the times | Wednesday May 25 2022 45MarketsBusiness
O
ne of
London’s
biggest
landlords
remains
confident that the
West End’s post-
pandemic recovery will
endure, even with the
“complex range of
operational
challenges” that many
of its tenants now face
(Tom Howard writes).
Shaftesbury, which
owns 16 acres of land
in and around London’s
Chinatown and theatre
district, expects itsoccupiers — including
bars, restaurants and
shops — to start to feel
the pinch from soaring
inflation, tax increases
and the recent drop-off
in consumer
confidence. Brian
Bickell, 68, its chief
executive, said he had
“never seen all of these
challenges coming
together” at once, but
he believed the West
End and its tenants
were better placed
than most to withstand
any effects of a
stumbling economy.
He said the
“recovery has been
much quicker and
stronger than we
would have imagined
12 months ago”.
Businesses were stillcustomers and a rescue plan for the
business. It pared some of those gains
in the afternoon, closing 1p, or 16 per
cent, higher at 7¼p.
Hyve Group’s interim results,
however, failed to dazzle as the events
company announced a pre-tax loss of
£11.5 million because of the impact of
China’s Covid-19-induced travel
restrictions, while its insurance
proceeds related to cancelled events
declined. The shares closed down
5¾p, or 6.3 per cent, at 86p.
Investors dumped their shares in
On the Beach even though the
online travel agent published a decent
set of interim numbers. The reason?
The group’s cautionary note on future
trading. On the Beach warned that it
was unclear to what extent the cost-
of-living crisis would affect its
bookings, adding that “visibility of the
near-term outlook for the UK
outbound travel industry is limited”.
The update sent the shares down
32p, or 13.3 per cent, to reach 208½p
at the close.ALAMYAvon finds no protection
from US budget delays
Jessica Newman Market report
A
von Protection came
under fire yesterday as the
maker of gas masks and
body armour fell to a
$13.6 million half-year loss
amid a slowdown in orders and
continuing supply chain issues.
The company, formerly known as
Avon Rubber, blamed the results
partly on the extended delay in the
sign-off of the US government’s
budgets, which had a big impact on
customers dependent on federal
funding, especially from the defence
department. In turn, Avon’s revenue
from this area fell by 32.5 per cent to
$43.5 million.
The company said that there had
been fewer purchases of its first-
responder products in the first half,
which tend to be its highest marginbusiness, while further supply chain
disruption had delayed orders.
Although it was “working proactively”
to address the issues affecting
profitability, it admitted that the
volatility of funding and the timing of
customer orders were risks to the
outlook on its revenue mix in the
second half. Alongside the
disappointing numbers, Avon sprang
a surprise by announcing that Paul
McDonald would step down as chief
executive at the end of the financial
year.
Avon’s shares, which have come
way down from a peak of £46.25 in
December 2020, fell a further 177p, or
14.8 per cent, to close at £10.20.
London’s wider markets trimmed
some early morning losses, but a sell-
off of energy stocks and the fizzling
out of Wall Street’s mini-rally
overnight combined to leave London’s
premier share index in the red. The
FTSE 100 closed down 29.09 points,
or 0.4 per cent, at 7,484.35, while the
more domestically focused FTSE 250lost 296.36 points, or 1.5 per cent, to
19,849.82.
Investors in Royal Mail were sent
into a tailspin again after analysts at
Peel Hunt posted a “sell” note into the
FTSE 100 group’s letterbox. Shares in
the postal group fell 18¼p, or 5.5 per
cent, to 313¾p after the analysts said
that the company faced a “highly
challenging future” in a weakening
consumer environment with
inflationary pressures.
Barclays brightened the mood, with
is shares up 5p, or 3.2 per cent, to
162¾p after announcing that it was
finally launching its twice-delayed
£1 billion share buyback. Forterra
rose, too, by 11½p, or 4.7 per cent, to
255p, after the brick manufacturer
said that it expected to deliver half-
year results ahead of the same period
last year, as well as 2019.
