Ocado Share News (OCDO)

LONDON (Alliance News) - With heightened US-China trade tensions continuing to knock market sentiment, stocks in London are seen opening another session in the red on Thursday.In early company news, BT's adjusted profit failed to meet analyst expectations, Barratt Developments raised its annual outlook, and Superdry warned annual profit will likely disappoint. IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 index of large-caps to open 32.90 points lower at 7,238.10 on Thursday. The FTSE 100 index closed up 10.53 points, or 0.2%, at 7,271.00 on Wednesday, clawing back some earlier losses to close in positive territory.So far this week, the FTSE 100 has shed 1.5%. "Another day, another market moving comment from Trump," said Jasper Lawler at London Capital Group."Wall Street fell for a third straight session overnight and Asian markets took another step lower after Trump portioned blame on China for a deal not being done...These comments clearly don't bode well for the trade talks which are due to start today," Lawler commented. US President Donald Trump accused Beijing of breaking "the deal" on Wednesday, on the eve of talks with Chinese officials aimed at resolving their months-long trade dispute."They broke the deal. So they are flying in, the vice premier tomorrow is flying in. Good man. But they broke the deal. They can't do that. So they will be paying," he told supporters at a rally in Florida.Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is to visit Washington for two days of negotiations starting Thursday.The heightened tariffs on Friday would affect goods such as telecom equipment, computer circuit boards and furniture. Besides, Trump has threatened to impose 25% duties on an additional USD325 billion worth of Chinese imports, which means virtually all of the US imports from China would be affected by tariffs.In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street closed broadly lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending flat, the S&P 500 down 0.2% and Nasdaq Composite sliding 0.3%. In Asia on Thursday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index ended 0.9% lower. In China, the Shanghai Composite is down 1.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is 1.9% lower. China's consumer price inflation was 2.5% in April, according to data released Thursday, short of expectations of 2.6%, while producer price inflation was 0.9%, beating expectations of 0.6%.The economic events calendar on Thursday has Irish inflation data at 1100 BST and US producer prices at 1330 BST.In UK company news, BT Group held its dividend steady after the telecommunications firm reported annual profit widened modestly as one-off costs subsided. However, underlying profit came in towards the lower end of analyst expectations as revenue declined.For the year ended March, reported pretax profit widened 1.9% to GBP2.67 billion from GBP2.62 billion the year prior. This was despite revenue slipping 1.2% to GBP23.43 billion from GBP23.72 billion the year prior.Profit was primarily helped by a fall in one-off charges during the year to GBP564 million from GBP828 million the year prior. This was in particular due to the non-recurrence of warranty claims charges related to BT's acquisition of mobile operator EE, partially offset by a rise in restructuring costs.On an adjusted basis - excluding exceptional items - pretax profit narrowed 6.1% to GBP3.23 billion from GBP3.44 billion the year prior.According to company-compiled consensus figures for financial 2019, adjusted pretax profit was expected by analysts to decline to GBP3.31 billion. Meanwhile, Wm Morrison Supermarkets said first-quarter like-for-like sales rose 2.3%. Including fuel, comparable sales were up 2.7%. Total sales excluding fuel were up 2.4%, and including fuel up 2.9%. The grocer described the retail performance as "robust", with sales in the Easter period strong. While the UK grocery market is expected to remain "competitive and challenging", with tough comparatives in the second quarter, the firm said it remains confident in its outlook. Separately, the supermarket chain said it has agreed Ocado will have sole use of the new Erith customer fulfilment centre until January 2021 following a fire at the Andover automated warehouse. During this period of suspension, Morrisons will not incur any of the costs associated with the use of the warehouse and will pay lower store pick fees. In addition, both companies have agreed that Ocado will no longer be Morrisons exclusive digital partner. Ocado said this "mutual relaxation of certain exclusivity provisions" brings its relationship with Morrisons "more in line" with the terms agreed with other international Ocado Solutions clients. Housebuilder Barratt Developments said its full-year outlook is "modestly above" previous expectations.Net private reservations per active outlet per average week was 0.79 from the start of 2019 up until May 5, down slightly from 0.80 a year ago. Total forward sales amounted to GBP3.37 billion at May 5, up 2.4% on GBP2.39 billion a year before. 'Trading since the beginning of the year has been strong, the outlook for the year is modestly ahead of our previous expectations, and we are encouraged by our continued progress in driving operating efficiencies through the business," said Chief Executive David Thomas. Barratt said it expects to grow volumes towards the lower end of its medium-term target range in 2019, however. Melrose Industries said current trading has been in line with expectations, with good progress being made on achieving its margin targets for acquired engineer GKN. "We have recently laid out our targets for GKN which are better than those we indicated only one year ago at the time of the acquisition, and which come on the back of a stronger performance than expected in the first year of ownership," said Chair Justin Dowley. In addition, Executive Vice Chair David Roper - who has served in the role since 2012, prior to this holding the chief executive position at Melrose for nine years - has decided to retire from the group on May 31, 2020. Elsewhere on the London Main Market, Superdry said trading has continued to be weak, and thus its annual profit is likely to be below market expectations. For the fourth quarter, or 13 weeks to April 27, group revenue was down 4.5%. For the full-year, group revenue was flat. Interim Chief Executive Officer Julian Dunkerton - the Superdry co-founder who rejoined the board at the beginning of April after being narrowly voted in by the retailer's shareholders - said he is "more confident than ever" Superdry's performance can be restored. "My first priority has been to stabilise the situation, and all of us in the business are putting all our energy into getting the product ranges right and improving the Ecommerce proposition, which are two important steps towards addressing Superdry's recent weak performance," Dunkerton said. He added: "The impact of the changes we are making will take time to come through in the numbers but I'm confident we are heading in the right direction." Chair Peter Williams, who was appointed to the Superdry board alongside Dunkerton, warned the company's financial performance "won't be turned around overnight". Watches of Switzerland Group confirmed it intends to float on the London Stock Exchange in early June. The luxury watch retailer expects to raise gross proceeds of around GBP155 million, with the final offer price to be determined following a bookbuild. In the 12 months to January 27, Watches of Switzerland's revenue was GBP746.0 million, and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation was GBP67.7 million.In the UK, Prime Minister Theresa May has rebuffed demands to set out a timetable for her departure from Downing Street amid growing pressure from Tory MPs to make way for a new leader.Chair of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee, Graham Brady, met the Prime Minister privately on Tuesday and made clear she had not offered any further clarity about her future.He said she would meet the committee's 18-strong executive next week amid grass roots fury over the party's worst local elections performance in 24 years.Brady suggested she could make a final effort to get her Brexit deal through Parliament before European elections on May 23, when the party is expected to suffer even heavier losses."It's my understanding it's the government's intention to bring a second reading of the Bill forward in the near future, certainly the intention is before the European election takes place," said Brady.