Team17 shares plunge as long-time boss Bestwick departs
Shares in video game developer Team17 plunged today as long-time chief executive Debbie Bestwick announced her departure.
Bestwick served as CEO of the developer – best known for the Worms series – since leading a management buyout from then-parent company Microbyte.
“This has probably been the hardest decision I’ve made, but I wouldn’t have made it if I wasn’t confident in the succession plans and the leadership team’s ability to deliver the clear and focused strategy regarding our collective goals and ambitions,” Bestwick said. “Ultimately, I want to spend more time with my children who have made sacrifices many times during my career and specifically to spend more time with my youngest before he goes to university.”
The business also announced its 2022 financial results today, with profit rising by 53% to £69.6 million.
Team17 shares are down 8.7% to 405.25p.
FTSE 100’s rally eases as investor hoist the for-sale sign over house builders
London’s FTSE 100 stayed positive in late-morning trade, but pressure on housebuilders after news of falling profits in the sector knocked its stocks.
Bellway Homes, a member of the FTSE 250 rather than the top-tier index, reported a 5% drop in underlying profit of £312 million and said it would increase the proportion of affordable homes it builds. Its stock fell 20p to 2019p, even after it also pledged to return cash to investors via a £100 million share buyback.
Fellow housebuilders on the blue-chip index moved lower after Bellway’s updarte, adding to to the limits on the FTSE 100’s overall gain. Barratt Developments slipped 4.5p to 445p. Taylor Wimpey lost 1p to 116p. Rightmove, the online estate agency, was 8.2p weaker at 543p.
Overall, the main London stock index stayed 12 points higher, at 7,483.82, lent support by a recovery in the financial sector and among oil majors.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 fell overall, by 120 points to 18409.15, a drop of 0.7%.
Bailey: HSBC was only reasonable bidder for Silicon Valley Bank UK
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said HSBC was effectively the only bidder remaining for failed lender Silicon Valley Bank’s UK arm once the sale process got fully underway.
The Bank boss faced questions from the Treasury Committee today after tech-focused Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in the US earlier this month, which then led to the collapse of its UK arm before HSBC ultimately acquired it for £1.
The governor said that once the actual selling process got underway, HSBC had the only viable bid. Other prospective bidders, he said, either never submitted a firm offer or attached terms and conditions that the Bank couldn’t agree to.
Andrew Bailey: Bank of England only became certain of SVB UK sale hours before announcement
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said that the Bank of England only became certain that a sale of Silicon Valley Bank would happen three hours before it was announced.
Bailey is currently facing questions from the Treasury Committee about the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank UK. When asked why the Bank said it was set to place SVB UK into insolvency first before later announcing a sale to HSBC, he said he only became sure a sale could occur at the very last minute.
“We could not guarantee that a sale would take place until about 4am going into Monday,” he said.
Home reservations slump for Bellway, but buyers adjust to higher rates in 2023
Housebuilder Bellway saw private home reservation rates slump by more than 40% in 2022, but its CEO said trading has picked back up in 2023 as buyers get used to a new normal for mortgage rates.
Profit dipped by 2.1%, partly due to what CEO Jason Honeyman called “challenging operating and trading conditions in the period”.
Bellway’s reservation rate was down by 31.7%, with the rate for private homes falling even faster, at 43.8%, prompting the company to accelerate the building of social housing instead. This, it said, was mostly due to “elevated mortgage rates” immediately after Kwasi Kwarteng’s devastating mini-Budget, as well as the end of help-to-buy schemes.
Rampant inflation still hurting margins, says Irn Bru maker Barr
AG Barr today sounded a note of caution over continued threat posed by inflation after the Irn Bru maker saw its profit margins squeezed.
The North Lanarkshire-based business said it had seen “rampant inflation” in the year to the end of January which caused its operating margins to fall 1.3 percentage points to 13.6%.
Barr boss Roger White said: “We’re definitely still seeing inflationary pressure, whether that’s in the cost of materials or food. It’s not just our teams that are seeing it but also our supply base.
“It’s pretty much as we had assumed – we called it last year that the impact of inflation would last longer than some were anticipating.”
It comes as hopes inflation had peaked were dealt a blow by fresh figures out from the British Retail Consortium after food inflation in February hit 15% in March, up from 14.5% a month earlier.
Barr posted an 18% jump in sales over the year to £318 million, while pre-tax profits rose 5.2% to £44.4 million.
Revenue growth was led by a 20% jump in sales of fruity pop drink Rubicon, while sales of the iconic Irn Bru brand rose 6%, including a 15% climb in demand for in energy drinks.
Oat milk brand Moma bucked the broader decline in demand for plant-based products with a 40% jump in sales, while turnover at take-home cocktail brand Funkin climbed 16%.
The company also bid goodbye to 85-year-old Robin Barr, who announced his departure from the board after a 58-year stint, one of the longest in FTSE history. He will be replaced by daughter Julie Barr, who currently serves as the company secretary.
AG Barr shares dipped 1.5% to 534p.
Tui shares hit again as cut-price rights issue keeps taking a toll; Carnival heads south after update
London-listed shares in the German tour operator Tui stayed under heavy pressure after the heavily discounted rights issue being held to repay Covid-era government aid continued to knock the stock.
It was down a further 22p on Tuesday to 708p, taking the stock to its lowest since December 2022. It was the biggest single faller on the FTSE 100, which was rising overall.
Fellow tourist stock Carnival also headed south after the London stock in US cruise operator sounded a downbeat tone for the second quarter alongside results issued in New York yesterday. Its shares were 13p lower at 639p.
Utilities and defensive stocks take a hit as FTSE 100 pushes ahead overall
Stocks with defensive properties were taking a hit as London’s stock market rose overall and investors continued to buy back into financial and retail stocks.
United Utilities fell 19p to 1017p, with Centrica, the owner of British Gas, down over 1p to 102p. Severn Trent dropped 7p to 2800p. Silver miner Fresnillo fell 6p to 716p.
FTSE 100 opens higher as banks lend support for a second consecutive session; Ocado rallies
London’s main share index set course for a second consecutive dat of gains, as the relief rally held in the banking sector.
Barclays. NatWest, Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC all made further gains, of between 1% and 2% apiece.
Overall, the FTSE 100 added 52 points to 7523.60, a rise of 0.7%.
Ocado made the best single gain, up 21p to 475p after it posted a 3.4% rise in retail revenue to £584 million.
Shop prices on a ‘sugar high’ and yet to peak says British Retail Consortium
Hopes that inflation may have peaked in the UK have been dealt a blow by fresh figures out from the British Retail Consortium.
The industry group said prices were on a “sugar high” and had yet to peak, not least because of the rising cost of sweet treats into Easter.
Helen Dickinson, the BRC’s chief executive, said: “As Easter approaches, the rising cost of sugar coupled with high manufacturing costs left some customers with a sour taste, as price rises for chocolate, sweets and fizzy drinks increased in March.”
Overall, food inflation in February hit 15% in March, up from 14.5% a month earlier, while the figure for fresh food hit a record 17%, up from 16.3%.
Dickinson added: “Shop price inflation has yet to peak,” but predicted that “food prices will likely ease in the coming months particularly as we enter the UK growing season, but wider inflation is expected to remain high.”
