Sterling Edges Lower After UK PMI Data

0857 GMT - Sterling edges lower after a key measure of manufacturing and services activity fell short of expectations. The S&P/CIPS U.K. composite purchasing managers' index fell to 53.9 in May from 54.9 in April as manufacturing activity contracted further and services activity grew at a slower pace. Analysts in a WSJ survey expected a reading of 54.1. A level above 50 signals an expansion in activity. "Activity growth in private sector business softened last month to the lowest since March as subdued customer demand put a dampener on levels of new orders," CIPS economist John Glen writes. GBP/USD falls to 1.2388 after the data from 1.2405 beforehand. EUR/GBP rises to 0.8719 from 0.8711. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)

COMPANIES NEWS:

ITV Invests in Pet Group PitPat

ITV on Tuesday agreed to subscribe for 3 million pounds ($3.7 million) of shares in the pet health and wellness company PitPat in return for advertising inventory across its channels and ITVX.

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RS Group FY 2023 Profit, Revenue Rose on Product Mix, Pricing; Backs Market Views

RS Group said Tuesday that fiscal 2023 pretax profit and revenue rose on operational initiatives, product mix, inventory availability and strong pricing, and backed market expectations for fiscal 2024 profit, albeit weighted to the second half.

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Topps Tiles 1H Pretax Profit Fell on Higher Costs; Sees Good 2H Start

Topps Tiles said Tuesday that pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2023 fell after it booked higher costs but that it had a good start to the second half with like-for-like sales in the first seven weeks up 4.1% on an underlying basis.

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Barratt Developments Chair John Allan to Step Down Early Amid Allegations

Barratt Developments said Tuesday that Caroline Silver will take over as chair of the board earlier than originally planned to prevent allegations against John Allan from becoming disruptive to the company.

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Hilton Food Sees Performance to Date in Line With Views, Well Positioned for 2023

Hilton Food Group said Tuesday its performance from Jan. 2 to date has been in line with the board's expectations and that despite the uncertain macro-economic environment it was well positioned for the year ahead.

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Cranswick FY 2023 Pretax Profit Grew, Driven by Accelerating Revenue Growth in 2H

Cranswick said Tuesday that its pretax profit rose in fiscal 2023, driven by a 15% rise in revenue, with growth accelerating in the second half.

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Watkin Jones 1H Pretax Loss Narrowed; Sees Stronger 2H

Watkin Jones on Tuesday said its pretax loss for the first half of fiscal 2023 narrowed and that is sees a materially stronger second half with forward sales adding to performance from in-build developments but remains cautious as the market recovers.

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Helical Swung to FY 2023 Pretax Loss on Property Revaluations; Raises Dividend

Helical said Tuesday that it swung to a pretax loss in fiscal 2023, driven by the revaluation of its investment properties, though it hiked its dividend.

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Altice UK Buys 650 Mln Shares in BT; Says It Won't Make Bid for the Company

Altice UK said Tuesday that it has purchased a further 650 million shares in BT Group for around 961 million pounds ($1.20 billion), bringing its ownership up to around 24.5% of the company's issued share capital.

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Avon Protection's 1H Pretax Loss Narrowed on Improving Margins; Sees Lower FY 2023 Revenue

Avon Protection said Tuesday that its pretax loss narrowed in the first half of fiscal 2023 due to a increase in earnings margins despite revenue dipping on year.

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Victorian Plumbing Group's 1H Pretax Profit Jumped On Strong Demand

Victorian Plumbing Group said Tuesday that pretax profit more than doubled in the first half of fiscal 2023 on strong demand across segments.

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Drax Backs 2023 Earnings Market Expectations; Increases Investment Plans

Drax Group said Tuesday that its 2023 expectations for adjusted earnings remain in-line with market consensus estimates, and set out increased investment plans for carbon removal.

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Altice UK Buys 650 Mln Shares in BT; Says It Won't Make Bid for the Company -- Update

Patrick Drahi's Altice UK said Tuesday that it has purchased a further 650 million shares in BT Group for around 961 million pounds ($1.20 billion), bringing its' ownership up to around 24.5% of the company's issued share capital.

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SSP Swung to 1H Pretax Profit on Continued Passenger Volumes Recovery; To Reinstate Dividends

SSP Group said Tuesday that it swung to a pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2023 as revenue rose, spurred by the continued recovery in passenger travel volumes, and that the board expects to resume dividend payments given its current performance expectations.

