Weekly review
By Josh White
Date: Friday 30 May 2025
(Sharecast News) - The FTSE 100 ended the bank holiday-truncated week up around 33 points, or 0.4%, closing at 8,772.38 on Friday.
Equity view
Business park owner Sirius Real Estate said it had agreed €43m of deals in Germany. The company on Friday said it had agreed to purchase a multi-let business park in Lubeck in the north of the country for €12.67m and also agreed the sale of a business park outside Frankfurt for €30m.
Japan's Dai-ichi Life Holdings is to take a major stake in investment manager M&G, it was announced on Friday, after the two firms struck a long-term strategic partnership. Under the terms of the deal, the blue chip will become Dai-ichi Life's preferred asset management partner in Europe, while the mutual insurer will acquire a shareholding of around 15% in M&G.
Contract research organisation Hvivo has received notification that "a significant human challenge trial" contract has been cancelled, alongside a postponement and the cancellation of a smaller study. Hvivo said on Friday that the cancellations were believed to be related to current uncertainties in the pharmaceutical industry and the "continued depressed biotech financing market".
London Stock Exchange Group said on Friday that it has appointed Elizabeth Corley to the board as a non-executive director with effect from the fourth quarter. Corley, who is currently the chair of asset management firm Schroders, will also join the Risk and Nomination Committees. LSEG chair Don Robert said: "Elizabeth is a highly regarded non-executive director with a wealth of investor, governance and boardroom experience and I am delighted to welcome her to the board.
Drax Group's proposed acquisition of Harmony Energy Income Trust (HEIT) lapsed on Friday, after key conditions were not met by the agreed deadline. The bid had been led by Drax BESS Holdco, a wholly owned subsidiary of the FTSE 250-listed Drax Group, and was to be implemented via a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement under the Companies Act.
Residential property management firm Watkin Jones saw its share price drop sharply on Thursday after reporting that transactional activity "remains slow" following a big drop in revenues in its first half. Against a backdrop of "continuing limited transactional liquidity in the market", the group reported revenues of £129.2m over the six months to 31 March, down 26% from £175.1m the year before.
Shares in Auto Trader tanked on Thursday despite the new and used car platform delivering a confident outlook alongside its annual results, with the stock pulling back after a strong surge since the start of April. The company, which continues to deal with supply constraints as cars sell faster than at any time over recent years, reported that group revenues rose 5% to £601.1m over the 12 months to 31 March.
Fund management group Premier Miton reported a 5% fall in assets under management in its first half, with net outflows surging in a volatile period for financial markets, though sentiment has improved in the third quarter. Assets under management totalled £10.2bn by 31 March, down from £10.7bn on 30 September, while net outflows rose to £254m from £46m a year earlier. The company reported that 69% of funds delivered an above-median investment performance since launch or tenure by the period-end.
Hiscox announced the appointment of Peter Clarke as chair designate on Thursday, with effect from 1 June, subject to regulatory approval. The FTSE 100 international specialist insurer said he would succeed Colin Keogh on 1 July. It said Clarke would bring extensive leadership experience across FTSE-listed financial services firms, including two decades at Man Group, where he served as both chief financial officer and chief executive.
Shares in Hollywood Bowl slumped on Thursday as the driest UK spring in a century hit sales, although annual guidance was held after a rise in core first-half earnings. The company on Thursday said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation rose 2.9% to £49.7m. On an adjusted pre-tax basis earnings were down 9.4% to £49.7m.
DIY retailer Kingfisher reported a small increase in underlying revenues in its first quarter as the sales declines at its French operations eased while growth picked up strongly in the UK and Ireland. Group sales totalled £3.31bn over the three months to 30 April, up 2.2% over last year at constant currencies, with like-for-like sales rising 1.8%. Excluding differences from calendar adjustments, such as an extra day of trading last year and the impact of national public holidays falling on different days of the week, LFL sales would have been up 2.7%.
Bulmers cider maker C&C said it expected a limited impact from US tariffs as it held annual guidance and reported a jump in profits for 2024/25. Operating profit surged 28.5% to €77m for the 12 months to February with net revenue up 13% to €1.66bn. Pre-tax profit rose 17% to €55.9m.
IT infrastructure group Softcat has raised its guidance for full-year profit growth after a stronger-than-expected third-quarter performance. The firm, which provides things like cloud, cybersecurity and connectivity solutions, said it performed well during the three months to 30 April, with double-digit growth in gross profit and operating profit over last year. That followed 12.1% and 10.4% growth in the respective measures in the first half, which Softcat reported in March was ahead of its expectations.
Gambling software firm Playtech has reached an agreement with pferdewetten.de subsidiary NetX Betting regarding its HAPPYBET division. Having closed the Austrian HAPPYBET business in H224, Playtech later announced in March that it had commenced a process to sell the remainder of the business in Germany, reflecting its "renewed focus" as a predominantly pure-play B2B operator.
