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Hikma ups guidance after strong generics growth
Hikma Pharmaceuticals upped its guidance for the year thanks to the strength of its generics arm, but warned that ongoing events in Sudan could have an impact on its earnings.
The pharma giant said “an improving pricing environment, new business wins and a better-than-expected performance across our differentiated portfolio” mean that its generics division is set to grow by almost 20% this year, up from just over 10%.
“Hikma has had a good start to the year. Our Injectables and Branded businesses continue to perform well reflecting our diversified portfolio of products and manufacturing flexibility. We have also had a stronger than expected start in our Generics business, leading us to upgrade our guidance for the full year,” CEO Said Darwazah said. “The strength of our operations is enabling us to meet the evolving needs of our customers across our markets and we look forward to making continued progress in the year ahead.”
However, it noted that its current guidance does not take into account any potential impact from unrest in Sudan, which makes up around 2.5% of its revenue.
Shares are up 4.3% today.
Education publisher Pearson buoyed by work skills training
Pearson, one of the world’s largest educational publishers, said that pushes by workers to learn new skills had helped the company beat its financial expectations in the first months of the financial year.
Boss Andy Bird said that Pearson’s enterprise-facing business, which upskills or reskills workers, had seen double-digit growth in the period.
Overall the company said that sales had risen by 6% over the period, excluding the impacts of a strategic review and a business unit that Pearson is selling.
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NatWest shares slide, FTSE 100 flat
NatWest shares have been hit by heavy selling, even though the state-backed lender delivered reassauring first quarter results.
The FTSE 100-listed stock slumped 6% or 15.1p to 257.1p as the volatile performance of stocks in the banking sector continues. Lloyds also dropped 2% or 0.8p to 48p ahead of its figures on Wednesday.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said the negative reaction to the NatWest numbers could contain an element of disappointment on customer balances and the unchanged outlook guidance.
He added that the strength and stability of the group remained attractive in the current climate, resulting in the market consensus of the shares as a “buy”.
Other blue-chip trading updates drew a more positive response, with Prudential shares up 3% or 39p to 1202p and educational publisher Pearson ahead 24p at 878.6p.
A weaker-than-expected FTSE 100 index slipped 7.62 points to 7823.96 whereas the FTSE 250 index cheered 64.09 points to 19,312.10.
Strong US session lifts FTSE 100, focus on eurozone GDP
Wall Street trading was anything but dull yesterday after US GDP missed expectations, leading tech stocks surged and the S&P 500 index finished 2% higher in its best session since early January.
The strong trading reflected relief at this week’s run of stronger-than-expected earnings updates, including Meta Platforms as the Facebook owner’s shares finished 14% higher.
A first quarter annual US GDP figure of 1.1% fuelled recession expectations but failed to deter buyers as investors focused on the possibility the figure will deter the Federal Reserve from another rate rise next week.
There was a setback after the closing bell, however, as Amazon shares lost earlier gains due to concerns about slower growth in its cloud business.
The focus now turns to this morning’s run of eurozone GDP figures, with traders hopeful that Germany’s economy can avoid a technical recession. We’ve already heard from France, where quarter-on-quarter growth of 0.2% matched expectations.
The FTSE 100 index dropped 0.3% yesterday but CMC Markets expects a rise of 23 points to 7506 at today’s opening bell.
WANdisco narrows fraud investigation down to one rogue employee
WANdisco has narrowed its investigation down to one single employee as the beleaguered tech firm seeks to establish why its revenue bookings were false.
The firm said in an update: “The evidence identified supports the initial view that the irregularities are as a result of the actions of one senior sales employee only.
“All of the purchase orders associated with the senior sales employee in question are illegitimate.”
WANdisco said it believed all purchase orders by other staff members were legitimate.
Deutsche Bank buys Numis for £410 million to up UK corporate presence
Deutsche Bank is set to buy stockbroker and corporate advisor Numis for £410 million, as City dealmaking continues to get back to life.
Some jobs could be lost in the deal, though Deutsche Bank said these are “not expected to be material”.
The combined business’s headcount and resources will be well positioned to meet the demands and expectations of the expanding client-base.
Deutsche Bank will pay 350p per Numis share – the shares closed at 204p yesterday.
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NatWest’s profits up over 50% and bad debt levels hold steady
NatWest, the partially publicly owned bank, reported first quarter earnings of almost £1.3 billion today — up over 50% — and said that its level of bad debts were stable, while new mortgage lending grew.
Net loans to customers were up by £4.1 billion, or 2.1%, mainly due to new mortgage lending of £3.9 billion, another sign of demand for home loans heading back up after the disruption late last year from the Truss government’s mini-Budget, when hundreds of fixed-rate mortgages were pulled across the banking industry,
Customer deposits were down £4.4 billion, or 2.3%, as its customers paid more tax in the period, when bills from His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs were due in January.
It wrote off £70 million in bad loans, an impairment charge it said meant “Levels of default remain stable and at low levels across the portfolio.”
Amazon shares rise after earnings beat expectations
Amazon shares rose 11% in after-market trading after the tech giant posted first-quarter earnings that came in ahead of expectations.
Revenue for the quarter was $127.4bn, up 9% compared to the $116.4bn last year, while profits hit $3.17bn, higher than the $2.24bn City analysts had expected.
Income from its cloud computing and advertising units both beat estimates.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, said: “there’s a lot to like about how our teams are delivering for customers, particularly amidst an uncertain economy”.
(PA)
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