Weekly review

The FTSE 100 ended the Platinum Jubilee-truncated week 52.51 points lower, closing at 7,532.95 on Wednesday.

Equity view

Iconic bootmaker Dr. Martens said on Wednesday that annual pre-tax profits had surged in the twelve months ended 31 March, driven by a "very strong performance" in the Americas and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Dr Martens said full-year pre-tax profits had shot up 207% to £214.3m, while adjusted pre-tax profits were 43% higher, and both revenue and underlying earnings grew 18% to £908.3m and £263.0m, respectively.

Retail group Frasers has acquired embattled online womenswear retailer Missguided for £20.0m in cash. Frasers said on Wednesday that it had acquired certain intellectual property of Missguided and Mennace, both of which were in administration, as well as Missguided (IP) Limited.

British pet care business Pets At Home said on Wednesday that Lyssa McGowan had taken over as group chief executive officer, effective immediately. Pets At Home noted that McGowan will succeed Peter Pritchard, who announced his intention to retire from the group in November 2021 after eleven years.

John Wood Group has agreed to sell its Built Environment consulting business to WSP for around $1.9bn. The company said on Wednesday that proceeds from the sale will be used to reduce net debt and strengthen the balance, and "provide financial flexibility" to deliver its strategy. The deal is expected to be completed in the second half of the year.

Infrastructure investment company International Public Partnerships has conditionally agreed to acquire a further shareholding in the Thames Tideway Tunnel, a 25-kilometre "super sewer" being built under the Thames in order to create a healthier environment for London. International PPL said on Wednesday that the opportunity was conditional on third-party approvals and had arisen as a result of another existing investor, DIF Capital Partners, having to dispose of its stake.

Oil and gas company Hurricane Energy said on Wednesday that it had determined further appraisal and development work to reach an economic development in the Greater Warwick Area within its remaining licence term was no longer feasible. Hurricane Energy said on Wednesday that following discussions with its joint venture partner, Spirit Energy, the pair had decided to relinquish the P2294 licence area.

Tullow Oil said on Wednesday that it has agreed to buy Capricorn Energy in an all-share deal. Under the terms of the transaction, Capricorn shareholders will be entitled to receive 3.8068 new Tullow shares for each of their shares. Capricorn shareholders will own 47% of the combined group, while Tullow holders will own the rest.

Deutsche Bank's asset-management subsidiary DWS Group revealed on Wednesday that its chief executive Asoka Woehrmann will step down from the role, just hours after German authorities raided the unit's Frankfurt offices. DWS' Woehrmann stated he would resign "in agreement with the company" and will be replaced by Stefan Hoops, effective 10 June, following DWS' annual general meeting a day earlier.

The Competition and Markets Authority announced an investigation into the planned sports broadcasting joint venture between BT Group and Warner Bros. Discovery on Wednesday. On 12 May, the FTSE 100 telecoms giant announced plans to form a venture with the newly-minted US entertainment conglomerate, merging its BT Sport operation with WB Discovery’s Eurosport UK division.

Cybersecurity firm NCC Group revealed on Tuesday that chief executive-designate Mike Maddison will join the group earlier than originally expected. NCC Group stated Maddison, who was previously expected to take over as CEO on 1 August, will now take up the role on 7 July after having received permission to do so from EY, his current employer.

Water utility Pennon said on Tuesday that its full-year performance was in line with management expectations, with a "strong" contribution from Bristol Water, as it reported a dip in profits. Pre-tax profit declined 3.3% on the year to £127.7m even as revenue jumped 22.9% to £792.3m. Bristol Water - which it bought last year - contributed £104.4m to revenues.

Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline said on Tuesday that it had agreed to acquire Boston-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Affinivax as part of a deal valued at as much as $3.3bn. GlaxoSmithKline will make an upfront payment of $2.1bn for Affinivax, with another $1.2bn in potential development milestones to follow upon the achievement of certain paediatric clinical development milestones. Under the terms of the agreement, GSK will acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of Affinivax.

Online gambling business Sportech said on Tuesday that its year-to-date trading performance was in line with internal expectations. Sportech stated sports betting continued to experience "a high rate of growth" and should see betting handle in the group's Connecticut Venues come close to that of pari-mutuel for the full year.

