The company perhaps best known for its Primark brand posted interim results this morning which arguably caught the market by surprise. Margin recovery resulted in a bumper uptick in profits, whilst shareholders were also rewarded with an equally impressive jump in the half year dividend. Optimism was also in evidence when it came to the outlook, with growth expected to continue at Primark as market conditions normalise further. The company’s sugar business also fared well thanks to more typical growing conditions for sugar beet in the UK. An hour into the day and shares were at the top of the FTSE-100, up around 9%.
There have been a flurry of UK companies being bought up by overseas firms, so in a suitable about turn, JD Sport this morning announced that it planned to buy Hibbett, a US listed and US based full lien sporting goods retailer. JD offered $87.50 a share for Hibbett, which last night traded around $70 and with JD’s stock adding more than 6% in early trade, it seems as if the market eyes a bargain here. Whether that’s enough to flush out a counterbid remains to be seen.
And there’s more good news from Ferrexpo, the iron ore producer, who issued a Q1 production report this morning. This highlighted a more than 200% improvement in total production compared to Q4 making for the best quarterly performance since the invasion of Ukraine, where the company has a workforce of thousands. Shares are up 10% in early trade and back above the 50p level for the first time in around six weeks, but remain well below the highs printed in 2021.
Headlines we expect to see on Wednesday
Star Energy Final Results
This time last year Revenues £59m, Underlying operating profit £16m
Tortilla Mexican Grill Final Results
This time last year Revenues £58m, Gross profit margin 76.4%, Adjusted EBITDA £4m
