Burberry swings to full-year loss, Imperial Brands maintains guidance
By Josh White
Date: Wednesday 14 May 2025
(Sharecast News) - London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 22 points lower on Wednesday, having closed down 0.02% on Tuesday at 8,602.92.
Stocks to watch
Luxury brand Burberry swung to a full-year loss amid a slump in sales and warned that the macroeconomic environment had become more uncertain as US President Donald Trump launched his global tariff war. The company posted a £66m pre-tax loss for the year to March 29 compared to a profit of £418m a year ago. Sales fell 17% to £2.46bn.
GSK has entered into an agreement with Boston Pharmaceuticals to acquire its lead asset for up to $2bn, buying a specialty medicine to treat and prevent progression of steatotic liver disease. The deal will expand the British pharma giant's hepatology pipeline aimed at addressing steatotic and viral drivers of liver disease, offering multiple development options with the potential first launch in 2029. Under the terms of the deal, GSK paid Boston $1.2bn upfront, with the potential for additional success-based milestone payments totalling $800m.
Imperial Brands reported market share gains in its five priority markets in its half-year report on Wednesday, and achieved strong tobacco pricing that offset volume declines in the six months ended 31 March. Revenue was down 3.1% at £14.6bn and adjusted operating profit rose 1.8% to £1.65bn, while adjusted earnings per share increased 6% to 123.9p amid a £1.25bn share buyback and an increased interim dividend. It said it generated £2.4bn in free cash flow, and remained on track to meet full-year guidance.
Newspaper round-up
European companies are increasingly lobbying for strong climate action, research has found, in a "profound shift" that analysts say challenges the narrative that businesses see green rules as a threat to profits. The share of companies whose corporate lobbying is "aligned" with pathways to meet global climate goals rose from 3% in 2019 to 23% in 2025, according to an analysis of 200 of the largest European companies by InfluenceMap, while the share of companies who were deemed "misaligned" fell from 34% to 14%. - Guardian
Thousands of migrant workers are likely to die in Saudi Arabia as a result of a building boom fuelled by the 2034 World Cup and other major construction projects, human rights groups have warned. The Gulf kingdom has seen a surge in demand for cheap migrant labour, with a significant increase in foreign workers since 2021, as it starts preparations for hosting the World Cup and drives forward projects including the futuristic megacity Neom. - Guardian
The former boss of broadband provider TalkTalk is bidding to become the first woman to chair Channel 4. Dame Tristia Harrison is among the contenders to replace Sir Ian Cheshire, The Telegraph has learnt. She served as chief executive of TalkTalk from 2017 until late last year. - Telegraph
The boss of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has refused to rule out producing cars in America in an effort to avoid tariffs. Adrian Mardell, JLR's chief executive, said the company had no plans to move production across the Atlantic but could not dismiss the possibility for the future amid lingering questions about how the UK-US trade pact will work in practice. - Telegraph
Thames Water's chairman has apologised to customers while insisting it is "not a failing company" and saying that hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of recent bonuses for bosses were justified. Sir Adrian Montague told MPs on Tuesday that he wanted to apologise for "letting customers down" in recent years and at times causing people "real hardship". - The Times
US close
Wall Street closed mixed on Tuesday as investors digested a weaker-than-expected US inflation report that revived hopes of interest rate cuts later this year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.64% to 42,140.43, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.72% to 5,886.55, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.61% to finish at 19,010.08.
In currency markets, the dollar was last down 0.98% on sterling to trade at 75.16p, as it lost 0.93% versus the euro to 89.36 euro cents, and declined 0.71% against its Japanese counterpart, changing hands at JPY 147.40.
In economic news, US inflation came in lower than expected in April, easing pressure on the Federal Reserve and prompting a reassessment of economic and market forecasts.
Headline consumer prices rose 2.3% year-on-year, just below the 2.4% consensus forecast, while the core inflation rate held steady at 2.8%.
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