LONDON MARKET PRE-OPEN: ITV and BT in CMA sports broadcasting probe

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London are seen opening lower on Wednesday, as traders nervously await the latest US inflation reading and as the pound gets some welcome relief from better-than-expected UK economic data.

IG futures indicate the FTSE 100 index will open 37.3 points, 0.5%, lower at 7,172.56. The blue-chip index closed up 13.27 points, or 0.2%, at 7,209.86 on Tuesday.

In UK corporate news, JD Wetherspoon said sales have crawled closer to pre-virus levels so far in its financial fourth quarter, though it warned of a larger-than-expected loss. Recruiter PageGroup reported a record second quarter, and shipping services firm Clarkson expects annual results to top expectations.

Elsewhere, BT and ITV are among those being probed by a UK watchdog for breaking competition law in the field of sports broadcasting.

The Competition & Markets Authority said the investigation relates to the purchase of freelance services to support production and broadcasting of sports content.

"At this stage the CMA believes it has reasonable grounds to suspect one or more breaches of competition law. The CMA has not reached a view as to whether there is sufficient evidence of an infringement of competition law for it to issue a statement of objections to any party or parties," the CMA said.

ITV noted the announcement and said it is "committed to complying with competition law and is cooperating with the CMA's inquiries".

Pub firm JD Wetherspoon said sales of cocktails, spirits and food are on the up so far in its fourth quarter, though sales of typical pub-drink stalwarts such as draught ales, lagers and ciders were below pre-virus levels.

In the first 11 weeks of the fourth quarter ending July 31, like-for-like sales were 0.4% below pre-virus levels. This represented an improvement from the previous quarter, when sales were 4.0% lower.

Sales of spirits, cocktails and food were all higher compared to pre-Covid levels, up 4.4%, 19% and 2.1%, respectively.

"But sales of draught ales, lagers and ciders, historically the largest contributors to pub sales, were 8.0% below 2019," Wetherspoon added.

"Many people predicted a boom in pub sales when lockdowns and restrictions ended, due to pent-up demand, but recovery for many companies has been slower and more laborious than was anticipated," the company cautioned.

The company warned its loss for the year will be chunkier than expected, at GBP30 million on a post-IFRS 16 basis. IFRS 16 is an accounting rule related to leases.

"Although sales now match 2019, labour costs are far higher," it added, though it expects costs for financial 2023 to rise at a slower pace than the current inflation rate.

Recruiter PageGroup hailed a "record quarter".

Second-quarter gross profit surged 28% yearly to GBP280.9 million from GBP219.8 million. For the entirety of the first half, it rose by a third to GBP539.0 million.

"We delivered a record quarter for the group, with record performances in 25 countries. We exited the quarter strongly, delivering a record month in June, our second month of gross profit in excess of GBP100 million," Chief Executive Steve Ingham commented.

"We are pleased with the group's performance in the first half of the year and currently expect 2022 full-year operating profit to be in line with company-compiled consensus of GBP205 million." Operating profit was GBP168.5 million in 2021.

Shipping services firm Clarkson expects to top expectations for 2022.

It expects underlying pretax profit of GBP42 million for the six months ended June 30, up 53% from GBP27.5 million a year earlier.

Clarkson added: "Performance has been strong across all divisions, with the Broking division, which has a market-leading position in nearly all the key shipping sectors, performing particularly well. While mindful of macroeconomic conditions, the Board nevertheless remains confident in the outlook for the business and expects results for the year ending 31 December 2022 to be materially ahead of its previous expectations."

Bar and cafe owner Loungers reported an annual revenue surge, shaking off the effects of the Omicron variant, the 'pingedemic' and recruitment issues.

Revenue in the financial year that ended April 17 jumped to GBP237.3 million from GBP78.3 million in the lockdown-hit prior year.

Loungers swung to a pretax profit of GB21.6 million from a GBP14.7 million loss.

Still to come on the economic calendar is US inflation data released at 1330 BST.

Another hot reading would strengthen the case for a second 75-basis-point interest rate hike in a row from the Federal Reserve later this month. The next Fed meeting is between July 26 and 27.

Already out, figures from Destatis showed Germany's annual inflation rate cooled to 7.6% in June, confirming an earlier estimate, from 7.9% in May.

The pound quoted at USD1.1924 early Wednesday in London, up from USD1.1906 late Tuesday.

The UK economy defied expectations and strengthened in May, figures on Wednesday showed, following a contraction in April.

According to the Office for National Statistics, UK gross domestic product grew 0.5% monthly in May, following a 0.2% decline in April. April's figure was upwardly revised from an initially reported 0.3% fall.

The figure for May topped FXStreet cited consensus which had forecast the economy to register no monthly growth at all.

The euro ebbed to USD1.0041 early Wednesday from USD1.0068 at the London equities close on Tuesday. The single currency had briefly touched USD0.9999 on Tuesday, falling below parity for the first time since 2002.

Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY137.07, up from JPY136.66.

Equities in Asia were mixed. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.5%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.1%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was down 0.3%. In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.2% higher.

Brent oil was trading at USD99.95 a barrel early Wednesday, down from USD100.37 late Tuesday. Gold stood at USD1,723.34 an ounce, down from USD1,732.30.

Brent slid under USD100 a barrel for the first time in three months on Tuesday, as recession worries cloud the near-term outlook for crude demand.

By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com

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