BUSINESS LIVE: UK wage growth maintains record pace

Chemring has said achieving its full-year expectations will be dependent on the US government signing off orders worth around £25million in revenue.

Analysts anticipate the defence contractor reporting an adjusted operating profit of between £65.2million and £68.2million for the 12 months ending October.

Savers can beat the top one-year fixed-rate deal from National Savings and Investments, by opening an account with savings platform Raisin.

Dowlais Group has maintained its annual guidance after its debut first-half performance exceeded forecasts, thanks to increased vehicle manufacturing output.

Smurfit Kappa shares took a substantial hit on Tuesday after the London-listed company agreed a historic merger with US rival WestRock.

The FTSE 100 firm, which is Europe’s largest paper and packaging producer, agreed to merge with WestRock for nearly $20billion (£16billion).

Google will battle back government claims it stifled internet competition by creating an online monopoly in court today – in will be one of the biggest antitrust trials in recent memory.

Set to take place over the next 10 weeks, the proceedings will begin with both sides’ opening arguments in at 9:30am – with the Justice Department being the other principle.

Homeware chain Wilko is set to disappear from the high street – with the loss of up to 12,500 jobs.

Rescue talks had been under way to try to save its 400 stores after the company plunged into administration last month.

Partywear group Chi Chi London has been sold after falling into administration last week, leaving some customers worrying that they will face an even lengthier wait for overdue refunds.

The brand, whose products are stocked by the likes of Debenhams, House of Fraser and John Lewis, told customers by email that holding company Chi Chi Collection had fallen into administration on 8 September.

(PA) – Wickes has reported higher sales as hybrid working encourages more home improvement projects, despite the retailer revealing shrinking profits.

The DIY chain, which also trades as a builders’ merchant, said sales over the first half of the year edged up due to more normal weather conditions, which influences the products people choose to buy.

It was also bolstered by sales for its Do-It-For-Me (DIFM) division, its kitchen and bathroom showroom business, which jumped by nearly 6% .

“Many businesses have retained or fully incorporated hybrid working practices, increasing the dwell time at home, fuelling further desire for homeowners and tenants to invest in their properties,” the company said.

But the retailer’s reported profit before tax slid by 37% to £21.1million over the period as it took a hit from separating and upgrading its IT systems from former owner Travis Perkins.

Excluding the one-off IT costs, its adjusted pre-tax profit still shrank by more than 15%.

The DIY market continued to be affected by pressure on people’s disposable income, rising mortgage rates and a decline in house sales, the firm said.

But it said other cost-of-living strains, such as higher petrol and energy costs, have started to unwind, while food price inflation has slowed from the very high levels.

It suggests that people have more confidence to spend on home improvement projects than last year, when Wickes said demand for DIY faded as living costs increased.

Brits were offered much-needed relief today as figures showed wages are finally keeping pace with inflation.

Regular pay increased by 7.8 per cent annually in the quarter to July, matching the headline CPI rate for the same period for the first time since October 2021.

Shares in Primark owner, Associated British Foods, soared after the firm raised its full-year profit outlook for the second time in four months.

The FTSE 100 company now expects full-year adjusted operating profit to be ‘slightly better’ than its previous expectations of ‘moderately ahead’ of last years earnings of around £1.44billion.

Fevertree Drinks has lowered its annual profit forecast following a surge in glass costs and poor weather in the UK.

The upmarket soft drinks producer now anticipates making between £30million and £36million in core earnings this year, compared to a prior forecast of £36million to £42million.

The right to use cash should be enshrined in law to protect people amid mass bank closures, a trade union has urged.

There are ‘real and disturbing’ consequences to a slew of High Street bank closures, the GMB, one of Britain’s largest trade unions, said yesterday.

DX Group has become the latest London-listed firm to be targeted by private equity.

The delivery group said it has been sent a ‘non-binding and conditional proposal’ worth 48.5p a share – or just under £300million – by HIG European Capital Partners.

Mark Crouch, analyst at eToro:

‘This is a strong trading update from Associated British Foods, driven by the better-than-expected performance of its retail arm.

