Source: Sharecast
Stocks to watch
Ten-pin operator Hollywood Bowl held annual guidance after posting a rise in core first-half earnings despite headwinds from a rare sunny UK spring. The company on Thursday said EBITDA rose 2.9% to £49.7m. On an adjusted pre-tax basis earnings were down 9.4% to £49.7m. “The recent warm and dry weather - marking the driest spring in over a century - has had a short-term impact on trading over that period. In response, we have proactively managed margins and costs, maintaining strong operational performance, which remains at historically high levels,” Hollywood Bowl said.
Auto Trader has delivered a confident outlook alongside its annual results, with record numbers of both buyers and sellers using the new and used car platform. The company reported that group revenues rose 5% to £601.1m over the 12 months to 31 March, as 7% growth at the core Auto Trader platform to £564.8m outweighed a 12% decline in sales at the van-leasing division Autorama to £36.3m. Group operating profits rose 8% to £376.8m. “Despite broader macroeconomic uncertainties, the UK car market is in good health and we continue to deliver against our strategy to improve car buying and retailing,” said chief executive Nathan Coe.
Hiscox announced the appointment of Peter Clarke as chair designate on Thursday, with effect from 1 June, subject to regulatory approval. He would formally succeed Colin Keogh as chair on 1 July. It said Clarke would bring extensive executive and non-executive experience across FTSE-listed financial services firms, including previous roles as CEO of Man Group and chair of Lancashire Insurance Holdings.
Newspaper round-up
Baby formula prices remain close to historic highs more than 18 months after the UK competition watchdog began an investigation into the market, with the government a week late in responding to its proposed remedies. The cost of infant formula fell only 50p on average last year, to £11.99 a tin, compared with £11.10 in 2021, with the most expensive priced at £18. – Guardian
Jobcentres will no longer force people into “any job” available, the employment minister has said, promising there will be long-term, personalised career support for those losing out due to welfare cuts. Alison McGovern said she was ending the Conservative policy under which jobseekers were obliged to take any low-paid, insecure work and that the service would now be focused on helping people to build rewarding careers. – Guardian
Electric vehicles (EVs) are losing more than half their value in the first two years of ownership amid a wave of heavy discounting by carmakers. A typical EV now retains only 49pc of its value after 24 months, a sharp decline from 83pc as recently as 2022, according to Cox Automotive. For a new car bought for £40,000, this would translate to a value of just £19,600 after two years. – Telegraph
One of the UK’s largest mining groups has been told it should pay as much as $630 million to a Mexican community whose land it illegally mined for gold, according to documents seen by The Times. Fresnillo learned of the sum in January from a court-appointed independent review, which followed a court ruling that it should return gold it mined or pay people in the area the equivalent value. – The Times
Ministers will be handed a “reserve power” that will allow them to force pension funds to invest in British assets in a move that is likely to cause alarm in the retirement industry. The government will on Thursday give details of a series of reforms that will be implemented through the Pension Schemes Bill, as it steps up its efforts to harness the firepower of Britons’ retirement pots to bolster the UK economy. – The Times
US close
Major indices closed lower on Wednesday as market participants digested minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's latest policy meeting and awaited earnings from AI darling Nvidia.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.58% at 42,098.70, while the S&P 500 lost 0.56% to 5,888.55 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.51% weaker at 19,100.94.
The Dow closed 244.95 points lower on Wednesday, taking a bite out of gains recorded in the previous session after Donald Trump delayed tariffs on the European Union.
Investors thumbed over minutes from the Federal Reserve's May meeting, growing cautious after central bankers expressed concerns that Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs could aggravate inflation and create a difficult quandary with interest rate policy.
"Participants agreed that uncertainty about the economic outlook had increased further, making it appropriate to take a cautious approach until the net economic effects of the array of changes to government policies become clearer," read the minutes.