Hugo Boss ups 2025 sales target to €5 billion

Frankfurt-listed fashion house Hugo Boss now expects revenue of €5 billion (£4.3 billion) and €600 million in profit by 2025, as it’s already on course to hit its previous revenue target of €4 billion this year.

The boost mostly comes from its menswear range, where sales are expected to reach €3.5 billion, with much of the increase coming through brick-and-mortar stores.

Sales in Asia, where luxury fashion sales have boomed as countries rebound from Covid-19, are set to more than double to €1 billion.

The fashion house, which will turn 100 next year, also plans to “explicitly seize opportunities in denim” to win over Generation Z, while introducing womenswear versions of more of its men’s lines.

CEO Daniel Grieder said: “We have everything needed to continue our success story.”

We’re going ahead with our London IPO, says CAB Payments

Hopes for a rejuvenation of the London stock market were handed a much-needed lifeline this morning after fintech firm CAB Payments said it was pressing on with its IPO plans, just hours after industrial giant WE Soda abruptly scrapped its flotation.

Sutton-based CAB, which processes international payments for businesses, confirmed its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange, which it said underscored its “confidence in the UK as the home for innovative and growing global businesses.”

Last night, WE Soda, the world’s largest producer of natural soda ash, cancelled a planned listing that could have valued it at as much as £6 billion as its CEO, Alasdair Warren, blasted what it called “extreme investor caution in London” which “meant that we were unable to arrive at a valuation that we believe reflects our unique financial and operating characteristics.”

Joshua Mahoney, chief market analyst at Scope Markets, said: “Given the underlying level of market volatility, an IPO of this scale was only ever likely to fly with sound institutional backing. Questions now have to be asked given the timing of this as to whether it was anything more than a summer kite-flying exercise, especially given the scale of the promised imminent dividend payout.

“The fact appetite was lacking for a company to raise $800m in order to pay down debt and fund a $500m dividend isn’t difficult to understand given the current demand to show tangible returns in capital. The era of free money is behind us.”

London is back, says Fullers boss

The boss of Fullers has hailed the ‘re-emergence of London’ after the firm reported a jump in sales.

The 178-year-old pub chain, which owns the Churchill Arms in Kensington, the Admiralty on Trafalgar Square and The Flask in Highgate, posted a 33% jump in revenues for the year to April to £336.6 million, while pre-tax profits fell slightly to £10.3 million.

Sales in central London were particularly high, rising more than 40% over the period, amid a return to offices, a revival of office parties and a surge in tourism, with stronger trading on Fridays and Saturdays, reversing a previous drop-off caused by working from home patterns. Sales might have been even higher, but for a £5 million knock as a result of train strikes, according to the firm’s estimates. Shares rose 2.7% to 565p.

Fullers boss Simon Emeny said: “London is now driving our growth. The Elizabeth line is surpassing all expectations and sites we have close to the line are among the strongest performers.

“We had acquired some sites that we knew would benefit once Crossrail got going and they did exceptionally well.

“I am more optimistic about the future than I have been since before the pandemic.”

Informa up 4% in FTSE 100, ASOS rallies 12% after update

Publishing and exhibitions business Informa leads the FTSE 100 index, with shares up 4% or 27.8p to 732.2p on the back of an improvement to its full-year guidance.

Halma, the safety equipment technology conglomerate, raised its dividend for a 44th year and posted a 20th year of record profit but shares still slumped 6% or 139p to 2290p.

Outsourcing firm Bunzl, another of the top flight’s defensive stocks, fell 70p to 3036p after an in-line trading update.

The FTSE 100 index fell 6.59 points to 7596.15, while the FTSE 250 index stood 18.33 points higher. ASOS led the second tier benchmark, with shares rebounding 12% or 39.3p to 367.3p following the fast fashion chain’s trading update.

Market snapshot as FTSE 100 opens slightly lower

Take a look at the key market data as the FTSE 100 started slightly down.

China rate cut lifts Asia markets

Asian stock markets mostly advanced today after China’s central bank took further steps to support the country’s faltering economic recovery.

The People’s Bank of China cut its one-year medium-term lending facility rate by 0.1% to 2.65% in the first reduction since August.

The move was announced as figures showed May industrial production growth of 3.5%, down from 5.6% the previous month and slightly below forecasts. It also emerged that retail sales rose 12.7% year-on-year, versus the rise of 13.7% expected.

The Hang Seng rose 1.7% in Hong Kong and the SSE index lifted 0.6% in Shanghai but Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gave up initial gains to trade slightly lower.

Informa ups guidance beyond 2019 levels as trade shows rebound

Publishing and exhibitions business Informa upped its guidance for the year to levels higher than before the pandemic, as companies return to trade shows.

The group now expects revenue of around £3 billion for the year and profit of around £770 million. That would put revenue above 2019 levels as business exhibitions complete their rebound from a near-total stoppage during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Stephen A. Carter, Group Chief Executive, Informa, said: “The Informa Group is delivering accelerating growth in revenues, profits, earnings and cashflows, with a strong balance sheet and increasing shareholder returns.

“This enables us to increase our guidance for 2023 and create further opportunities for growth and acceleration in 2024 and beyond.”

Legal & General appoints Santander executive Simões as new CEO

Legal & General has named its new CEO.

António Simões will take the top job at one of the biggest names in the City, succeeding Sir Nigel Wilson, who is leaving after over a decade in charge.

Simões will join the insurance giant and asset manager from Santander, where he has been regional head of the Spanish bank’s European operations since 2020, ending a “rigorous” recruitment process that has been running since January, when Rudd announced plans to retire.

Simões will take up the job at the start of 2024.

He said: “Legal & General is a great company with an iconic, highly respected brand, strong financial track record and a deep-rooted commitment to social purpose. I’m proud to be appointed as Group CEO to build on the success of Nigel and the team.”

Wilson will stay on until the end of 2023.

£1 million share payment for City Pub Group’s Clive Watson

City Pub Group’s Clive Watson today exercised share options worth £1 million under the firm’s long term incentive plan.

That brings his holding in the £100 million chain to just under 4%.

Watson told the Standard: “As we reported only last week, trading has been strong with sales so far this year up 20%. The hot weather over the last few days has been excellent for trading with customer utilising our extensive outside space and enjoying the warmth.

“We have seen record London trading over the weekend. Summer is here and City Pub is in great shape. We are optimistic for the remainder of 2023 and beyond.”

ECB set to raise rates after Fed pause, FTSE 100 seen lower

Wall Street took the Federal Reserve’s signal of possibly two more interest rate rises largely in its stride last night, with the S&P 500 index finishing broadly unchanged.

The central bank left rates unchanged at 5-5.25% last night, a move dubbed a “hawkish” pause after dot-plot projections pointed to further increases and killed speculation over rate cuts later in the year.

The S&P 500 initially fell 0.7% until Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell calmed the mood by reiterating that future moves will be data dependent.

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said: “If inflation continues to slow and jobs growth remains steady, the question needs to be asked as to whether the Fed will really pull the trigger on more rate hikes? It seems unlikely.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.7% lower, but the Nasdaq Composite continued its run of gains by adding 0.4%. The FTSE 100 index closed 7.96 points higher last night and is expected by CMC to open 10 points lower at 7592 today.

Attention now turns to the European Central Bank (ECB), with policymakers this afternoon set to announce another quarter point increase in the deposit rate to 3.5%. Markets currently expect one more hike at a subsequent meeting.

Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid said: “Our European economists expect the message to tilt hawkish and think the ECB will emphasise the persistence of underlying inflation and ongoing risks to the upside.”