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Physiomics Shares Fall After FY 2023 Income Guidance Cut

Physiomics shares dropped 22% on Tuesday after the company said it expects its income for fiscal 2023 to be lower than expected due to unforeseen delays in data delivery for its contracts.

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XP Factory Shares Rise After Higher Sales Boosted 2022 Results, 1Q Trading

XP Factory shares rose on Tuesday after the group said overall trading in the first quarter of 2023 was ahead of the board's expectations as it posted higher revenue in 2022 along with heavier costs that widened its pretax loss for the year.

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URA Holding Shares Rise on Oversubscribed Fund Raising

Shares of URA Holdings rose 14% on Tuesday after the company said it has raised 280,000 pounds ($348,264) via an oversubscribed share placing and subscription and will use the money toward equipment to restart mining operations at its Gravelotte emerald mine in South Africa, and for general working capital.

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Empresaria Group Shares Dropped on Lower Net Fee Income Year-To-Date

Shares in Empresaria Group fell on Tuesday after the company said its net fee income has decline in the year to April due to weak demand, and that it expects full-year pretax profit to fall.

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Gulf Keystone Petroleum to Suspend 2022's Final Dividend on Iraq Pipeline, Payment Issues

Gulf Keystone Petroleum said Tuesday that the board was suspending 2022's final dividend of $25 million after the March 25 shut-in of the Iraq-Turkey pipeline and the lack of clarity from Kurdistan's regional government, or KRG, regarding the resumption of outstanding oil sales payments.

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Pressure Technologies Shares Fall on Stock Trading Resumption After Publishing Accounts

Pressure Technologies shares fell Tuesday upon its restoration to trading on London's AIM market, following the publication of its delayed fiscal 2022 accounts.

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Big Technologies PLC Four-Month Revenue Jumped; Backs Full-Year Guidance

Big Technologies PLC said Tuesday that its revenue rose in the first four months of 2023, and that overall results have been in line with expectations.

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Dowlais Backs 2023 Expectations After Four-Month Adjusted Revenue Rose

Dowlais Group said Tuesday that adjusted revenue in the four-month period to April 31 rose 9% at constant currency, and backed its expectations for the year.

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Pebble Group Sees 1H Revenue, Profit Growing On Year

Pebble Group on Tuesday said it expects its results for the first half of 2023 to be ahead of what it reported for the same period the previous year.

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Epwin Group Revenue to Date Up 3%; To Meet FY Profit Expectations

Epwin Group said Tuesday that revenue for the year to date is up 3% and that it expects to meet underlying operating profit expectations for the year.

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Atlas Copco Buys UK Compressor Distributor

STOCKHOLM--Atlas Copco said Tuesday that it has acquired Maziak Compressor Services, a U.K. distributor of air compressors, nitrogen generators and process cooling equipment as well as related services and support.

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Eneraqua Technologies FY 2023 Profit, Revenue Rose; Sees FY 2024 Revenue Beat

Eneraqua Technologies said Tuesday that its fiscal 2023 pretax profit and revenue rose significantly on repeat orders and expansion, and it sees fiscal 2024's revenue exceeding its prior expectations.

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Codex Acquisitions Shares to Be Halted Wednesday Due to Accounts Delay

Codex Acquisitions said Tuesday that trading in its shares will be suspended from tomorrow due to a delay in publishing its 2022 accounts.

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Caledonia Investments Appoints Rob Memmott CFO; FY 2023 Pretax Profit, Revenue Fell

Caledonia Investments said Tuesday that Rob Memmott has been appointed chief financial officer effective September 1, and that its pretax profit and revenue for fiscal 2023 fell.

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Harworth Says It Has Progressed Against Its Strategy So Far in 2023

Harworth Group on Tuesday said it has made significant progress in the year to date against the growth drivers of its net asset value strategy.

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First Citizens Sues HSBC Over SVB Departures And Data -- MarketWatch

First Citizens (FCNCA) is suing HSBC Holdings (HSBA.LN) for more than $1 billion in damages, alleging that the U.K. bank took top bankers and confidential information from fallen Silicon Valley Bank, press reports citing a lawsuit in federal court said. First Citizens bought SVB in the U.S. while HSBC bought its U.K. arm. The suit allegedly says 42 employees resigned en masse to join HSBC, and that ex-SVB employees obtained and misappropriated data.

MARKET TALK:

Pebble Group Is Seen Delivering Attractive Growth

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05-23-23 0535ET