Change at the top of HSBC and the performance of Premier Inn owner Whitbread are among today’s City talking points.
Noel Quinn surprised HSBC investors by announcing plans for his departure after nearly five years as chief executive, having joined the business in 1987.
Whitbread said it planned to cut 1500 jobs at its restaurants division as it converts food locations into hotel rooms or sells them.
FTSE 100 Live Tuesday
FTSE 100 hits record again
12:08 , Daniel O’Boyle
The FTSE 100 his yet another record today, the sixth straight trading day in which it has marked a new intraday high.
Take a look at our market snapshot:
Metro Bank turnaround sees it win back savings customers
12:01 , Daniel O’Boyle
Metro Bank has revealed first quarter lending slumped by nearly 10% but it notched up a hike in savings thanks to turnaround efforts launched in the wake of last year’s funding crisis.
The troubled high street lender reported total lending of £11.8 billion in the three months to March 31, down 9% from £12.9 billion a year ago as it switched focus to more profitable specialist mortgages and commercial loans.
Total deposits rose 4% year-on-year to £16.2 billion after it launched a campaign to win back savers with attractive interest rates following outflows of cash amid fears over its future last October.
Read more here
Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant empire set to pass £100million in revenue
12:00 , Daniel O’Boyle
Gordon Ramsay on Tuesday hailed London’s “strong and vibrant” restaurant scene as he revealed revenues at his growing dining empire are set to pass £100million for the first time this year.
Latest accounts for the TV chef’s main company Gordon Ramsay Restaurants show that turnover surged 21 per cent to £95.6million in the 12 months to August, with underlying earnings at a record £8.3million. The company created 290 jobs in the year.
With further growth expected this year the £100million sales barrier is almost certain to be breached just over a quarter of a century after the Hell’s Kitchen star opened his first solo venture Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea in 1998.
Read more here
Post-Brexit border checks to begin despite warnings of higher food prices
11:19 , Daniel O’Boyle
New post-Brexit border checks have come into effect amid concerns they will lead to disruption and higher food prices.
Food suppliers have warned that the checks, known as the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), will “increase food prices and reduce consumer choice” and impose “impractical” requirements on businesses.
Under the new scheme, animal and plant products from the EU deemed “medium-risk” or higher will face physical, documentary and identity checks at the Port of Dover and the Eurotunnel.
Read more here
Telegraph back up for sale as UAE-backed bidder pulls out following Government intervention
10:27 , Daniel O’Boyle
The Telegraph and Spectator are back up for sale, after the UAE-backed firm that appeared to be on the cusp of controlling the newspaper as the Government signalled it would block the takeover.
RedBird IMI, a joint venture mostly funded by the gulf state, had seemingly won the battle for the influential titles that started last year when Lloyds Bank seized the assets from the Barclay family over an unpaid loan.
But amid widespread backlash, Culture secretary Lucy Frazer launched an investigation of the deal and the Government set out plans to block foreign states owning UK newspapers, effectively killing the deal.
Read more here
Euro area recovers after late 2023 recession
10:22 , Daniel O’Boyle
Eurozone GDP grew by 0.3% in the first quarter, beating expectations, and meaning it exited recession after revised figures showed it ended last year in decline.
The end-of-2023 recession was the shortest and shallowest one possible.
The currency union’s biggest economy, Germany, returned to growth with GDP up 0.2%.
French GDP beats expectations
10:18 , Daniel O’Boyle
The French economy grew faster than expected in Q1, in a sign that the Eurozone could be on the way to recovery.
GDP grew by 0.2%, ahead of the expected 0.1% growth.
ING senior economist Charlotte de Montpellier said: “The government’s growth forecast of 1% for the year will be easier to achieve than expected, even if this forecast remains ambitious.”
Eurozone GDP figures will be published later this morning
London benchmarks continue progress, IG Design jumps 30%
10:00 , Graeme Evans
Hargreaves Lansdown shares today kept the UK-focused FTSE 250 index near last night’s 13-month high.
The investment platform jumped 41.4p to 827p after its third quarter revenues topped City expectations amid strong client activity around the tax year end.
Utility Warehouse business Telecom Plus also featured among the mid-cap risers, up 4% or 72.9p to 1786.9p thanks to its upgrade to full-year profits guidance.
