Good morning from London where the FTSE 100 is down so far today after a strong midweek session yesterday.
Markets around the world were cheered by evident progress in the battle against inflation, but the FTSE’s biggest faller today Burberry Group shows that things are still far from back to normal. The luxury goods brands has warned that if the recent global slowdown in demand for luxury goods continues it is unlikely to hit its full-year revenue targets. Its like-for-like (LFL) sales growth in the second quarter slumped to just 1% compared to 18% during its first, with growth in all regions slowing.
Elsewhere the CEO of Royal Mail owner International Distributions Services has called on the British government to do more to help the beleaguered company, after it reported deeper losses at the half-year stage. Martin Seidenberg explained an operating loss of £319 million by saying it's simply not sustainable to maintain a network built for 20 billion letters when its now only delivering seven billion.
Hotel Chocolat Group PLC (AIM:HOTC) (Hotel Chocolat Group PLC (AIM:HOTC)) has agreed to be taken over by confectionery group Mars in a deal worth £534 million on a fully diluted basis. Chief Executive Angus Thirlwell says the deal will allow the brand to service keen demand from overseas, something its always struggled with.
And staying in confectionary Premier Foods’ shares are up this morning as the owner of brands like Ambrosia and Angel Delight impressed the markets with a profit upgrade to around £166mln for the full year.