The growing retail and property group Frasers posted full year results this morning which were sufficient to propel them to the top of the FTSE-100 leaderboard. Adjusted pre-tax profits came in at the top end of expectations and management suggest that the outlook for next year remains upbeat too, with a further 15% profit growth being projected. One stand-out point was the margin improvement seen in the UK Sports channel where a 3% decline in revenues delivered a 3% uptick in profitability. The Frasers Group share price was trading 10% higher by 9am.
The homeware chain published a Q4 and full year trading update today with investors evidently impressed by the continued measured growth in sales despite both macroeconomic weakness and the fact that recent weather has been far from favourable for outdoor furniture sales. Total sales were up 4% with a 5% improvement seen in the final quarter, lending support to the idea that momentum may be building. Gross margins are set to improve by 170bps as freight rates continue to fall and pre-tax profits are expected to come in slightly ahead of current forecasts. Dunelm Group shares were around 9% higher in early trade with the stock leading the FTSE-250.
On the AIM Market, there’s news this morning that Intelligent Ultrasound Group is set to sell its clinical AI business to GE Healthcare for an enterprise value of £40.5m. The note highlights that this transaction would imply a share price of 12.4p, a 71% premium to last night’s close and still slightly above the current quoted price of 11.6p. Management note that growth of this division has been slower than anticipated. Shares were trading 64% higher just over an hour into the day.
Headlines we expect tomorrow
Hargreaves Lansdown Interim Management Statement
This time last year Net client growth 13,000, AUA £134bn, Net new business £1.7bn
