HSBC Q4 profits beat forecasts, Glencore reports fall in annual core earnings
By Josh White
Date: Wednesday 19 Feb 2025
(Sharecast News) - London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open five points higher on Wednesday, having closed down 0.02% on Tuesday at 8,766.73.
Stocks to watch
HSBC fourth quarter profits exceeded analysts' estimates and the lender announced that it was planning to start a share buyback programme of as much as $2.0bn. The lender's profit hit $197m over the three months ending in December. That compared to a $153m loss one year before.
Glencore reported a fall in annual core earnings due to weaker commodities prices but said it would still return $2.2bn to shareholders via a buyback. The miner and trader said adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 16% to $14.36bn last year. Analysts had been expecting $14.55bn.
Cruise giant Carnival priced a $1bn private offering of 5.75% senior unsecured notes due 2030 overnight, it announced on Wednesday morning, with plans to use the proceeds and cash on hand to redeem its existing $1bn 10.5% senior unsecured notes due 2030. The FTSE 250 company said the transaction, expected to close on 28 February, would reduce annual interest expenses by around $45m, and included investment-grade-style covenants. It said the new notes, which would be unsecured and fully guaranteed by certain subsidiaries, would pay interest semi-annually and mature on 15 March 2030.
Newspaper round-up
Donald Trump stood firm against warnings that his threatened trade war risks derailing the US economy, claiming his administration could hit foreign cars with tariffs of around 25% within weeks. Semiconductor chips and drugs are set to face higher duties, Trump told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday. - Guardian
Heat pump sales fell 23% in Europe last year, industry data shows, reverting to the level they were at before the war in Ukraine and slowing the shift away from gas-burning boilers. Demand for clean heating devices fell by about half in Belgium and Germany, and by 39% in France, according to data for 13 countries that cover 85% of the European heat pump market. - Guardian
Millions of pounds of taxpayer cash is being ploughed into a company that makes wooden drinking bottles as part of Labour's push towards net zero. Britain's National Wealth Fund, which is fully owned by the Treasury, on Wednesday announced a £43.5m investment into Cambridgeshire-based start-up Pulpex, which makes recyclable water bottles out of wood pulp. The investment will help finance Pulpex's plan to build its first ever manufacturing plant, near Glasgow, which is expected to produce 50m wooden bottles each year and create 35 jobs in Scotland. - Telegraph
Two million people have been claiming sickness benefits for at least five years without any requirement to look for work, official figures show. Data published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show that in January more than 900,000 people had been claiming Universal Credit (UC) with no work conditions for five years or more. - Telegraph
Barely one in ten potential first-time buyers could afford to get on the property ladder without relying on their family for financial help, research suggests. Only 11.5 per cent of all those trying to buy their first home can do so in their local area under their own means, according to Skipton Group, the owner of Connells Group, the estate agency. - The Times
US close
A late-afternoon rally pushed US stock markets into positive territory on Tuesday, helping the S&P 500 rise to a new record closing high.
Following the Presidents Day national holiday on Monday, Wall Street initially opened in a subdued fashion, with the three main equity benchmarks trading flat to slightly lower.
However, an increase in risk appetite in the final hour of trade saw the Dow and Nasdaq eke out a 0.02% and 0.07% gain, respectively, while the S&P 500 rose 0.24% to a new peak of 6,129.58, topping an earlier record close of 6,118.71 on 23 January.
Nevertheless, the mood was still cautious as investors continue to digest Donald Trump's plans for "reciprocal tariffs" on a number of America's biggest trading partners.
Traders returned from the long weekend with their attention still turned to Washington on Tuesday, with all eyes focused on the White House as they hoped for further updates on the Trump administration's tariff plans.
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