FTSE 100 Rises After Modest Gains on Wall Street
0913 GMT - The FTSE 100 rises 0.3% to 7395 points after Wall Street snapped a four-day losing streak with modest gains overnight. Retail shares and housebuilders are among the biggest risers while distribution group Bunzl falls 0.7% after saying it expects lower adjusted earnings in 2023. Meanwhile, data showed U.K. public sector borrowing reached GBP22 billion in November, compared to GBP8.1 billion a year ago and above the GBP13 billion expected by analysts in a WSJ survey. "The trio of the government's energy price support, cost of living payments and pressures from the weakening economy implies that borrowing will come in at GBP175 billion (7.0% of GDP) in 2022/23, a huge GBP50 billion above the 2021/22 total," Capital Economics economist Ashley Webb writes. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)
Companies News:
Bunzl Sees 2022 Revenue Rising on Inflation-Driven Growth, Acquisitions
Bunzl PLC said Wednesday that it expects 2022 underlying revenue to show strong growth on year and 2023 revenue to rise at constant exchange rates.
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4Global Swung to 1H Pretax Loss, Is Confident of Meeting Market Views for Year
4Global PLC said Wednesday that it swung to a pretax loss for the first half of fiscal 2023 after booking higher costs, and that management is confident of meeting market expectations for the year.
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Scotgold Resources FY 2022 Pretax Loss Widened on Higher Costs
Scotgold Resources Ltd. said Wednesday its pretax loss for fiscal 2022 doubled, as it prepares for full production at its Cononish gold mine in Scotland.
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Infrastructure India Warns That It Can't Continue as Going Concern
Infrastructure India PLC said Wednesday that it can't continue as a going concern given a swing to net liabilities in its first-half accounts.
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Pensana Agrees $4 Mln Investment From Shareholder for UK, Angola Projects
Pensana PLC said Wednesday that shareholder M&G Investment Management will invest $4 million in the company, supporting its financing and the start of main construction of two projects in the first quarter of 2023.
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Gama Aviation Says 2H Has Been Strong; Sees Adjusted EBIT Meeting Management Views
Gama Aviation PLC said Wednesday that performance has been solid in the second half of 2022, and the company sees adjusted earnings before interest and taxation in line with management views.
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SkinBioTherapeutics Raises GBP2.6 Mln in Placing, Retail Offer
SkinBioTherapeutics PLC said Wednesday that it has raised total gross proceeds of 2.6 million pounds ($3.2 million) in a placing and retail offer to fund product rollouts and for working capital purposes.
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TwentyFour Income Fund Swung to 1H Loss
TwentyFour Income Fund Ltd. said Wednesday that it swung to a loss in its fiscal first half as higher interest income was wiped out by foreign currency losses and losses on financial assets.
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Zephyr Energy Makes Two Acquisitions, Secures $8 Mln Line of Credit
Zephyr Energy PLC said Wednesday that it has made two acquisitions, partly funding one with an $8 million asset-backed bridge line of credit.
Market Talk:
Bunzl Posts Strong 2022 Update But New Year Looks Tough
0819 GMT - Bunzl has had a strong 2022, benefiting from the highest levels of product inflation in decades, plus continued post-lockdown rebounds, RBC Capital Markets says. The international distribution and services company continues to execute acquisitions in a value-accretive and fairly consistent manner, offsetting underlying margin compression, RBC analysts say in a research note. Bunzl's shares are down only 2% year-to-date, performing very well compared with the wider business-services sector, RBC says. Next year, however, the company faces tough comparables, increasing recessionary risks in Europe and higher borrowing costs, which could weigh on its earnings-per-share momentum, says the Canadian bank. RBC retains its sector perform rating and 2,800 pence price target for Bunzl stock. Shares are up 1.0% at 2,848.0 pence. (joseph.hoppe@wsj.com)
Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires;
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
12-21-22 0431ET
