Full year earnings from the engineering firm Rolls Royce received a rapturous welcome from the market this morning after the company reported a doubling of profits along with the expectation that there’s more to come. The dividend remains suspended but with management moving towards reinstatement of this, investors continued to find plenty to cheer with the stock. Shares were sitting around 8% higher in early trade.
A short note from insurers Beazley delivered outsized returns this morning after the company made an additional announcement ahead of full year results which are due in a couple of weeks’ time. The company noted that guidance on its undiscounted combined ration had improved from the low 80’s to mid 70’sm paving the way for an additional return of capital to shareholders. The scale of this will be in that next earnings release but the market was quick to cheer the news, with the stock quickly adding more than 9% as a result.
Half year numbers from the retail investment house may have included some impressive headlines including rising AUA, a 5% increase in revenues and a 4% uptick in dividends but profits took a toll as a result of rising staffing and technology costs. Outflows to competitive cash-based products have also been weighing and although this has the potential to slow as interest rates normalise, the report also notes investors dipping into savings to help alleviate the rising cost of living. With underlying cost growth for the full year now expected to be at the lower range of expectations, these numbers could end up reflecting a re-basing, offering a decent foundation for future growth.
Headlines we expect on Friday:
City of
London Investment Group half year results
This time last year Funds under management (31/12/22) £7.6bn, interim dividend 11p
Afarak
final results
This
time last year Revenue €198.7m, Profit €47.6m