The FTSE 250 rose another 0.2% or 36.42 points to 20,121.21, having yesterday surged 1.3% to above the 20,000 threshold for the first time in over a year.
Its recent progress has been overshadowed by the record-breaking FTSE 100 index, which today added 0.3% or 26.16 points to 8173.19.
Asia-focused insurer Prudential led the fallers, off 5% or 34.6p to 706.8p after its first quarter update was viewed poorly in comparison to figures posted by Hong Kong-based rival AIA.
On AIM, IG Design investors are in a party mood after the greetings card, stationery and Christmas crackers firm upgraded results guidance amid further evidence of turnaround progress. The shares jumped 30% or 36p to 157.5p.
Advertised rents ‘hit fresh highs but pace of increases is slowing’
09:27 , Daniel O’Boyle
Average advertised rents have hit a new high, but there are signs that the pace of the increases is slowing, according to a property website.
There are also signs that more landlords are having to reduce their asking rents, particularly for bigger homes, to meet what tenants can afford.
Across Britain, excluding London, the average monthly rent being asked for a property coming on the market in the first quarter of 2024 was £1,291, Rightmove found.
Read more here
HSBC shares lead FTSE 100, Hargreaves Lansdown up 8% in FTSE 250
08:49 , Graeme Evans
HSBC shares are leading the FTSE 100 index, up 3% or 17p to 685.1p after the lender’s first quarter figures came in above City expectations.
An encouraging update by bottling business Coca-Cola HBC also lifted its shares 42p to 2618p as the FTSE 100 added 31.84 points to 8178.87.
Among the other blue chips reporting today, Whitbread fell 13.1p to 3033.9p and Prudential dropped 4% or 34p to 707p as the worst performing FTSE 100 stock.
The progress of the FTSE 250 index continued after the mid-cap benchmark last night closed above 20,000 for the first time in over a year. It rose another 0.2% or 48.13 points to 20,132.92 today.
Hargreaves Lansdown surged 8% after the investment platform’s third quarter results and Utility Warehouse business Telecom Plus rose 3% or 54p to 1768p after it forecast results towards the top end of City hopes.
Market snapshot: Blue-chips near record again
08:40 , Daniel O’Boyle
The FTSE 100 is close to record territory again after rising this morning.
Here’s our latest market snapshot:
Nationwide boss sold £150,000 shares in Virgin Money before bid
08:28 , Daniel O’Boyle
Nationwide Building Society chief executive Debbie Crosbie sold £150,000 worth of shares in Virgin Money before she launched a £2.9 billion takeover bid for the business.
She did so well before the bid in March, selling 90,000 shares in two tranches in July 2023 and November 2023.
But she sold at well below the price she is asking Nationwide members to stump up for VM.
Read more here
Nationwide boss ditched Virgin Money shares
08:25 , Simon English
Nationwide Building Society chief executive Debbie Crosbie sold £150,000 worth of shares in Virgin Money before she launched a £2.9 billion takeover bid for the business.
She did so well before the bid in March, selling 90,000 shares in two tranches in July 2023 and November 2023.
But she sold at well below the price she is asking Nationwide members to stump up for VM.
On average, she got 170p a share for stock in Virgin, where she previously worked. She, with the advice of bankers at UBS, is offering 220p a share for the business in a deal that sees Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group net £600 million.
Some in the City are asking why she thinks Virgin Money is worth so much more than the price at which she cashed out.
Bankers and advisers are expected to pocket £80 million in fees for getting the deal done. Nationwide’s 16 million members are denied a vote, so far, but a campaign group is agitating to be given a say.
They fear that this unusual acquisition of a building society buying a listed bank, will dilute Nationwide’s financial strength.
read more here
Shop price inflation ‘normalising’ one year on from peak, figures show
08:01 , Daniel O’Boyle
Shop price inflation is showing signs of normalising one year on from its peak in long-awaited relief for households, new figures show.
Prices in April were 0.8% higher than a year earlier, the lowest growth since December 2021, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)-NielsenIQ Shop Price Index.
The figure is down from 1.3% in March and below the three-month average of 1.4%.
Read more here
Premier Inn owner Whitbread to cut 1,500 jobs at struggling restaurants arm
07:58 , Daniel O’Boyle
Premier Inn owner Whitbread is to cut 1,500 jobs at its restaurants as it converts food locations into hotel rooms or sell them, as the business increasingly becomes almost entirely a hotels company.
