Kingfisher flags lower profits, Wise announces new finance chief
By Josh White
Date: Monday 25 Mar 2024
(Sharecast News) - London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 18 points lower on Monday, having closed up 0.61% on Friday at 7,930.92.
Stocks to watch
B&Q owner Kingfisher on Monday said it expected lower annual profits in the current year as the home improvement market continued to lag behind demand for housing. The company, which also owns the Brico depot chain in France, said it expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £490m - £550m compared with the £568m it reported for last year, down 25% on 2022-2023.
Wise announced the appointment of Emmanuel Thomassin as its new chief financial officer and director on Monday, effective from 1 October, succeeding Matthew Briers who announced his departure last year. The London-listed consumer currency specialist said Thomassin had extensive experience from his tenure as CFO at Delivery Hero. Until he assumes his role, Kingsley Kemish, currently senior group financial director, would serve as interim CFO.
AstraZeneca announced that its autoimmune disease treatment Ultomiris has been given the green light by US regulators. The drug, which is also approved for certain patients in Japan and the EU, is to be used for the treatment of adult patients with anti-aquaporin-4, antibody-positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), a disease that affects the central nervous system including the spine and optic nerves. The positive ruling by the US Food and Drug Administration followed positive results from the recent Champion-NMOSD phase III trial, which showed zero relapses over a median treatment duration of 73 weeks.
Newspaper round-up
More than 20 leading social scientists have warned the UK's biggest investment companies and pension funds that allowing US-style executive pay packages could "create a significant risk of higher inequality" and "much worse lower levels of happiness, health and wellbeing across society". The academics said they had decided to speak out as an increasing number of British business leaders and the London Stock Exchange have argued for much higher pay awards to improve the UK's competitiveness. - Guardian
The UK's "expensive, cramped and ageing" housing stock fares poorly compared with other advanced countries, analysis by a thinktank suggests. Households are paying more than other countries - but getting less in return, the Resolution Foundation said. - Guardian
Wind farm owners are being investigated by the energy watchdog for alleged market manipulation after they were accused of overcharging consumers by £100m. Ofgem is to examine claims that renewable energy companies artificially inflated compensation payments given to them for switching off their turbines on windy days when the grid did not need extra capacity. - Telegraph
The Bank of England will slash interest rates to 3pc by the end of next year in a boost for millions of mortgage borrowers as inflation drops sharply, senior economists at KPMG have said. Inflation is set to fall below the Bank's 2pc target in the coming months as energy bills tumble. - Telegraph
The Financial Conduct Authority hired a chief internal auditor who does not have audit qualifications after advertising the role for only five working days, leading to claims that the recruitment process had been rigged in favour of an internal candidate. The appointment of Robin Jones, who has spent more than two decades working at the City regulator, has been greeted with surprise and anger in the internal audit profession. - The Times
US close
Stocks on Wall Street finished in a mixed state on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.77% at 39,475.90.
The S&P 500 lost 0.14% to 5,234.18, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.16% to end the day at 16,428.82.
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