Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 makes strong start, up 20 points at 7,697
- Barclays (LON:BARC) dragged down by drop in investment bank fees
- Shell (LON:RDSa) lower after earnings miss, Centrica (LON:CNA) powers ahead
Who could take the helm at NatWest
As the dust settles on the departure of Dame Alison Rose from NatWest Group PLC (LON:NWG) attention has switched to who could fill her shoes.
There are a number of names doing the rounds including Paul Thwaite who has been interim boss “for an initial period of 12 months” while the board decided on a permanent successor to Rose.
Like Rose, Thwaite is a veteran of the group, who joined in 1997 and rose through its ranks.
Katie Murray is another tipped for the hot seat.
She was elevated to the job of chief financial officer in January 2019 and will be well known investors given her role as chief number cruncher.
Could Ewen Stevenson make a return to the City.
He was the well respected head of finance at HSBC (LON:HSBA) until he left last year.
Joe Garner, the former boss of Nationwide, is another possible external candidate.
He has had a varied career, which included running BT’s Openreach division, a decade at HSBC and stints at Procter & Gamble (LON:0NOF) and Dixons Carphone (LON:CURY).
Friends of the Earth slams Centrica and Shell
The bumper profit at Centrica haven't pleased everyone.
Friends of the Earth have slammed the news which saw Centrica report a ten-fold increase in profit at its British Gas retail arm to £969mln compared to £98mln last year.
Emi Murphy at the environmental pressure group said: "There’s no acceptable reality where an energy company should see profits rise by nearly 900% over the same period millions struggle to afford to power and heat their homes."
"It’s indefensible that firms behind both our soaring bills and the deteriorating state of the planet are still raking in billions in excess profits."
“People will rightly question why there has been so little progress in rolling out the measures that will make a genuine difference to their energy bills," she added.
Murphy had a pop at Shell in equal measure after its results.
“With the world quite literally on fire, fossil fuel companies should be doing everything they can to ramp up the production of cheap and clean renewable power, not stalling investment and rowing back on their climate commitments as Shell has recently."
"Not only is the switch to clean energy vital for the health of our planet, it would also help to bring down our energy bills – keeping homes warmer in winter - and release us from the volatility of expensive oil and gas once and for all.”
Inchcape the star turn in the FTSE 250
Over in the FTSE 250 and Inchcape PLC (LON:INCH) is the star of the show, up 13.4% to 884p.
The company predicted full year results would be towards the top end of the range of published market consensus after unveiling a 45% jump in revenue up 45% to £5.6bn in the first half of the year, supported by contribution from Derco and 13% organic revenue growth.
Adjusted pre-tax profit climbed 35% to £249mln, with a strong operating profit performance more than offsetting higher interest costs during the period.
Duncan Tait, CEO, commented: "Inchcape has produced another excellent performance during the first half of 2023, driven by growth from acquisitions and by consistently strong organic growth."
"In particular, the acqusition of Derco has transformed our market position in the Americas and is already having a positive impact on the group."
Investors were also raising a glass to Mitchells & Butlers PLC (LON:MAB) with shares up 7% to a year's high of 230p after the pub group reported improving sales growth and said cost inflation is "starting to abate".
Like-for-like sales were up 8.9% for the year to date, having improved to 9.7% in the third quarter from 8.5% in the first half.
Cost inflation is now expected to be at the bottom end of its 10-12% guidance range.
ITV PLC (LON:ITV) was another in favour with shares up 4.3% at 72.61p.
Sophie Lund-Yates at Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:HRGV) said its "it’s encouraging to see the Studios business picking up the pace – making content for the new binge-watching culture is a good place to be."
But advertising revenue fell 11% in the first half "as it grapples with an increasingly difficult backdrop for linear TV ads," she pointed out.
"The dividend’s been held which will please investors, but shareholder returns could be fickle in the future if cash needs to be funnelled at new ventures", she added.
St James 's Place margins face consumer duty hit
On the other side of line some big moves on the downside in the leading index with Barclays and Shell prominent names in the red as we have already discussed.
The biggest faller in the index is St James's Place PLC (LON:SJP), down a whopping 12% to 1,041p.
The wealth manager reported net inflows in the six months to June 30 but this was below the £4bn consensus, according to broker Peel Hunt.
The broker said the key point in statement is implementation of consumer duty and cap on pension charges which is expected to lower revenue margins by c.4 basis points going forward.
"Overall, a £12mln impact on net income is expected in the second half, more pronounced impact in future years," the broker explained.
Peel Hunt said overall the numbers were "slightly mixed with profits ahead but new business below expectations and expected impact from Consumer Duty. "