Amigo, the embattled guarantor
loans company, surged by as much as
51 per cent in early trading a day after
it had been granted approval for a
compensation scheme for pastCity’s shock at Hikma departure
pharmaceuticalsT
he chief
executive of one
of the stock
market’s largest drugs
groups has stepped
down unexpectedly
(Alex Ralph writes).
Hikma
Pharmaceuticals said
that Siggi Olafsson,
53, who had been its
chief executive since
2018, had resigned “to
pursue other
opportunities” and
had been temporarily
replaced by Said
Darwazah, 65,
Hikma’s executive
chairman.
Shares in Hikma
fellby 68½p, or 3.9 per
cent, to £16.90, with
analysts at Jefferies,
the broker, sayingthat Olafsson’s exit
“comes as a surprise
to us”.
Olafsson, a former
boss of Teva
Pharmaceuticals, an
Israeli rival, will leave
Hikma on June 24. He
was appointed when
Hikma had hit a“rough patch”, he told
The Times in 2019,
when shares in the
company had halved
after peaking at
almost £27 in August
2016.
Olafsson was
focused on turning
around the struggling
generics business and
rebuilding the drugs
pipeline across the
group. Its shares have
rallied by more than
80 per cent since his
appointment was
announced in 2018,
valuing the company
at about £3.8 billion.
Darwazah said:
“Hikma is on a strong
footing and well
positioned for growth.
We wish Siggi well.”News of Olafsson’s exit
sent Hikma shares
down nearly 4 per centWall Street report
Sharp declines in technology shares,
led by Snap and Pinterest, weighed
heavily on the Nasdaq and S&P 500,
but though they finished in the red
the Dow Jones industrial average
reversed its losses to close up 48.38
points, or 0.2 per cent, at 31,928.62.Company Change
HSBC Shares continue to rally 3.6%
SSP Narrows half-year losses 3.5%
Barclays Launches twice-delayed £1 billion share buyback 3.2%
Greencore Returns to profit in first half of the year 2.9%
Airtel Africa Extends gains 2.6%
Centrica Soured sentiment towards energy stocks -7.2%
SSE Falls as part of wider sell-off within energy sector -7.9%
Carnival Extends losses -8.5%
WPP Hits 14-month low -9.3%
Drax Drops amid reports of potential windfall tax -13.8%The day’s biggest movers
looking to take up
space and
Shaftesbury’s vacancy
rate, including space
under offer, had
dropped below 3 per
cent. Stronger rents
helped to drive up the
value of Shaftesbury’s
portfolio, which rose
by 7.5 per cent over the
past six months to
£3.3 billion, although it
remains about 17 per
cent shy of its pre-
pandemic valuation.
