Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 expected to open higher
- 888 Holdings (LON:888) warns of sharp fall in Q3 revenue
- Mitchells & Butler expects top-end earnings
Mitchells & Butler sees top-end earnings
But better news from Mitchells & Butlers PLC (LON:MAB) which expects full-year earnings to be at the top end of expectations after a strong rise in sales and easing of cost headwinds.
The pub and restaurant chain said strong trading had continued through the fourth quarter, bringing year to date like-for-like sales growth to 9.1%, with total sales growth now of 10.5%.
Like-for-like sales in the fourth quarter increased by 9.7% supported by sustained growth in both food and drink volumes and reflecting an increasing out-performance against the market, the firm said.
The owner of Harvester, Toby Carvery, All Bar One, Miller & Carter said cost headwinds are abating and remain at the bottom end of the range previously identified.
“We remain mindful of the challenging macroeconomic environment and pressures on the consumer however, as trading continues to be strong, we have confidence that the current year outturn will be at the top end of consensus expectations, with momentum into FY 2024," M&B said in a trading update.
888 warns of sharp fall in revenue in third quarter
Not such good news from 888 Holdings PLC (LSE:888) which has warned unfavourable sporting results and regulatory compliance has seen revenue drop sharply in the third quarter.
The news follows a similar warning from Entain (LON:ENT) earlier in the week.
Lord Mendelsohn, Executive Chair of 888, said the “performance in Q3 has been below our expectations, and this means we now expect to end the year with EBITDA below our prior expectation.”
The owner of William Hill, 888 and Mr Green, said performance has been “mixed”, with overall revenue for the third quarter expected to be down around 10% to around £400 million.
888 explained the fall reflected the ongoing “significant” impact from compliance changes implemented in dotcom markets, customer friendly sports results impacting win margin across both UK and International markets in September and the ongoing impact of safer gambling changes within the UK.
The betting operator also saw a short-term impact from the change in marketing approach to focus on higher return marketing.
Retail continues to perform strongly, with broadly stable revenue, and no change to the expectation of mid-single digit revenue growth in the full year.
The firm expects fourth quarter revenue to be higher than the third quarter, but lower year-on-year.
Synergy delivery is on track and significant cost savings are being delivered that have helped to mitigate the year-to-date revenue performance versus initial expectations, 888 said.
Full year adjusted Ebitda margin is now expected to be approximately 18-19%.
Diageo confident of hitting mid-range targets
We start the day with Diageo PLC (LON:DGE) which remains confident of delivering medium-term targets despite a challenging operating environment.
The spirits maker, which owns Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff and Guinness, said it was well-positioned to deliver its medium-term guidance for financial 2023 to financial 2025 of organic net sales growth consistently in the range of 5% to 7% and organic operating profit growth sustainably in the range of 6% to 9%.
Debra Crew, chief executive, said: “our expectations for fiscal 24 are unchanged,” adding the firm expects “
operating environment challenges to persist, with ongoing cost pressure and geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty.”
Crew said she firmly believes “the strength of our portfolio, our diversified footprint and our deep consumer insights will drive sustainable long-term growth and generate value for shareholders."
The FTSE 100 firm was updating investors ahead of today’s AGM.
Oil price continues to march towards $100, Evergrande suspended
Good morning – and the FTSE 100 is expected to open higher on Thursday despite fresh concerns over embattled Chinese property giant, Evergrande.
Spread betting companies are calling London’s lead index up by 12 points after closing down 32.50 points at 7,593.22 on Wednesday.
Evergrande suspended trading of its shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday, according to notices posted by the bourse.
Neither the company nor the exchange provided any explanation for the halt, which also followed a Bloomberg report on Wednesday that the company’s chair Hui Ka Yan was under police surveillance.
The suspension comes just days after the developer said its restructuring plan could not proceed and pushed the Hang Seng to a 10-month low, falling 1.1%.
US markets closed mixed after a fresh surge in the oil price sparked inflationary concerns.
The latest report from the Energy Information Administration showed that US commercial crude oil inventories fell by 2.2 million barrels from the previous week, further tightening supply while the delivery point for WTI saw inventories fall to the lowest point in more than a year.
Brent crude was trading a further 1.0% higher at $97.45/barrel, continuing what appears to be a relentless rise to $100/barrel, after strong gains on Wednesday.
Back in London and the early focus will be an update from pub chain Mitchells & Butler.