Hochschild Mining said Rodrigo Nunes has stepped down as chief operating officer with immediate effect after two years in the job. Chief executive Eduardo Landin has assumed direct responsibility for the company's operations on an interim basis, the company said on Tuesday.
EU regulators have recommended AstraZeneca's Imfinzi for approval in the treatment of muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). The recommendation by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency means that Imfinzi could be the first and only perioperative immunotherapy for adults with MIBC on the market.
Heat treatments and thermal processing services outfit Bodycote reiterated its full-year outlook on Tuesday despite reporting a year-on-year revenue decline for the four months ended 30 April. Bodycote said core revenues were down 5% year-on-year on an organic basis, while overall group revenues were 6% lower at £246.0m, reflecting a 1% headwind from lower energy surcharges year-on-year and a strong prior year comparator.
Semiconductor group Alphawave IP has extended the 'put up or shut up' deadline for California-based sector giant Qualcomm for a third time as the parties continue talks regarding a takeover. Qualcomm, which has a market cap of $158bn, first announced on 1 April that it was considering making an offer to acquire Alphawave as it looks to get its hands on the latter's SerDes chips, which help high performance connectivity in servers and networks.
Premier Inn owner Whitbread announced the appointment of Christine Hodgson as its next chair on Tuesday, effective 1 September. She would succeed Adam Crozier, who would step down and retire from the board on the same date after serving as chair for seven years. The FTSE 100 hospitality company credited Crozier with guiding Whitbread through a period of strategic transformation, during which it sharpened its focus on becoming Europe's leading budget hotel operator.
Life sciences company Avacta Therapeutics has announced that it has had to delay the release of its annual results by a week. The company, which develops next generation peptide drug conjugates, was originally due to report its results for 2024 on 29 May, but said that auditors have been unable to finalise the audit work connected to this year's disposal of Launch Diagnostics to Palex Healthcare. Avacta was only notified of this delay last week, and so results are now expected to be released on 4 June.
Economic news
A Bank of England rate-setter has called for lower interest rates despite stronger-than-expected inflation data, on mounting concerns about the economic outlook. In an interview with the Financial Times on Friday, Alan Taylor argued that April's surprise uptick in the consumer price index - from 2.6% to a year-high of 3.5% - was caused by one-off factors, and said he remained "pretty concerned" about the growth outlook for the economy.
Business confidence has recovered to a nine-month high, a survey of UK companies showed on Friday, as global trade tensions eased and markets rebounded. According to the latest Lloyds Business Barometer, confidence rose 11 points in May to 50. The highest score in nine months, it also reversed April's 10-point fall.
UK vehicle production hit its lowest monthly output in more than 70 years, according to figures released on Thursday. Car and commercial vehicle production dropped 15.8% to 59,203 in April, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said, the lowest figure since 1952 and excluding 2020 most manufacturing was paused during the Covid-19 pandemic. The fall was driven by the later Easter, more model changeovers, and lower demand in key export markets, the SMMT said in a statement.
Troubled UK utility Thames Water has been slapped with a record fine of almost £123m by industry regulator Ofwat over environmental breaches and dividend payments. The watchdog ordered Thames Water to pay £104.5m for breaking rules on wastewater operations - the largest penalty Ofwat has ever issued. In addition, the company will pay an extra penalty of £18.2m over breaches relating to dividend payments. It is the first time Ofwat has taken action against a company that has paid dividends which did not "properly reflect the company's delivery performance for customers and the environment".
Grocery price inflation in the UK has risen to its highest level in 15 months, according to data out on Wednesday from consumer research firm Kantar, as retailers hike prices to adapt to higher payroll costs. Compared with last year, grocery prices were up 4.1% over the four weeks to 18 May, with inflation accelerating from the 3.8% reported the previous four weeks. That was the highest year-on-year increase since February 2024, according to Kantar.
UK Finance Minister Rachel Reeves should ease her fiscal rules to avoid emergency cuts to public services, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday as it also nudged up growth forecasts for the British economy this year. The IMF said it expected the economy to grow by 1.2% from a prior forecast of 1.1%. Last month the fund slashed its forecasts from 1.6% to 1.1% in the wake of US President Donald Trump's erratic trade policies.
UK retail sentiment fell in May at the sharpest rate in five years, according to a survey released on Tuesday by the Confederation of British Industry. The CBI's quarterly gauge of business sentiment fell to a net balance of -29% from -19% in February. Meanwhile, the year-on-year retail sales balance dropped to -27 in May from -8% in April, while the measure for expected sales in June declined to -37.
