FTSE 100 Closes Down 1.4% as Recession Risks Jitters

The FTSE 100 blue-chip index closed Monday down 1.4% to 7522 points on the back of weakness in the consumer-staples and energy sectors, amid increased fears of recession risks, CMC Markets UK chief market analyst Michael Hewson says in a note. Food retailer Ocado and Unilever were among the index's worst performers, down 3.7% and 3.0%, respectively, after the latest British Retail Consortium report showed that inflationary pressures remained elevated in May, while the government was talking to supermarkets about price controls over the weekend, Hewson highlights. Rolls-Royce shares slipped 3.1% after reports that the Indian government took out a criminal complaint against the group over the sale of Hawk jets, Hewson notes.

COMPANIES NEWS:

Unilever CFO Graeme Pitkethly to Step Down End of May 2024

Unilever said Tuesday that Chief Financial Officer Graeme Pitkethly intends to retire from the company by the end of May 2024.

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Greencore Swung to 1H Pretax Loss; Launches GBP10 Mln Share Buyback Program

Greencore Group said Tuesday that it swung to a pretax loss for the first half of fiscal 2023 after booking higher costs, and that it was launching a new share buyback program.

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Sportech Four-Month Business Met Expectations; Backs Full-Year Outlook

Sportech said Tuesday that business for the first four months of 2023 has been in line with the board's expectations, backing management's full-year outlook.

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Hollywood Bowl Group 1H Pretax Profit Fell on Higher Costs

Hollywood Bowl Group said Tuesday that it is trading in line with its expectations so far in fiscal 2023 as it posted a fall in pretax profit for the first half on heavier employee and property-related costs.

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Hochschild Mining CEO Ignacio Bustamante to Step Down; COO Eduardo Landin to Replace Him

Hochschild Mining said Tuesday that Chief Executive Officer Ignacio Bustamante will step down on Aug. 26 and that it has appointed Chief Operating Officer Eduardo Landin as the new CEO.

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Softcat 3Q Gross Invoiced Income, Gross Profit, Operating Profit Rose

Softcat said Tuesday that it has delivered further year-on-year growth in gross invoiced income, gross profit and operating profit in the third quarter of fiscal 2023.

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Likewise Revenue Growth Continues in Line With Market Expectations

Likewise said Tuesday that its businesses in both residential and commercial flooring have continued to experience revenue growth since its mid-May update, and that it is performing in line with current market expectations.

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STM Group Sees Higher Client Asset Income, Lower New Business in 2023

STM Group on Tuesday said it sees higher income generated from client assets in 2023 offsetting lower new business and non-recurring costs linked to its strategic review.

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SpaceandPeople Swung to 2022 Pretax Loss on Higher Costs; Began 2023 Strongly

SpaceandPeople said Tuesday that it swung to a 2022 pretax loss after booking higher costs, but has started 2023 in a strong position.

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Malvern International Sees Rise in 2023 Junior Division Revenue

Malvern International said Tuesday that it expects to report a rise in 2023 revenue for the junior division, and that English language teaching programs revenue at the end of April was above the 1.1 million pounds ($1.4 million) for the first six months of 2022.

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DWF Group Sees 8% Revenue Growth for FY 2023

DWF Group on Tuesday said it expects to report revenue growth of 8% for fiscal 2023 as it saw an acceleration in growth in the third and fourth quarters.

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XLMedia Sells Some Personal Finance Assets for $1.3 Mln

XLMedia said Tuesday that it has sold some of its personal finance assets for $1.3 million as part of the company's plan to exit noncore activities and focus on the sports and gaming business.

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Woodbois Shares Fall After Announcing Vote on Share Nominal Value Reduction

Shares in Woodbois fell Tuesday after it said it was convening a general meeting to vote on resolutions proposing to reduce the nominal value of ordinary shares as well as to renew and widen the waiver of pre-emption rights so it may meet current exceptional circumstances.

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LendInvest to Sell Buy-to-Let Residential Mortgages for GBP243 Mln

LendInvest on Tuesday said it is selling its buy-to-let residential mortgages to Chetwood Financial for a cash consideration of 243 million pounds ($300.3 million) which includes proceeds from cancelled interest-rate derivatives.

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Celadon Pharmaceuticals Shares Rise on New GBP7 Mln Line of Credit

Celadon Pharmaceuticals shares rose Tuesday after it said it has secured a 7 million pound ($8.6 million), two-year committed line of credit with a U.K.-based investor and current minor shareholder.