PCF Group announced on Tuesday that it is in early-stage discussions with Castle Trust Capital over a possible all-share offer for the company. The AIM-traded firm said that under the terms of the possible offer, it was expected that PCF shareholders would have a “small minority position” in the combined group.

Unilever shares surged on Tuesday the diversified consumer goods company said billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz would be joining its board. American Peltz, who founded Trian Fund Management, has been increasing his stake in the maker of Marmite and Dove soap since January. Known for his corporate activism, there has been speculation that he was looking to force change at the company.

Precious and base metals explorer and developer Greatland Gold announced the start of the 2022 exploration programme under the Juri joint venture with its partner Newcrest Mining on Tuesday, in the “highly prospective” Paterson region of Western Australia. The AIM-traded company said the programme would involve drilling three high-priority targets in June across the Paterson Range East and Black Hills licences.

Wealth management business Quilter has tapped Glyn Barker to take over as chairman from outgoing chair Ruth Markland, effective from 7 September. Quilter said on Monday that Barker will take a seat in its boardroom as a non-executive director and as a member of its remuneration and its corporate governance and nominations committee effective on 1 June, while Markland will continue as chair of the board until Barker's appointment becomes effective.

Specialist engineer IMI said it planned to buy Germany’s Bahr Modultechnik Holding for an enterprise value of €98m (£83m). Bahr makes modular electric linear motion systems, based on a broad portfolio of specialist components. The company has a diverse customer base with presence in automation-driven end markets, including pharmacy automation, warehouse automation and robotics, IMI said on Monday.

Digital media business Digitalbox has exchanged contracts to acquire the web and mobile platform assets of TVGuide.co.uk for £550,000 in cash. Digitalbox said on Monday that completion of the acquisition was conditional upon the satisfactory upgrade of the TVGuide.co.uk website as part of a platform redevelopment.

Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline was said to be nearing a deal to build a £400.0m science campus in Hertfordshire that could create as many as 5,000 highly skilled jobs over the next decade. According to This is Money, GlaxoSmithKline has been looking for a property developer to help it transform 33 acres of land in Stevenage into one of the biggest "clusters" for life science start-ups in Europe.

Just Eat Takeaway’s sale of Grubhub is reportedly under threat as bosses prepare for a multibillion-pound writedown on the US business. According to The Times, bankers from Bank of America are working to find a buyer or strategic partner for the American food delivery operator, which Just Eat bought less than a year ago for $7.3bn (£5.8bn).

Tools and equipment hire services company Speedy Hire said on Monday that it had turned in another "strong performance" in the year ended 31 March, with the group delivering both revenue and profit growth. Speedy Hire stated underlying revenues grew 16.3% to £381.7m, pushing adjusted operating profits up 50.2% to £32.6m and adjusted pre-tax profits growing 72% to £30.1m. Adjusted earnings per share rose 58.2% to 4.24p.

Economic news

UK manufacturing growth slowed in May, according to fresh industry data released on Wednesday, as output, new orders and employment rose at weaker rates. The seasonally-adjusted S&P Global/CIPS UK manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) came in at 54.6 for the month - unchanged from the earlier flash estimate, and down from 55.8 in April.

City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority said Richard Lloyd, a former director at Which?, had taken over as its interim chairman. The FCA said on Wednesday that Lloyd will take over from outgoing chairman Charles Randall, who stood down on Tuesday after four years.

Food price inflation reached a 10-year high in May, according to figures released on Wednesday. The BRC-Nielsen IQ Shop Price Index showed that shop price annual inflation accelerated to 2.8% from 2.7% in April, marking the highest rate of inflation since July 2011.

UK house prices grew for a tenth consecutive month in May, according to Nationwide's House Price Index, but the rate of growth appeared to be decelerating as the ongoing cost of living crisis looked set to weigh on prices. The average price of a home in the UK rose 11.2% in May to £269,914, slowing slightly from the more than 12% growth seen back in April but still resulting in property prices, on average, growing by nearly £2,300 in just a single month. Prices were up 0.9% month-on-month after taking into account seasonal effects.

The Competition and Markets Authority said on Tuesday that it will appoint former Boston Consulting Group partner Marcus Bokkerink as its next chair. Bokkerink has 30 years of experience advising corporate executive teams and boards on strategies to build competitive advantage and harness digital technologies with a particular focus on industries that interact directly with consumers, the CMA said.

