Member Info for livestock

By raising its stake in Aston Martin to 26.2%, the Yew Tree consortium underlined its confidence in the luxury car group's turnaround but breached a standstill agreement with Geely, another major shareholder, says broker Jefferies.

Yew Tree had agreed with the Chinese car group not to exceed 25% until at least August 2024.

Jefferies adds it is not clear what this might mean, but M&A interest around Aston Martin is growing as its fortunes should improve rapidly in 2024.

“One can assume that taking Yew's stake above 25% was not a surprise to Geely

“Depending on the source of the purchase (market or block), the free float may drop further below 30%.

“In addition to Yew Tree, stakes held by Geely (17%), PIF (19%), Mercedes (9%) and Lucid (3.7%) continue to provide M&A support to shares.”

Jefferies also previews the results expected on 2 November, saying it expects only modest improvements over the first half with units up by 17% and revenue up 17% to £591 million.

Underlying profit (EBITDA) is predicted at £53 million on a 14% margin, with a cash outflow of £88 million leading to net debt of £680 million.

'Buy' with a price target of 420p is Jefferies’ view.

https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/1028381/aston-martin-standstill-breach-raises-questions-ahead-of-third-quarter-numbers-says-jefferies-1028381.html

Commenting on the latest survey results, Rob Dobson, Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said:

“September saw the manufacturing sector still mired in contraction territory, as weak conditions at home and abroad hit new order intakes and led to a further scaling back of production volumes. The cost-of-living crisis and recent rapid rise in interest rates are taking their toll, according to producers, raising the possibility of the broader UK economy slipping back into contraction during the second half of the year.

“The downturn is being felt throughout the manufacturing sector, with demand falling from both households and businesses. The resulting rise in caution at manufacturers is driving risk aversion and shifting their focus towards margin protection and cost control, highlighted by further cuts in employment, purchasing and inventories. These all point to companies battening down the hatches in expectation of stormy conditions ahead.

"There was slightly better news for producers on the price front, as a mix of lower costs and rising selling prices aided margin protection efforts. However, with oil prices on the rise, the environment may become less disinflationary in the coming months.”

UK manufacturing output and new orders contract as domestic and export markets remain weak

Key findings

Manufacturing PMI at 44.3, up from 43.0 in August

Output scaled back across all sub-sectors

Input prices fall further; healing of supply chains continues

The end of the third quarter saw the downturn at UK manufacturers continue.Output,new orders and employment were all cut back further, amid weaker intakes of new work from both domestic and overseas clients. Although the outlook for the sector remained positive overall, with 55% of companies expecting growth over the coming 12 months, the level of optimism dipped slightly over the month.

The seasonally adjusted S&P Global / CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index® (PMI®) posted 44.3 in September, up slightly from August's 39-month low of 43.0, but still among the weakest readings seen over the past 14 years. All five of the sub-indices comprising the PMI (new orders, output, employment, stocks of purchases and supplier delivery times) were consistent with a weakening of underlying sector performance.

September saw manufacturing output decline for the seventh successive month, as companies cut back production in response to lower order intakes. Demand was impacted negatively by ongoing market uncertainty, the cost-of-living crisis and weak conditions in overseas markets.

https://www.pmi.spglobal.com/Public/Home/PressRelease/fa9e229d403f4149ba6769f32fc24b51

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said

Yew Tree's move to boost its stake means it could be considering its own acquisition approach.

He wrote: 'When an investor already owning more than 20 per cent of a business increases their stake, it sends a major signal to the market that something big could happen.

'It could mean one of three things: either they intend to make a takeover bid at some point in the future, trading is going very well so they believe the company will soon be worth a lot more, or the shares are stuck in the mud and they see an opportunity to buy more of them while the market isn't interested.'

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/article-12574789/Aston-Martin-shares-jump-Strolls-consortium-increases-stake.html

ALIEN METALS (@AlienMetals) posted at 10:54 am on Fri, Sep 29, 2023:

Alien Metals is pleased to announce its financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2023.

Read the full Interim Results here: https://t.co/Kr2HagoeIH

#alienmetals #Ironore #mining #UFO #investing #AIM #LSE

1/2 https://t.co/tOxUdGqQK1

(https://x.com/AlienMetals/status/1707695313530585473?t=lrHeoymMtZK01XQ_tDHcLw&s=03)

Https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/1028182/aston-martin-shares-rev-up-as-lawrence-stroll-ups-stake-1028182.html

UK to dodge a recession this year looking good for bullish momentum in share price 📈

Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown said: ““The UK economy has shown signs of life. GDP is now 1.8% ahead of pre-pandemic levels as the economy grew 0.2% in the second quarter from the first three months of the year.”

“Crucially, GDP was up 0.6% from the same period the previous year, which was better than expected and has given the pound a shove in the right direction.”

Today’s figures from the Office for National Statistics showed unrevised growth in the second quarter of 0.2% but a better than previously reported outcome for the first quarter – growth of 0.3% compared to 0.1%.

Samuel Tombs at Pantheon Macroeconomics said for now it means the UK “no longer is the G7’s straggler.”