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Oxford BioDynamics Shares Fall on Wider 1H Loss, Need for More Cash

Oxford BioDynamics shares fell Tuesday after it said its first-half pretax loss widened on higher costs and it will need to generate more cash for the remainder of the year.

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Empyrean Energy Shares Fall On Share Placement at 22% Discount

Shares in Empyrean Energy fall after the company raised 1.52 million pounds ($1.9 million) in a share placement at a 22% discount.

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Spectra Systems Names Edward Spies as New CFO

Spectra Systems said Tuesday that Edward Spies has been appointed chief financial officer, upon completion of due diligence by its nominated adviser.

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Norcros Names Steve Good as New Chairman

Norcros said Tuesday that it has appointed Steve Good as its new chairman, replacing Acting Chair David McKeith, who will retire at the annual general meeting on July 26.

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Kazatomprom Chairman Neil Longfellow to Step Down

NAC Kazatomprom said Tuesday that Chairman Neil Longfellow will resign on June 21, the date of a shareholder-convened extraordinary general meeting.

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Surface Transforms Names Stephen Easton New COO

Surface Transforms said Tuesday that is has appointed Stephen Easton as the new chief operating officer, effective Sept. 4.

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Tremor International Shares Fall After 1Q Earnings Drop

Shares in Tremor International fell 12% on Tuesday after the company posted a slump in first-quarter earnings due to the weak advertising environment and its integration of Amobee.

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MGC Pharmaceuticals Nonexecutive Chairman Brett Mitchell to Step Down; Stephen Parker Named Interim Chair

MGC Pharmaceuticals said Tuesday that Nonexecutive Chairman Brett Mitchell will step down from the board effective June 1, and that Stephen Parker, currently a nonexecutive director, will replace him as interim nonexecutive chair.

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RHI Magnesita Shares Jump on Cash Offer for 20% Stake

Shares in RHI Magnesita rose 23% on Tuesday after the company said Ignite Luxembourg Holdings is seeking to buy 20% of its share capital, which values the group at around 1.34 billion pounds ($1.66 billion).

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China Nonferrous Gold Executive Director Hui Zhang Resigns; Appoints Zhishuo Feng

China Nonferrous Gold said Tuesday that Executive Director Hui Zhang tendered his resignation and that Zhishuo Feng has been appointed executive director with immediate effect.

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Asda Acquires EG's Estate in UK, Ireland to Boost Convenience Strategy

Asda said Tuesday that it has acquired EG Group's U.K. and Ireland operations for an enterprise value of around 2.27 billion pounds ($2.80 billion) in order to accelerate its convenience growth strategy.

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DP Poland 2022 Ebitda Seen Below Previous Views Due to Higher Costs

DP Poland said Tuesday that it expects to report earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for last year below previous expectations due to higher utilities costs, but that sales for the first four months of the new year were up.

MARKET TALK:

Lloyds Banking To Face Challenging Quarters As Interest Rate Tailwinds Pass

1158 GMT - Lloyds Banking Group faces challenges ahead as interest rates seem to have peaked and any boon it was enjoying seems to be in the past, AlphaValue says in a note tweaking its estimates on the back of the British bank's first-quarter results at the start of the month. The brokerage reduced its earnings before interest and taxes forecast by 5% after cutting its net interest income projections by 3%. It upgrades its earnings per share forecasts by 7.4% for 2023 and by 3.9% for 2024 to 6.79 pence for both years. "However, these upgrades were driven by volatile and consequently hard-to-predict non-operating charges (notably related to insurance adjustments)," analyst David Grinsztajn writes. AlphaValue rates the stock reduce. (elena.vardon@wsj.com)

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GSK Needs Licensing, Bolt-On Deals to Sustain Business

1149 GMT - Sales of GSK's respiratory syncytial virus vaccine Arexvy are expected to peak at $4 billion and could surpass consensus, Jefferies analysts say in a note. This drug, together with singles jab Shingrix and HIV treatments, is expected to contribute to consensus-beating revenue and earnings per share, the analysts add. In general, the British pharma giant offers robust double-digit EPS growth until 2028, which is going to be marked by HIV patent expiries and saturation of the U.S. market for Shingrix, the analysts say. However, the company still needs further in-licensing or bolt-on deals to sustain the business after that, they add. (cecilia.butini@wsj.com)

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Greencore Investors Will Be Pleased With Retained Guidance

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May 30, 2023 12:02 ET (16:02 GMT)

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