B&M Value Q1 revenues slump, Moonpig FY profits fall

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was being called to open 55.3 points lower ahead of the bell on Wednesday after the index closed 0.90% higher in the previous session at 7,323.41.

Stocks to watch

Variety goods retailer B&M Value said UK first-quarter like-for-like revenue decline fell 9.1% as "exceptionally high sales" during Covid lockdowns in the prior trading year had distorted comparatives.

UK revenue in the three months ended 25 June came in at £957.0m, while on a group-wide basis, revenues were 2.2% lower at £1.16bn. The FTSE 100-listed company also maintained annual guidance of adjusted core profits of £550.0m-£600.0m.

Greeting cards and gifts retailer Moonpig said on Wednesday that full-year underlying earnings and adjusted pre-tax profits had slumped in the twelve months ended 31 April.

Moonpig posted an 18.7% drop in adjusted underlying earnings to £74.9m and a 30.9% year-on-year decline in adjusted pre-tax profits to £51.5m as revenues fell 17.3% to £304.3m and EBITDA margins contracted 0.4% to 24.6%.

Newspaper round-up

EU countries clinched deals on proposed laws to combat the climate crisis in the early hours of Wednesday, backing a 2035 phase-out of new fossil-fuel car sales and a multibillion-euro fund to shield poorer citizens from the costs of carbon dioxide emissions. After more than 16 hours of negotiations, environment ministers from the 27 member states agreed their joint positions on five laws, part of a broader package of measures to slash planet-heating emissions this decade. – Guardian

Rishi Sunak has promised to consider another cut to fuel duty amid claims that prices at forecourts are "pump fiction" as they fail to reflect wholesale costs. The chancellor said on Tuesday that he would examine whether to reduce the levy further after cutting it by 5.0p a litre in March. Sunak is under pressure to help motorists paying record prices at the pump while the cost of other household goods has also jumped. – Guardian

Electric cars face being fitted with tracking devices under proposals for a pay-per-mile road taxation system put forward by the Government's own climate advisers. The Climate Change Committee says the Government needs to find ways to cover the "significant hole" in the public finances left by the loss of fuel duty and other taxes when petrol and diesel cars are replaced by electric models. – Telegraph

EY is to pay a record $100.0m fine to the US financial regulator after it found that the Big Four accountancy firm's audit staff had cheated in ethics exams by sharing answers. The US Securities and Exchange Commission also said the EY had hindered its investigation by telling inspectors that there had been no cheating, despite the issue having previously been raised with bosses. – The Times

Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, says there is a "strong argument" for supporting the steel industry amid expectations that the government will extend import tariffs despite the risk of breaking international law. Yesterday he told the business, energy and industrial strategy committee that "free trade is all very well but if everyone else is supporting a strategic industry, I think there is a strong argument for us in this country to do so". – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed sharply lower on Tuesday as market participants digested news that consumer confidence had hit a 16-month low

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.56% at 30,946.99, while the S&P 500 was 2.01% weaker at 3,821.55 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 2.98% softer at 11,181.54.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com