The board declared
an interim dividend of
4.8p for the half-year
to the end of March,
double what was paid
last year and slightly
more than the City had
forecast. The shares
fell by 5p, or just under
1 per cent, to 574½p.West End
‘resilient’ to
challenges
Exchange rates
Bid Change
Australia $ 1.771
Canada $ 1.610
Denmark Kr 8.689 -0.08
Euro ¤ 1.168 -0.01
Hong Kong $ 9.832 -0.04
Hungary 447.453 -3.30
Indonesia 18358.592 -90.29
Israel Shk 4.211 +0.01
Japan Yen 158.498 -2.03
New Zealand $ 1.947
Norway Kr 12.016 -0.09
Poland 5.374 -0.06
Russia 71.236 -2.32
S Africa Rd 19.671 -0.04
Sweden Kr 12.261 -0.10
Switzerland Fr 1.202 -0.01
Turkey Lira 20.134 +0.30
USA $ 1.253
Rates supplied by MorningstarDollar rates
Australia 1.4099-1.4100
Canada 1.2831-1.2832
Denmark 6.9265-6.9275
Euro 0.9310-0.9311
Hong Kong 7.8492-7.8497
Japan 126.61-126.62
Malaysia 4.3940-4.3990
Norway 9.5733-9.5753
Singapore 1.3715-1.3716
Sweden 9.7640-9.7665
Switzerland 0.9601-0.9602Other Sterling
Argentina peso 149.40-149.42
Australia dollar 1.7687-1.7689
Bahrain dinar 0.4695-0.4765
Brazil real 6.0417-6.0455
Euro 1.1678-1.1682
Hong Kong dollar 9.8463-9.8474
India rupee 97.224-97.240
Indonesia rupiah 18371-18376
Kuwait dinar KD 0.3824-0.3847
Malaysia ringgit 5.4889-5.4952
New Zealand dollar 1.9443-1.9447
Singapore dollar 1.7204-1.7207
S Africa rand 19.650-19.661
U A E dirham 4.6014-4.6016Money rates %
Base Rates Clearing Banks 1.00 ECB Refi -0.50 US Fed Fd 0.75-1.00
Halifax Mortgage Rate 3.59Treasury Bills (Dis) Buy: 1 mth 0.872; 3 mth 0.870. Sell: 1 mth 0.775; 3 mth 0.8001 mth 2 mth 3 mth 6 mth 12 mth
Interbank Rates 1.0476 0.0000 1.3763 1.8353 0.0000
Eurodollar Deps 1.00-1.25 1.13-1.33 1.40-1.60 1.92-2.12 2.68-2.75Mkt Rates for Range Close 1 month 3 month
Copenhagen 8.6633-8.7710 8.6869-8.6919 127ds 403ds
Euro 1.1792-1.1646 1.1680-1.1680 13pr 38pr
Montreal 1.5955-1.6109 1.6096-1.6098 4pr 15pr
New York 1.2471-1.2597 1.2545-1.2545 1pr 9pr
Oslo 11.971-12.119 12.014-12.017 24ds 64ds
Stockholm 12.216-12.383 12.248-12.252 101ds 285ds
Tokyo 158.05-160.84 158.82-158.85 17ds 59ds
Zurich 1.1986-1.2154 1.2044-1.2046 18ds 62ds
Premium = pr Discount = dsSterling spot and forward rates
Gold/Precious
London Grain Futures metals (US dollars per ounce)
LIFFE Wheat (close £/t)
Jul unq Nov 327.50 Jan unq
Mar unq May 340.00 Volume: 1168
London Metal Exchange
(Official)
Cash 3mth Dec 22
Copper Gde A ($/tonne)
9459.5-9460.5 9435.0-9437.0 9395.0-9405.0
Lead ($/tonne)
2181.0-2181.5 2172.0-2173.0 2148.0-2153.0
Zinc Spec Hi Gde ($/tonne)
3768.0-3769.0 3754.0-3756.0 3352.0-3357.0
Alum Hi Gde ($/tonne)
2880.5-2881.0 2907.0-2908.0 2823.0-2828.0
Nickel ($/tonne)
26250.0-26280.0 26245.0-26250.0 26495.0-26545.0
Tin ($/tonne) 15mth
34100.0-34200.0 33900.0-34000.0 32975.0-33025.0European money
deposits %
Currency
1mth 3mth 6mth 12mth
Dollar
0.13 0.20 0.29 0.55
Sterling
1.05 1.38 1.84 0.81
Euro
0.10 0.15 0.20 0.50Data as shown is
for information
purposes only. No offer is made by
Morningstar or this publicationBecause of a technical issue, the gold fix
prices are from Monday.
Bullion: Open $1854.11
Close $1865.97-1866.17 High $1869.56
Low $1849.37
AM $1864.30 PM $1856.20
Krugerrand $1846.00-2946.00 (£1471.48-2348.31)
Platinum $962.44 (£767.18)
Silver $22.09 (£17.61)
Palladium $2016.89 (£1607.70)