Haleon reports third-quarter organic growth, Ocado confirms Warby appointment
By Josh White
Date: Thursday 31 Oct 2024
(Sharecast News) - London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 28 points lower on Thursday, having closed down 0.73% on Wednesday at 8,159.63.
Stocks to watch
Haleon reported a 6.1% organic revenue increase in its third quarter on Thursday, with balanced growth in price and volume/mix, driven by strong sales of power brands like Sensodyne and Advil across all regions. The FTSE 100 consumer products giant said its adjusted operating profit margin rose to 23%, supported by gross margin expansion and cost efficiencies, despite foreign exchange and the impact of acquisitions. It also completed key divestments, raising around £0.8bn, and had returned over £1bn to shareholders through buybacks and dividends in the year-to-date.
Online grocery retailer Ocado Group has confirmed speculation that it is appointing former Microsoft exec Adam Warby to replace chair Rick Haythornthwaite, who announced his resignation six months ago to jump ship to NatWest. Warby, who is currently the chair of Nasdaq-listed executive search and management consultancy Heidrick & Struggles International, will join the company on 1 December.
Newspaper round-up
The former cryptocurrency executive Nishad Singh, who once shared a $35m Bahamas penthouse with the FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was spared prison time by a judge on Wednesday for his role in the theft by his imprisoned former boss of about $8bn in customer funds from the now bankrupt exchange. The United States district judge Lewis Kaplan imposed the sentence during a hearing in Manhattan federal court. - Guardian
Lloyds Banking Group has scrapped commission payments across its £15bn motor finance arm after a landmark ruling on car loan misselling, as industry and Treasury officials hold urgent talks amid fears of contagion across the wider financial sector. The moves follow last week's court of appeal judgment, which agreed that consumers could not have consented to loans that involved "secret" commission payments to brokers and car dealers. - Guardian
Microsoft's costly investment in artificial intelligence technology is paying off, with quarterly sales surpassing Wall Street expectations to grow 16 per cent to $65.6 billion. Revenue from Microsoft's Azure cloud computing business, a significant source of growth in recent years, rose 33 per cent in the fiscal first quarter, ahead of estimates of 32 per cent. - The Times
One of the most senior former regulators in Britain has blamed the Financial Conduct Authority for the crisis shaking the motor finance industry, saying the lack of clarity in its rulebook was to blame. Sir Howard Davies, the former chairman of the FCA's predecessor body, the Financial Services Authority, said he was disappointed by the role of the FCA, adding that the crisis "has caused a lot of anxiety". - The Times
Former business secretary Lord Mandelson has resigned from the board of a start-up bank founded by a Labour Party donor. In a boardroom clear-out, The Bank of London said Lord Mandelson, Wade Davis and Anthony Watson, the group's founder, had all stepped down as directors. The bank's chairman, Carlyle Group chief executive Harvey Schwartz, will also leave. - Telegraph
US close
Wall Street stocks were in the red at the close of trading on Wednesday as market participants digested Q3 earnings and a preliminary Q3 GDP reading.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.22% at 42,141.54, while the S&P 500 lost 0.33% to 5,813.67 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.56% weaker at 18,607.93.
The Dow closed 91.51 points lower on Wednesday, extending losses recorded in the previous session.
Wednesday's primary focus was Q3 earnings from Meta Platforms, which fell short of user growth expectations and warned of a jump in AI spending in FY25, and Microsoft, which told investors that a boom in AI had fuelled double-digit growth in its cloud business.
Elsewhere, Eli Lilly shares headed south after sales of its obesity drug fell well and truly short of expectations, and trade bellwether Caterpillar was in the red after posting weaker-than-expected earnings.
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