‘Primark, the jewel in ABF’s crown, has performed particularly well, with shoppers ever more price conscious in a cost-of-living crisis, even though the retailer has increased selected prices recently.

‘While clothing prices have been tipped by some analysts to fall next year, Primark has been given a tailwind in the form of lower material costs, a weakening US dollar and lower freight costs, which should boost margins and profits going into next year.

‘That is a major positive for the retail sector in a week in which it was revealed that Wilko would disappear from the High Street next month.’

The FTSE 100 is trading higher this morning despite a slump in packaging producer Smurfit Kappa’s shares capped gains..

ABF shares are up by around 1 per cent, among the top gainers on the benchmark index, after the Primark owner raised its full-year profit outlook for the second time in four months.

London-listed shares of Smurfit Kappa have slumped 11 per cent after the company agreed to combine with WestRock, to create one of the world’s largest paper and packaging producers worth nearly $20 billion.

Waitrose and Aldi have announced a further round of price cuts in the latest boost to hard-pressed households.

Waitrose is cutting the price of a further 250 products by an average of 10 per cent this week.

The collapse of Wilko has left rival B&M as perhaps the leader in bargain retailing on the high street, with analysts touting the group to maintain its rapid growth trajectory.

RBS has been named and shamed as the bank that has closed the most of its branches after axing hundreds of High Street sites over the last eight years.

The bank, which is owned by NatWest and was bailed out by the taxpayer during the last financial crisis, has shuttered more than 80 per cent of its locations since 2015.

It is the worst offender of the major High Street banks, having closed the biggest portion of its branch network, the Daily Mail can reveal.

Tom Selby, head of retirement policy at AJ Bell:

‘Retirees are set to receive their second blockbuster state pension increase in a row as a result of the government’s ‘triple-lock’ policy.

‘With price rises seemingly on a steady downward trajectory, it is almost certain – barring a major inflationary shock – that today’s 8.5% earnings growth figure will be used for next year’s state pension rise. As a result, the full new state pension will surge to £221.20 per week, while those in receipt of the old state pension will see their benefits increase to £169.50 per week.

‘This comes hot on the heels of the bumper 10.1% state pension increase applied in April this year, in line with inflation in the prior September.’

Fevertree Drinks profits fell in the first half as margins took a hit from elevated glass manufacturing costs despite price increases.

The London-based company, which sells most of its drink mixers in glass bottles, said its adjusted core profit came in at £10.2million for the six months ended 30 June, compared with £22million the previous year.

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance, Hargreaves Lansdown:

‘Gloom is starting to settle in across the employment landscape. We’re not seeing a deluge of job losses or redundancies, but the steady creep of bad news means that for some people, the outlook is increasingly ominous.

‘Throughout the turbulence of the last couple of years, the one thing we’ve been able to cling to was job security. And while we’re not facing sweeping job losses, it’s worth at least considering what we’d do if the tide was to turn.’

AB Foods has raised its full-year profit outlook for the second time in four months, driven by a strong performance from both its Primark clothing business and its food operations.

The group now expects full-year adjusted operating profit, its key profit measure, to be ‘slightly better’ than its previous expectations of ‘moderately ahead’ of last year’s earnings of £1.44billion.

Shares in an online gaming group co-owned by David Beckham surged after it signed another deal with Sky.

Guild Esports, whose teams of video game professionals compete against rivals for money, appointed Sky Glass as its official television partner.

Sky Glass is the streaming TV service from Sky that does not require a satellite dish.

British wages excluding bonuses were 7.8 per cent per cent higher than a year earlier in the three months to July, unchanged from the three months to June, but fresh Office for National Statistics data shows signs that Britain’s labour market is finally cooling.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.3 per cent in the three months to July from 4.2 per cent a month earlier, its highest since the three months to September 2021.

The unemployment rate is already higher than the 4.1 per cent the Bank of England had pencilled in for the third quarter as a whole, when it published its last set of forecasts in early August.

The figures will be scrutinised ahead of the BoE’s next interest rate decision, with the bank likely to be encouraged by a softening labour market but cautious of still-high wage growth.