FTSE 100 Closes Down 0.08% as OECD Comments Spark Concern

The FTSE 100 closed Wednesday down 0.08% as global economic risks continue to prompt fears among investors. Royal Mail was the index’s biggest faller, dropping 8%, while Airtel Africa fell 5.2%. “It’s been another day of weakness for markets in Europe after [The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] followed up yesterday’s World Bank global growth downgrade, with one of its own,” CMC Markets UK chief market analyst Michael Hewson says in a note. The OECD said the global economy would pay a large price for the war in Ukraine, with weaker growth and higher prices likely to result in permanently higher inflation, Hewson notes. On the bright side, Melrose Industries led gains with an increase of 11% after a share buyback announcement, followed by Aveva Group, who closed 10.7% higher after reporting 2022 results.

Companies News: 

AstraZeneca Says Evusheld Effective in Trials With High-Risk Covid-19 Patients

AstraZeneca PLC said Wednesday that trials on high-risk patients showed that the Evusheld drug provides significant protection against Covid-19.

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Berkeley Appoints Michael Dobson as Next Chairman

Berkeley Group Holdings PLC said Wednesday that it has appointed Michael Dobson as the next nonexecutive chairman of the company.

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City Pub Group May Sales 5% Ahead of 2019

City Pub Group PLC said Wednesday that like-for-like sales for May were 5% ahead of the same month in 2019 and that last week’s business, including the Jubilee Bank Holiday, was particularly strong, with like-for-like sales up more than 20% versus 2019.

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Keywords Studios Confident in FY View After Strong Start to the Year

Keywords Studios PLC said Wednesday that it is confident its full-year performance will be in line with current expectations as it has made a positive start to the year with organic revenue growth in the first four months.

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Keywords Studios to Buy Forgotten Empires for Up to $32.5 Mln

Keywords Studios PLC said Wednesday that it has agreed to buy game-development studio Forgotten Empires, LLC for up to $32.5 million to further strengthen its offering as a technical and creative services platform for the videogame industry.

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WH Smith Appoints Annette Court as Next Chairwoman; Henry Staunton to Retire Nov. 30

WH Smith PLC said Wednesday that it has appointed Annette Court as its next chairwoman, replacing Henry Staunton on Dec. 1.

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Challenger Energy to Defend Against Predator’s Legal Claims

Challenger Energy Group PLC said Wednesday that it will defend against any legal proceedings to be issued by Predator Oil & Gas Holdings PLC.

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Aveva Misses Market Views, Swings to FY 2022 Pretax Loss on Higher Costs

Aveva Group PLC on Wednesday missed analysts’ consensus views as it swung to a pretax loss for fiscal 2022 after booking higher costs, and said it expects the war in Ukraine and the sanctions against Moscow to hurt revenue as it has ceased new business in Russia.

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Workspace Group Swung to FY 2022 Pretax Profit as Demand Returned to Prepandemic Levels

Workspace Group PLC said Wednesday that it swung to a pretax profit for fiscal 2022 as demand returned to prepandemic levels.

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Wizz Air FY 2022 Pretax Loss Widened on Higher Costs; Will Report 1Q 2023 Operating Loss

Wizz Air Holdings PLC said Wednesday that its pretax loss widened for fiscal 2022 after booking higher costs, and that it expects to report an operating loss in the first quarter of fiscal 2023.

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SDX Energy Reports Another Gas Discovery in Egypt

SDX Energy PLC said Wednesday that the MA-1X well made a gas discovery at the Mohsen prospect in South Disouq, onshore Egypt.

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VP Swung to Profit in FY 2022

VP PLC on Wednesday reported a profit for the year ended March 31 as its performance recovered from the coronavirus pandemic.

 
Market Talk: 

Antofagasta Could Lose 6,000 Tons of Copper a Week Amid Pipeline Shutdown

0912 GMT – Antofagasta could lose 6,000 tons of copper production for every week that the Los Pelambres underground pipeline is shut down, RBC mining analyst Tyler Broda estimates. This translates into 1.3% of 2022 Ebitda, he says. The copper producer said that the impact on production is expected to be limited within the full-year guidance range, depending on the duration of the shutdown. The analyst reiterates an underperform rating on Antofagasta. “We believe the investment case is complicated by higher valuation while being exposed to Chilean tax and constitutional changes and a higher free rate of free cash flow compression into lower prices than at peers,” he says. (jaime.llinares@wsj.com)

Aveva’s FY 2022 as Predicted, But Caution Remains Over Consensus Expectations

0821 GMT – U.K. engineering and industrial-software company Aveva’s FY 2022 results were broadly as expected following its last trading update, Pavan Daswani, analyst at Citi, says in a note. Still Daswani says he remains cautious given overly optimistic consensus expectations for the fiscal 2024 to 2026 period. Add to this the possibility of a reset of its mid-term ambitions from its cloud transition–which weren’t mentioned in the result–ambitions which could overshoot its expected long-term consistent growth, Daswani says. Citi downgraded its rating on the stock to sell from neutral earlier in the week, and has a GBP20 target price. Shares are down 0.7% at 2,219 pence. (anthony.orunagoriainoff@dowjones.com)

Contact: London NewsPlus; paul.larkins@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 08, 2022 13:02 ET (17:02 GMT)

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