M&S swings to full-year loss, British Land profit down by a third

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The FTSE 100 is expected to open nine points lower on Wednesday, having closed down 0.31% on Tuesday at 7,029.79.

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UK food and clothing group Marks & Spencer swung to a heavy full-year loss as it felt the full impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The company on Wednesday reported pre-tax losses of £209.4m for the 53 weeks to April 3 compared with a profit of £67.2m a year earlier. Group revenue fell to £9.1bn from £8.9bn. M&S said overall trading for the first six weeks of the financial year and since reopening had been ahead of the comparable period two years ago in 2019/20.

British Land's annual profit fell by more than one-third and the value of its properties dropped by more than 10% as the Covid-19 crisis took its toll on the commercial landlord.Underlying profit for the year to the end of March dropped 34.3% to £201m as British Land made provisions for non-payment of rent. The value of its portfolio fell 10.8% to £9.13bn. The annual dividend fell to 15.04p a share from 15.9p. The FTSE 100 company said trading was encouraging since non-essential shops were allowed to reopen with footfall up 88% and sales up 104% at its retail sites.

Intertek reported “solid” like-for-like revenue growth of 2.7% at constant currency for the year-to-date on Wednesday, with its products division delivering a “robust” 7.4%. The FTSE 100 testing and certification provider said momentum had accelerated in March and April, with like-for-like revenue growing 9.3% at constant currency, as products advanced 13.8% and trade rose 5.3%. It said strong controls on pricing, cost and cash remained in place, with the company on track to deliver its 2021 targets for revenue, margin accretion and free cash flow.

Newspaper round-up

The total value of homes sold in the UK is expected to reach £461bn this year, a jump of 46% on 2020, indicating the current housing market boom is likely to continue, according to a new prediction. The property website Zoopla said its projections indicated the property market in 2021 was on course to be the busiest for 14 years. - Guardian

An ad campaign telling the public that “it’s time to buy” bitcoin has been banned after the advertising watchdog ruled that it was irresponsible and misleading. The high-profile campaign, which has featured heavily across the London Underground and the capital’s bus network since December, ran with the strapline “If you’re seeing bitcoin on the underground, it’s time to buy”. - Guardian

The Government is preparing measures to block foreign companies from listing in London on the grounds of national security if they are suspected of disreputable behaviour or weak governance standards. Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, will begin consulting on the plans as soon as next month, in a bid to clean up the Square Mile and improve its reputation. Ministers could be given fresh powers to take a more active role in interventions, if they suspect a flotation is not in the national interest. - Telegraph

Investment plans are being stepped up by retailers as they prepare for an expected rise in sales over the summer, according to a report by the CBI. In its latest Distributive Trades Survey, the business organisation found that investment intentions for the coming year had risen at the fastest pace since February 1994. A net balance of 35 percent of companies said that they planned to invest in their operations, up from -8 per cent in February. - The Times

Businesses are at their most confident about taking on more staff since 2016. A survey by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation has found that business confidence in making hiring and investment decisions rose by 15 percentage points between February and April to a net balance of 28 per cent. Employers’ confidence in the economy also increased significantly to a net balance of -10 per cent, the highest level since August 2018. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks finished in the red on Tuesday, as an earlier bounce in big tech and stocks tied to an economic reopening fell flat later in the session.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.24% at 34,312.46, the S&P 500 lost 0.21% to 4,188.13, and the Nasdaq Composite was off 0.03% at 13,657.17.

The Dow closed 0.24% lower on Tuesday, cutting into the gains made in the prior session.

Big technology plays were still in the green, however, with Facebook up 0.97%, Amazon ahead 0.43%, Microsoft rising 0.37%, and Alphabet eking out gains of 0.1%.

Shares in newly-floated cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase were also in the green by 7.59%, after Bitcoin bounced back to around $38,000 on Tuesday, having fallen below $32,000 on Sunday.