Vanquis Banking sees big full-year loss, Berkeley Group reaffirms guidance
By Digital Look
Date: Friday 14 Mar 2025
(Sharecast News) - London open:
At 0730 BST FTSE 100 futures were advancing by 24.50 points to 8,569.50.
Newspaper round-up:
Every little helps, so they say. Nationwide building society announced this week that it would be dishing out £50 mini-windfalls to more than 12 million members. And there should be more "free cash" coming down the track for many of them, as Nationwide hopes to announce its third annual "Fairer Share" payout in May. This would follow payments of £100 that were made in 2023 and 2024. - Guardian
British food and drink exports to the EU have tumbled by more than a third since Brexit, according to new trade body figures highlighting how bureaucratic barriers have changed the relationship between the UK and its most important trading partner. Products including whisky, chocolate and cheese remain popular with EU customers but overall food export volumes to the bloc fell to 6.37bn kg in 2024, representing a 34% decline compared with 2019 levels, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) found. - Guardian
Sir Keir Starmer is poised to relax a planned ban on popular hybrid cars amid warnings that electric vehicle (EV) sales targets are squeezing manufacturers too tightly. The Department for Transport was expected to ban some hybrids from sale after 2030, when selling pure petrol and diesel cars will also become illegal. However, sources said it was reconsidering the plans following intensive lobbying by the industry. - Telegraph
Stocks to watch:
Vanquis Banking saw its red ink swell to £119.3m in 2024, up from £11.7m one year before. That was chiefly the result of £191.0m of impairment charges, while net interest income fell 5% to £420.0m. Risk-adjusted income meanwhile was down by 17% at £302.3m. On an adjusted basis and before taxes the lender swung to a loss of £34.8m from £17.3m.
Berkeley Group reaffirmed earnings guidance but said there needed to be greater confidence in the path of interest rate cuts and wider economic stability to consolidate any recovery in sales.
Heat treatment and thermal processing services firm Bodycote delivered a cautious outlook as it presented its full-year results, with end markets remaining mixed after a "challenging" 2024, in which adjusted operating profits grew only 1.1% to £129m.
US close:
Major indices closed lower on Thursday as market participants digested yet another key inflation reading and new tariff threats from the White House.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.30% at 40,813.57, while the S&P 500 lost 1.39% to 5,521.52 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 1.96% weaker at 17,303.01.
The Dow closed 537.36 points lower on Thursday as the blue-chip index extended its losing streak to four sessions, while the S&P 500 closed in correction territory.
Thursday's primary focus was news that wholesale prices were unchanged in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, proving to somewhat quell inflation fears amid ongoing concerns regarding Donald Trump's trade war.
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