Fewer mortgages were approved in the UK in April, although net consumer credit increased, as the cost-of-living crisis began to hit household budgets and spending. According to the Bank of England, mortgage approvals for house purchases dropped to about 66,000 in April, from 70,700 in March.

The Competition and Markets Authority announced on Monday that it is investigating the completed acquisition by Morrisons of the assets of the collapsed convenience retailer McColl’s. Wm Morrison Supermarkets purchased “certain assets” of Mccoll’s Retail Group, Martin McColl, Clark Retail, Dillons Stores, Smile Stores, Charnwait Management, and Martin Retail Group on 9 May, after McColl’s collapsed into administration after struggling with heavy debts.

Retail footfall in the UK is expected to jump 8% across all destinations over the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday, according to retail consultancy Springboard. Following a modest rise in footfall last week, Springboard expects the Jubilee and half-term holiday to boost footfall over the weekend, with high streets seeing an increase of up to 10%. Footfall at shopping centres is expected to rise 7%, while retail parks should see an uplift of 4%.

Average UK house prices had topped £250,000 for the time in history after rising 8.4% year-on-year in April, a slight cooling off from March's 9% clip. Real estate company Zoopla revealed on Monday that average UK house prices hit a record high of £250,200 over the twelve months ended 30 April but the property market appeared to be showing signs of slowing down as potential buyers face pressure on finances amid the ongoing cost of living crisis.

International events

German retail sales plunged far beyond expectations in May, according to data released on Wednesday morning, as rising consumer prices and lockdowns in China took their toll. According to Destatis, retail sales slumped 5.4% month-on-month, making for the biggest fall in a year, seriously beating market forecasts for a 0.2% decline.

Eurozone manufacturing growth fell to an 18-month low in May, with orders down for the first time in nearly two years amid inflationary pressures. The S&P Global eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers’ index declined to 54.6 from 55.5 in April. A reading above 50.0 indicates expansion while a reading below signals contraction.

China's Caixin general manufacturing purchasing managers index increased to 49.1 in May, up from April's 26-month low of 46.0 to beating market forecasts of 48.0. However, May's reading also marked the third consecutive monthly decline in factory activity, due to stringent Covid-19 control measures, as both output and new orders fell, albeit at a softer rate, amid further declines in both export orders and employment.

US consumer confidence declined slightly in May amid worries about inflation, according to a survey released on Tuesday. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index fell to 106.4 from 108.6 in April, but was above consensus expectations for a reading of 103.8.

Eurozone inflation hit a record 8.1% in May as energy prices surged, according to a flash estimate released on Tuesday by Destatis, adding pressure on the European Central Bank to hike rates. Inflation rose from 7.4% in April, hitting the highest level since records began in 1997. This was driven by food and energy inflation, which jumped to 7.5% and 39.2%, respectively, from 6.3% and 37.5% in April. Analysts had been expecting inflation to come in at 7.6%.

Economic activity slowed further in China in May, according to fresh official data released on Tuesday, with measures for both the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors remaining in contraction territory. The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) came in at 49.6 for the month, up from 47.4 in April and just ahead of consensus expectations for a reading of 49.0.

The cost-of-living in Germany jumped past forecasts last month as food price gains continued to accelerate and energy costs picked up once more. According to a preliminary estimate from the Federal Office of Statistics, the German Consumer Price Index was up by 0.9% month-on-month in May, pushing the annual rate of inflation from 7.4% in the month before to 7.9% (consensus: 7.6%).

European Union leaders have reached an agreement on a partial embargo on imports of Russian oil, although the deal is not expected to be finalised until in a few weeks' time, possibly in June. According to a draft seen by Reuters, EU leaders will agree to a deal "in principle" at Monday's European Council meeting.

Eurozone economic sentiment was little changed in May, according to a survey released on Monday by the European Commission. The EC’s Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) for the bloc ticked up to 105.0 from 104.9 in April. This compares with an average of over 116 recorded in the second half of last year. Meanwhile, the indicator of the European Union nudged down 0.5 points in May to 104.1.

Reporting by Josh White, Iain Gilbert, Michele Maatouk, Frank Prenesti and Alexander Bueso at Sharecast.com.