improved revenue.
For the 12-months to December 24, 2022, the UK-based company reported a pre-tax income of 405.8 million pounds, higher than 390.3 million pounds, reported for 2021.
Post-tax profit was at 374.2 million pounds or 65.6 pence per share, compared with 314.5 million pounds or 53 pence per share, a year ago.
Operating earnings were at 415.2 million pounds as against last year’s 401.7 million pounds.
The Group generated revenue of 2.319 billion pounds, compared with 2.093 billion pounds of last year.
For 2022, Howden Joinery will pay a final dividend of 15.9 pence per share, higher than last year’s 15.2 pence per share, resulting in a total dividend of 20.6 pence per share, compared with last year’s 19.5 pence per share. The final dividend will be paid on May 19, to shareholders of record on April 11.
Looking ahead, Andrew Livingston, Chief Executive of Howden Joinery, said: “…We see potential for around 1,000 depots in the UK and we are now selectively expanding our business model internationally in France and the Republic of Ireland.”
Drax Group FY Adj. Pretax Profit Rises
Drax Group PLC (DRX.L) reported pretax profit of 78.1 million pounds for the year ended 31 December 2022 compared to 121.5 million pounds, prior year. Earnings per share from continuing operations was 20.5 pence compared to 13.5 pence. Adjusted pretax profit increased to 405.4 million pounds from 100.5 million pounds, prior year. Adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations was 82.2 pence compared to 21.5 pence.
Adjusted revenue increased to 8.16 billion pounds from 5.17 billion pounds, last year. Total revenue was 7.77 billion pounds compared to 5.09 billion pounds.
The Board proposed to pay a final dividend of 12.6 pence per share. This will make the full year 2022 dividend 21.0 pence per share.
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Gold Prices Mixed As Dollar Consolidates
Gold prices were mixed on Thursday as the dollar consolidated within a tight range after the release of FOMC meeting minutes.
The minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting showed a broad consensus among the central bank officials to continue raising rates to bring inflation down to their 2 percent target.
Spot gold was marginally higher at $1,826.39 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were down 0.4 percent at $1,833.85.
There are signs inflation is coming down, but not enough to counter the need for more rate rises, the FOMC meeting minutes showed.
The Fed’s next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for March 21-22, with CME Group’s FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 79.0 percent chance of another 25-basis point rate hike and a 21.0 percent chance of a 50-basis point rate hike.
With a tight labor market contributing to continuing upward pressures on wages and prices, trading later in the day may be impacted by reaction to the weekly jobless claims report. GDP data for the fourth quarter is also due.
Consumer inflation in the eurozone grew at a slightly faster pace than initially estimated in January, but the annual inflation continued its downward trend, according to data from the European Union’s statistics agency Eurostat released earlier today.
NetEase's Cloud Music FY22 Loss Narrows With Strong Revenue Growth
Cloud Music Inc., an interactive music streaming service provider in China launched by NetEase, Inc. (NTES), reported Thursday that its fiscal 2022 net loss was RMB 221.49 million, compared to last year’s net loss of RMB 2.06 billion.
Adjusted net loss was RMB 114.57 million, narrower than loss of RMB 1.04 billion in 2021.
Revenue grew 28.5 percent to RMB 8.99 billion from last year’s RMB 7 billion.
In Hong Kong, Cloud Music shares gained 2.2 percent to trade at HK$85.35.
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Netease Inc. Announces Drop In Q4 Bottom Line
Netease Inc. (NTES) revealed earnings for fourth quarter that decreased from the same period last year
The company’s earnings came in at RMB3.81 billion, or RMB6.05 per share. This compares with RMB5.66 billion, or RMB8.57 per share, in last year’s fourth quarter.
Excluding items, Netease Inc. reported adjusted earnings of RMB4.81 billion or RMB7.36 per share for the period.
The company’s revenue for the quarter rose 4.0% to RMB25.35 billion from RMB24.37 billion last year.
Netease Inc. earnings at a glance (GAAP) :
-Earnings (Q4): RMB3.81 Bln. vs. RMB5.66 Bln. last year.
-EPS (Q4): RMB6.05 vs. RMB8.57 last year.
-Revenue (Q4): RMB25.35 Bln vs. RMB24.37 Bln last year.
Redx Pharma, Jounce Therapeutics Announce All-share Merger To Form Redx Inc
Redx Pharma (REDX), a British drug maker, and Jounce Therapeutics, Inc. (JNCE), a company focused on cancer treatment, on Thursday announced their all-share merger to create a combined group.
The new company, Redx Inc. is expected to be listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker REDX and will be led by Redx CEO Lisa Anson.
According to the merger deal, Redx shareholders will be entitled to receive 0.2105 Jounce shares in exchange for each Redx share. If the reverse stock split is approved by Jounce, the exchange will be adjusted to 0.0421 Jounce shares in exchange for each Redx share.
Following the closure of the transaction, expected to be completed in the second quarter, Redx shareholders are projected to own around 63 percent, and Jounce shareholders approximately 37 percent of Redx Inc.
The majority of the new company’s operations and headquarter will be at Alderley Park in the UK.
Anson said the small molecule drug discovery expertise of Redx will be combined the biologics and immunotherapy of Jounce to establish a biotech company with a robust pipeline, aimed at developing therapeutics for cancer and fibrotic disease.
The combined entity will further investigate opportunities of RXC007, the next-generation ROCK2 inhibitor in cancer-associated fibrosis and other interstitial lung diseases.