The fund manager Abrdn published a Q4 trading update this morning which showed the benefits of both a positive underlying market alongside net inflows. interactive investor, the direct to retail brand, continues to lead the charge however with assets under administration here advancing by almost 20%, meaning that the company achieved the no. 1 position in D2C net flows with further growth expected in the year ahead. Expectations are that full year operating profits remain on track and the Abrdn share price was up as much as 9% in early trade.
A third quarter trading update was out from defence technology company QinetiQ this morning. Whilst the headlines read well, there was a note of caution when it came to UK order intake, which has been hampered by the fiscal environment, resulting in some resizing of the UK intelligence business. Investors appear to have latched onto this rather than looking to leverage the success of contract wins and the fact that full year expectations remain in tact. That in turn has left the QinetiQ share price under pressure, off a further 8% in the first hour on Tuesday.
This doesn’t relate to a regulatory filing but there’s important news for shareholders of Close Brothers and fellow lender Lloyds Banking Group this morning. The Financial Times is reporting that the government is looking to intervene in the car finance mis-selling saga as a result of the long term damage it fears could be inflicted by multi-billion pound settlements. Major lenders walking away from the industry altogether would be exceptionally damaging and presumably risk consumers paying more in the longer term. The Close Brothers share price was up almost 20% before 9am, whilst Lloyds was 5% higher.
Headlines we expect on Wednesday
JD Wetherspoon Q2 Update
This time last year LFL sales (12 week period) up 11.1%, Trading estate 814 pubs
easyJet Q1 Update
This time last year Headline loss £126m, Passenger growth 14%, easyJet holidays £30m profit.