“Nonetheless, a stable picture might take some time to emerge, given that statistical authorities in other countries are revising their data too,” he added.

On today’s figures, Tombs said he continues to think that a recession will be avoided in the second half of this year.

https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/1028159/ftse-100-live-stocks-jump-as-gdp-shows-economy-in-better-shape-1028159.html

Business confidence fell to 36% in September, a five point dip from the 18-month high (41%) recorded in August, as companies saw a decline in both economic optimism and trading prospects for the year ahead.

While confidence has fallen it remains higher than the first three months of 2023 (20%). Firms’ trading prospects were down this month with 52% (down five points) of businesses anticipating stronger activity in the next 12 months, compared with 11% (unchanged) expecting weaker outcomes. This resulted in the net balance falling five points to 41% versus 46% in August.

https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/media/press-releases/2023/lloyds-bank-2023/september-2023-business-barometer.html

LONDON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - British gross domestic product in the second quarter of 2023 was 0.2% higher than the quarter before, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a reading showing quarterly growth of 0.2%, unchanged from an initial estimate published on Aug. 11.

The economy as a whole in the second quarter of 2023 was 1.8% larger than in the final quarter of 2019, the last full quarter before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-economy-grows-02-q2-2023-2023-09-29/

Mitchells & Butlers PLC (LSE:MAB) meanwhile are saying strong trading continued in its fourth quarter, bringing year-to-date like-for-like sales growth to 9.1%, with total sales growth now an impressive 10.5%.

“Our target for Valhalla is to produce a supercar that will set best-in-class standards for performance, dynamics and driving pleasure,” said Carlo Della Casa, Aston’s product development director. “Having open access to the knowledge within the AMF1 team has been a huge advantage for us as we develop this incredible car.”

Aston will have a prototype ready before 2023 is out, and is set to build the thing next year.

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/formula-one/fernando-alonso-helping-develop-1000bhp-aston-martin-valhalla

Lloyds Banking Group logo

search

Number of first-time buyers falls amid tougher housing market conditions

27 September 2023

First-time buyers account for over half (53%) of all home loans.

Number of first-time buyers down 22% between January and August 2023, compared to same period last year.

Average price of first home now £288,030 – down just 2% in the past year.

First-time buyer deposits fall 12%, although still averaging £54,116.

Scotland is the UK’s most affordable place for first-time buyers to get on the property ladder.

The number of first-time buyers fell 22% between January and August this year, compared to the same period in 2022, according to the latest Halifax First-Time Buyer Review.

First-time buyers still accounted for over half (53%) of all home loans agreed in the first eight months of this year, a similar proportion as during the same period in 2022 (52%), as activity in the wider housing market slowed.

Kim Kinnaird, Director, Halifax Mortgages, said: “Getting the keys to your first home is a significant milestone in anyone’s life - we’ve lent £5.5 billion to first-time buyers in the first six months of the year, helping people make their home-owning dreams a reality.

https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/media/press-releases/2023/halifax-2023/number-of-first-time-buyers-falls.html

Sept 25 (Reuters) - Britain's decision to delay a ban on new fossil fuel car sales may make little difference to the pace of a shift to electric vehicles (EVs), even though the news drew anger from automakers worried about supply chains and investment uncertainty.

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/uks-fossil-fuel-car-ban-delay-may-only-stall-investment-2023-09-25/#:~:text=LONDON%2C%20Sept%2025%20(Reuters),supply%20chains%20and%20investment%20uncertainty.

Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LSE:LLOY), and the UK banking sector were in the spotlight following a report in the Financial Times, that the Bank of England plans to push the implementation date for the final Basel 3 rules back by six months to July 2025.

This is said to be due to the high volume of responses the BoE has received from its initial consultation document, which meant the previously planned implementation date of January 2025 would be difficult to achieve.

Delaying the implementation date by six months would bring it into line with the proposed timeframe set by the US but would be six months later than planned by the EU.

Shore Capital analyst Gary Greenwood notes the implementation of Basel 3.1 in the UK has been plagued with delays, having originally been planned for implementation in January 2021.

He thinks UK banks need clarity sooner rather than later so they can plan accordingly.

"Knowing what their future capital requirements will be is clearly important when it comes to determining pricing strategies and potential shareholder distributions," he added

https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/1027579/lloyds-banking-group-and-other-uk-banks-need-clarity-over-basel-3-1027579.html?rel=scroll

The FTSE 100 is expected to start the week on the back foot following falls in Asian markets after more problems for China’s Evergrande.

Spread betting companies are calling London’s lead index down by around 29 points

Carltt

You missed the boat calling strong sell hoping for 40p low interest rates are a thing of the past, with interest rates at 5.25% Lloyds is making 3.675 billion from net interest revenue we have to thank governor bailey for this Lloyds is only going one way from here and that's up, markets are re pricing 📈

GL

Gate13Boy

""I’m sure I’m not the only one finding it hard following you""

Following or stalking me 😦

"sell in May and go away, come back on St. Leger's Day"

80p end of year 📈

Strong buy