The 282-year-old business announced its “accelerating growth plan” today after its latest financial results, which were driven by more strong performance from Premier Inn.
But its food and beverage arm, which includes Beefeater, Bar + Block and Brewers Fayre, did not match the same performance, with sales down 2%.
Read more here
Mother’s Day helps Card Factory unwrap record trading day
07:52 , Michael Hunter
Card Factory broke trading records around Mother’s Day this year, with the Saturday before the traditional Sunday celebration its busiest ever.
The 1,000 store chain also reported a rise of over 10% in full-year revenue for £511 million and profit before tax up by over a quarter to £66 million.
It also re-instated its dividend after repaying loans. It will payout 4.5p per share. The £347 million company also said it expected to make further progress in the year ahead.
Glencore’s copper production down as global miners scramble for the metal that drives electrification
07:34 , Michael Hunter
FTSE 100 miner and commodity training group Glencore revealed a drop in its production of copper this morning.
The metal is playing a key role in the decarbonisation process, providing an important means of electrification and demand is expected to soar, retesting record highs.
Shock bid activity in the sector – when BHP’s offered £31 billion bid for Anglo American – was thought to relate to a move at the world’s biggest miner toward more copper production.
Glencore said today that its copper production fell 2% to just under 240 kilotons.
FTSE 100 seen higher as FTSE 250 opens above 20,000, Tesla up 15%
07:24 , Graeme Evans
Tesla shares rebounded by 15% at last night’s close while leading Wall Street benchmarks also experienced a strong finish to the session.
The upturn in Tesla’s stock market fortunes followed the reported backing of China regulators for the electric car maker’s self-driving technology.
The S&P 500 index and Nasdaq finished about 0.3% stronger, having staged a recovery in the last hour of trading.
Asia markets are slightly higher this morning, while futures are showing a rise of about 0.2% for the FTSE 100 index at 8164. London’s top flight touched a fresh record of 8189 yesterday before ending 7.20 points higher at 8147.
Domestic stocks had a much stronger session as the FTSE 250 index rose 1.3% or 260 points to 20,084, its first time above 20,000 in 14 months.
HSBC chief retires in surprise move
07:18 , Simon English
The boss of HSBC, Noel Quinn, said today he will retire after five years in the job in a surprise announcement that leaves a gaping hole at the top of Europe’s largest bank.
He has been at HSBC for 37 years, becoming CEO in 2019 when John Flint was forced out by chairman Mark Tucker.
Quinn, 62, had given no indication that he was looking to move on.
He said: “After an intense five years, it is now the right time for me to get a better balance between my personal and business life,” Quinn will stay until a successor is found.
Tucker said Quinn has “has driven both our transformation strategy and created a simpler, more focused business that delivers higher returns”.
Last week HSBC sold its Argentinian arm as part of plans to simplify the business. It makes most of its profits in Asia.
In the first quarter of the year HSBC made profit of $12.7 billion. That is down 1.8%, but better than City analysts had expected.
It will buy back another $3 billion of shares.HSBC shares rose 1p to 669p. They are up 13% in the last year.
Recap: Yesterday’s top stories
06:44 , Simon Hunt
Good morning from the Standard City desk.
Yesterday it was the turn of NatWest and Santander to join the queue of major lenders to tweak their mortgage rates — and not to the advantage of borrowers.
Neither of the high street lending giants pushed through huge increases — mainly in the region of 20 basis points — but the direction of travel is clear and unhelpful.
It follows similar moves by Barclays, HSBC and the Co-op last week. The heady, and brief days of sub-4% money at the start of the year now seems a far distant memory.
The lenders’ new pricing is only reflecting the harsh reality in the money markets. Hopes that the Bank of England will make their long awaited move on rates in June are steadily fading. The MPC hawks are hovering and scattering the increasingly nervous doves. It was only a month ago that Governor Andrew Bailey said rate cuts could come before inflation falls to its 2% target.
But that does not seem to be the view of his chief economist Huw Pill who suggested the first move could still be some way off even after, as expected, inflation drops to 2% or below in the April figure — largely thanks to falling energy bills.
If the markets are right, it will be August at best before the Bank finally acts, a full year after rates were given their last push up to the current level of 5.25%.
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Here’s a summary of our top stories from yesterday:
