Games workshop lifts full-year guidance, Quilter ups dividend
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Wednesday 05 Mar 2025
(Sharecast News) - London open
The FTSE 100 was called to open around 75 points higher.
Stocks to watch
Games Workshop lifted guidance for the full year, saying trading in January and February had been ahead of expectations, with strong trading across both the core business and licensing.
Wealth management outfit Quilter lifted its full-year dividend by 13% after a strong end to 2024, as the company reported double-digit profit growth and a big increase in assets under management and administration.
Chief executive Steven Levin said 2024 was an "excellent year in terms of net inflows, revenue momentum, cost discipline and profit growth".
Newspaper round-up
Some companies are "stuck in neutral" in their approach to artificial intelligence, according to Microsoft's UK boss, who said a significant number of private and public sector organisations lack any formal AI strategy. A Microsoft survey of nearly 1,500 UK senior leaders across public and private sectors, as well as 1,440 employees, found that more than half of executives feel their organisation has no official AI plan. Roughly the same proportion report a growing gap in productivity - a measure of economic efficiency - between employees who use AI and those who do not. - Guardian
Trade unions have declared victory as Labour bolstered a string of measures in its workers' rights bill, amid criticism of the government from business groups saying there had been no "meaningful change" despite engagement. Union sources said they were delighted there had been no watering down of any key measures in the employment rights bill, which will face its final vote in the Commons next week, after wrangling between ministers, unions and businesses. - Guardian
Apple has launched a legal battle against Yvette Cooper's secret order for the tech giant to install a backdoor in the iPhone. The company has lodged an appeal with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, the court that oversees Britain's surveillance laws, over the demand to provide access to encrypted iPhone messages and pictures. - Telegraph
The company that makes Tasers is poised to roll out a "covert" weapon to satisfy a surge in demand from nervous chief executives after the head of America's biggest health insurer was shot dead in New York. Axon has told investors that fear among corporate bosses in the wake of the assassination presented a huge growth opportunity for the company. - Telegraph
The owner of Boots, the high street chemist, is nearing a $10 billion deal to be taken private by an American private equity firm. Walgreens Boots Alliance, the US-listed drugstore chain, is in negotiations with New-York based Sycamore Partners to agree a takeover. The parties are aiming to reach a deal as soon as Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported. - The Times
Smith & Nephew has opened the door to a possible break-up amid activist pressure to consider a separation of the FTSE 100 company's largest division. The 169-year-old company, one of the world's biggest and oldest medical equipment manufacturers, has outlined scenarios under which it could evaluate strategic options for its struggling orthopaedics division, in a shift in its public position. - The Times
US close
Wall Street stocks closed sharply lower on Tuesday as Donald Trump's tariffs on Canadian, Mexican and Chinese imports came into effect.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.55% at 42,520.99, while the S&P 500 lost 1.22% to 5,778.15 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.35% weaker at 18,285.16.
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