By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – At 07:40GMT, FTSE 100 futures are trading higher by 0.7% at 7478.
In FX markets, GBP/USD is trading at 1.3630, EUR/GBP is trading at 0.8334. The US Dollar Index is flat.
Bitcoin is trading at $42,606.
Today’s calendar highlights include Eurozone Industrial Production, US CPI, US Crude Oil Inventories.
Stocks
Sainsbury 's (LON:SBRY) - Q3 total retail ex fuel down 5.3% YoY. New products and service have driven volume market share gains, growing ahead of the market through Q3 and over the Christmas period. Upgrading profit guidance, now expect to report underlying profit before tax of at least £720 million in the financial year to March 2022. Expect to meet debt reduction target ahead of schedule.
Whitbread (LON:WTB) - Q3 Premier Inn total accommodation sales 10.6% ahead of FY20 and like-for-like UK accommodation sales 5.5% ahead. Total UK sales were 3.1% ahead of FY20, with total food and beverage sales down 11.1%. In six weeks to 6th January total UK accommodation sales growth was 5.1% ahead of FY20. Maintain expectation that Premier Inn UK like-for-like RevPAR run rates will recover to pre COVID-19 levels during 2022.
JD Sports (LON:JD) - Total revenues for the twenty-two week period to 1 January 2022 in the Group's like for like businesses were more than 10% ahead of the same period in 2020. Gross margins in H2 are in line with the prior year. Best estimate is for Group headline profit before tax for the full year to 28 January 2023 to be in line with the current year, which is ahead of current market expectations for the 2023 financial year.
Just Eat Takeaway (LON:JETJ) - Processed 1.1 billion Orders in FY 2021, representing a 33% increase compared with 2020. Gross Transaction Value was €28.2 billion for the full year of 2021, representing an increase of 31% compared with 2020. The adjusted EBITDA margin improved substantially in Q4. Now expect adjusted EBITDA margin for the full year to be at the midpoint of the guided range. Reiterates financial targets for GTV to grow by mid-teens percentage points YoY in 2022.
Ferrexpo (LON:FXPO) - Q4 iron ore pellet production increases 18% quarter on quarter to 3.1 million tonnes. Total full year production of iron ore pellets of 11.2 million tonnes in 2021, a result in line year on year. Total full year sales volume of 11.3 million tonnes, mirroring production for the year, and representing a 6% decrease year on year.
Vistry Group (LON:VTYV) - Expected to deliver FY21 adjusted profit before tax of circa £345 million (FY20: £143.9 million), in line with previous guidance. Completions increased to 6,551 units (FY20: 4,652), and gross margin anticipated in excess of 22%. Group expects to deliver a significant step up in profits and returns in FY22. Can confirm that they are supportive of the Government's ambition to derive a solution to fix cladding and build safety.
Dunelm (LON:DNLM) - H1 total sales up 11% YoY. Q2 sales up 13% to £407 million. Gross margin in Q2 increased by 160bps compared to the same period last year, ahead of company expectations. Now estimate that full year gross margin will be better than previously expected, at around 30-50bps lower than FY21. Expect profit before tax for the first half to be approximately £140 million. Now expects that full year FY22 PBT will now be materially ahead of market expectations.
Pagegroup (LON:PAGE) - Q4 group gross profit up 55.1% to £246.8 million. 2021 full year operating profit marginally in excess of previous guidance of in the region of £165 million.
Savills (LON:SVS) - Since the last trading update in November, all Savills businesses have exceeded their forecasts notwithstanding the impact of renewed pandemic-related restrictions in many locations. Expects Underlying Profit Before Tax for 2021 to be very significantly ahead of the upper end of its previous range of expectations. The group’s previous expectations for the year ahead remain unchanged at this early stage.
DFS Furniture (LON:DFSD) - HY gross sales up 10% on the FY19 comparator period. Based upon reasonable delivery assumptions in H2, scenarios for the full year Profit before Tax and Amortisation remain unchanged. Order bank remains currently circa £200 million higher than pre-pandemic comparator levels on a revenue basis.
S4 Capital (LON:SFOR) - Trading continues in line with market expectations, delivering very strong like-for-like revenue and gross profit/net revenue growth well ahead of the previous guidance. Operational EBITDA margins improved significantly in the second half, as flagged in the half year report in September and the third quarter statement in November. Separately, the company announced a combination between 4 Mile Analytics and Media.Monks.
Topps Tiles (LON:TPT) - Like-for-like sales on a two-year basis up 21.0% in the first 13 weeks of the year. Expect percentage gross margins to be moderately lower year on year as selling prices increase by lower percentage than cost prices.
Phoenix Group (LON:PHNX) - Swiss Re has sold 66.2 million ordinary shares on Phoenix at a price of 664 pence per share, raising approximately £440 million.
Bunzl (LON:BNZL) - Completed the acquisition of Tingley Rubber Corporation, a distributor of own brand PPE based in New Jersey, US.
Ultra Electronics (LON:ULE) - Awarded an Integrated Anti-Submarine Warfare Defence Suite (IADS) programme for selected frontline warships of the Indian Navy. The contract is worth approximately £60 million to Ultra.
Grafton Group (LON:GFTU_u) - Group total revenue from continuing operations increased by 25.7% to £2.11 billion in 2021. Now expect to report record full year adjusted operating profit in continuing operations at the top end of expectations.
Trustpilot (LON:TRST) - FY constant currency revenue growth of circa 24%, with bookings up circa 27%. Expect to report FY annual recurring revenue of $144 million, compared to $119 million in the prior year.