L&G announces a new chief executive this morning, in a shake-up that will add more diversity to the leadership of FTSE 100 companies. One of Britain’s favorite online retailers for young shoppers is on track for better days. And in Westminster, concerns over rising mortgage costs are giving senior Conservative ministers a headache.
(Bloomberg) — L&G announces a new chief executive this morning, in a shake-up that will add more diversity to the leadership of FTSE 100 companies. One of Britain’s favorite online retailers for young shoppers is on track for better days. And in Westminster, concerns over rising mortgage costs are giving senior Conservative ministers a headache.
Here’s the key business news from London this morning:
In The City
Legal & General Group Plc: António Simões will replace Nigel Wilson as chief executive officer of the City insurer when he takes up the role on Jan. 1.
- Simões joins from Banco Santander where he was Regional Head of Europe
- The Portuguese executive told The Guardian in 2015 that being gay had made him “a more authentic person, better able to empathise, and with more emotional intelligence. If I wasn’t gay, probably I wouldn’t be CEO of the bank”
Asos Plc: The online retailer returned to profit this morning and said it is on track to deliver around £300 million of previously targeted savings.
- Inventory is down by around 15% on FY 2022, consistent with the target of a 20% reduction in the current financial year
Informa Plc: The live events and information business has boosted its revenue guidance for the full year after seeing “strong performances” in all businesses and momentum continuing into 2024.
- The company also plans to increase dividends and returns to shareholders
Halma Plc: The company reported adjusted pretax profit for the full year that met the average analyst estimate.
In Westminster
Rishi Sunak will no longer ask supermarkets to impose a price cap on basic goods following a backlash from retailers, The Telegraph reported Wednesday, adding that ministers are now seeking other measures to deal with food inflation.
Elsewhere in the economy, a shift in Britain’s mortgage market is delaying the impact of higher interest rates and increasing the risk of the Bank of England fumbling its decision on how much more it needs to do to curtail inflation. In previous tightening cycles, most homeowners had floating-rate mortgages that increased within weeks of each BOE rate hike. Now the majority are on fixed-rate deals typically lasting between two and five years, insulating homeowners from the bitter medicine the central bank has been administering.
Former BOE officials warned that the change means it will probably take longer than the traditional 18 months for each increase in borrowing costs to have a full impact on inflation. That complicates the central bank’s next decision on June 22, with this week marking one and a half years since the current round of increases started in December 2021.
In Case You Missed It
WE Soda cancelled its London initial public offering just two weeks after unveiling the listing plan, dashing the City’s hopes to recover from the ongoing drought. The world’s largest soda ash producer said “extreme investor caution” prevented the company from achieving the desired valuation.
Meanwhile, Vodafone and Three announced Wednesday that their merger will form the UK’s largest mobile operator by revenue if the deal is approved by Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority.
Looking Ahead
Britain’s largest grocer Tesco Plc wraps up this week’s corporate results with its first-quarter trading update due tomorrow at 7 a.m. London time. The company’s outlook for the full-year will be closely watched as customers still feel the pinch of a post-pandemic cost-of-living crisis. In April, the retailer told investors it expected to deliver a “broadly flat” retail adjusted operating profit in the full-year of 2024.
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