Prices at UK tills fell again in May, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium on Tuesday, though food inflation picked up for the fourth straight month amid rising concerns that customers are beginning to feel the effects of increased costs for retailers. Annual shop price deflation was unchanged at -0.1% for the second straight month, following a 0.4% year-on-year decline in prices in March and a 0.7% drop in February. While non-food prices were down 1.5% on last May, compared with a 1.4% decline in April, food inflation accelerated to 2.8% from 2.6%.
International events
The US trade deficit in goods narrowed sharply in April, according to the Census Bureau, dropping from a record high of $162.3bn in March to $87.6bn, marking the smallest monthly trade gap in 18 months. The marked improvement seen in the preliminary reading was principally due to a 19.8% decline in imports, more than reversing the 5.7% uptick seen in March as companies tried to get ahead of Trump's so-called "reciprocal" tariffs. Elsewhere, exports rose 3.4% in April following a 2.3% uptick in March.
US wholesale inventories were flat month-on-month in April, according to the Census Bureau, coming in at $907.0bn after a downwardly revised 0.3% uptick in March, missing consensus estimates of 0.4% increase. Durable goods inventories fell by 0.2% according to the preliminary estimate, following a 0.5% increase in March, while inventories of non-durable goods rose 0.4%, following the previous month's flat reading. On an annualised basis, wholesale inventories grew 2.1% in April.
Personal incomes in the US grew strongly in April, even as spending slowed following a jump during the previous month. In parallel, price pressures continued to ease. According to the US Department of Commerce, seasonally adjusted personal incomes rose by 0.8% month-on-month (consensus: 0.7%), after an upwardly revised 0.7% gain during the month before. March's increase in personal incomes had originally been reported as an increase of 0.5%.
German inflation eased to 2.1% in May, slightly above forecasts, according to flash official figures from the federal statistics agency released on Friday. The data compares with a rate of 2.2% in April but was slightly higher than the 2% forecast by analysts for Europe's biggest economy.
German retail sales fell by an unexpected 1.1% in April compared with the previous month, according to official data published on Friday. Analysts had been expecting a rise of 0.2%. Compared to April 2024 of the previous year, sales grew by 2.3% in real terms and by 3.4% in nominal terms, the Federal Statistics Office said.
The US economy shrank in the first three months of the year, according to revised official data that confirmed the first contraction since 2022. Gross domestic product shrank by 0.2%, according to the final estimate released from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Preliminary estimates showed that GDP had fallen by 0.3%. The fall, compared with a 2.4 percent expansion in the final quarter of 2024, was driven partly by weaker consumer spending and an increase in imports as Americans bought foreign goods before tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump came into effect.
American department store giant Kohl's reported first-quarter results that exceeded analyst expectations on Thursday, narrowing its net loss and delivering a smaller-than-expected decline in comparable sales. The performance offered some relief for the embattled chain, which was undergoing leadership upheaval following the recent dismissal of CEO Ashley Buchanan. For the quarter ended 3 May, Kohl's posted a net loss of $15m, or 13 cents per share, compared to a $27m loss, or 24 cents per share, a year earlier.
Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at an accelerated pace in the week ended 10 May, according to the Department of Labor. Initial jobless claims rose by 14,000 week-on-week to 240,000, the highest reading in a month, and above expectations of 230,000. Outstanding claims rose by 26,000 to 1.91m, also above market expectations of a drop to 1.89m, and the highest level since November 2021.
Shares in Best Buy came under pressure on Thursday, after Donald Trump's tariff regime caused the US electronics retailer to slash its full-year guidance. The New York-listed firm now expects revenues to come in between $41.1bn and $41.9bn this year, down on its previous forecast for between $41.4bn and $42.2bn.
A US court blocked Donald Trump's sweeping tariff regime, after it ruled that the president had exceeded his authority. In a major blow to Trump's core economic policy, the US Court of International Trade ruled late on Wednesday that Congress alone had exclusive authority to regulate commerce with other countries, and that presidential powers to safeguard the economy did not overrule that. The ruling invalidates most of Trump's tariffs with immediate effect. The administration was given ten days to dismantle the regime.
Shein was said to be working towards a listing in Hong Kong after the online fast-fashion retailer's proposed London IPO fell short of getting the green light from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, according to Reuters. Reuters, which quoted anonymous sources familiar with the matter, said the Chinese firm intends to file a draft prospectus with Hong Kong's stock exchange in the coming weeks and hopes to go public within the year.
German unemployment rose by a more-than-expected 33,000 in May, according to official data published on Wednesday. The number of unemployed people in Europe's biggest economy now sits at 2.963 million on a seasonally adjusted basis. Analysts had expected a rise of 10,000. "The labour market is not getting the tailwind it needs for a trend reversal. Therefore, we expect unemployment figures to continue to rise in the summer," said labour office head Andrea Nahles.
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