Man Group AUM jump 5% in Q1, Woodside Energy output drops
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Friday 19 Apr 2024
(Sharecast News) - London open
The FTSE 100 was being called to open around 60 points lower than Thursday's close of 7,877.05 - a drop of 0.8%.
Stocks to watch
Investment management firm Man Group reported an improvement in assets under manager in the first quarter, according to a trading update released on Friday.
The company said AUM totalled $175.7bn by 31 March, up from the $167.5bn reported at the end of the 2023 financial year.
The increase was a result of a $9.8bn positive swing in investment performance, slightly offset by $1.6bn in net outflows.
In terms of product categories, notable increases in AUM were recorded for 'Japan equity', 'credit and convertibles' and 'global equity'.
Woodside Energy reported a 7% quarter-on-quarter decline in output to 44.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day over the three days ending in March.
Quarterly revenue therefore shrank 12% versus the prior three-month stretch to reach $2.7bn as a result of lower prices and volumes.
The company's boss Meg O'Neill reiterated full-year output guidance for 185-195m boe.
She also highlighted progress on the company's three main growth projects in Senegal and Western Australia.
Newspaper round-up
"Misleading" and "inconsistent" labels make it hard for shoppers to know where their food comes from, the consumer champion Which? has said, as it found supermarket chains were selling products with "meaningless" statements on their packaging. Retailers must supply the "country of origin" for specific foods including fresh fruit and vegetables, unprocessed meats, fish, wine and olive oil but the rules do not generally apply to processed meat or frozen or processed fruit and vegetables. - Guardian
Thames Water could be renationalised, with the bulk of its £15.6bn debt added to the public purse, under radical plans being considered by the government, the Guardian can reveal. The blueprint, codenamed Project Timber, is being drawn up in Whitehall and would turn Britain's biggest water company into a publicly owned arm's-length body. Some lenders to its core operating company could lose up to 40% of their money under the plans. - Guardian
Netflix has enjoyed its strongest start to the year since 2020 as its password sharing crackdown boosted subscriber numbers. The streaming giant added a further 9.3m users in the first three months of the year, boosted by original hits such as Harlan Coben adaptation Fool Me Once and Guy Ritchie's The Gentlemen. That compares to just 1.75m new subscribers in the same period last year, as the latest figures came in well ahead of analyst forecasts. - Telegraph
Consumer confidence rose to its highest level in two years in the last quarter, boosted by a sharp improvement in sentiment among younger people. Deloitte's consumer confidence index rose to a net balance of -11 per cent in the first three months of this year, up from a balance of -11.4 per cent in the previous quarter. The rise reflects a sustained decline in the rate of inflation, easing the pressure on consumer finances after they were rocked by the cost of living crisis. It represents a sixth consecutive quarter of rising confidence. - The Times
Shareholders in Home Reit are suing the scandal-hit "landlord for the homeless", which in turn is planning to take its former investment adviser to court. The company has confirmed that it has received a pre-action letter of claim from Harcus Parker, the law firm representing 300 or so shareholders, who have accused Home Reit of giving them "false, untrue and/or misleading" information. - The Times
US close
US stocks were mostly lower on Thursday with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq falling for the fifth straight day as another rise in bond yields dampened risk appetite
The S&P 500 slipped 0.22% while the Nasdaq dropped 0.52%. While the Dow had pared earlier gains by the close it still managed to finish in positive territory, up just 0.06%.
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