The Times - UK (2022-05-27)

the times | Friday May 27 2022 45

MarketsBusiness

F

ever-Tree, the

upmarket

tonic maker,

has opened an

airport bar

and café serving spirits

mixed with a wide

range of the company’s

mixers (Dominic

Walsh writes).

The bar at

Edinburgh airport,

which is forecast to

serve more than

40,000 mixed drinks

in its first year, is

expected to be

followed by further

venues in other

airports across the UK

and beyond.

Until now, Fever-

Tree has run only pop-

ups at sites including

Covent Garden in

central London,

Broadgate Circle in the

City of London and at

festivals and sporting

venues such as the

Oval. The company ran

several bars at Queen’s

Club when it sponsored

the Wimbledon

curtain-raiser and has

a pop-up at Bryant

Park, in New York.

In addition to

serving mixed spirits-

based drinks such as

gin and tonics and

shares to “buy,” as they believe it

boasts a strong financial position.

Petrofac, the oil services group,

shed 4p, or 2.7 per cent, to 150½p as it

warned it expects to make a small loss

in its engineering and construction

business as a result of cost overruns.

Shares in PayPoint rose 6p, or 1 per

cent, to 583p as it reported pre-tax

profits had risen from £28 million to

£78.5 million last year. The company,

which operate facilities to top up

prepayment cards for gas and

electricity meters, typically located in

newsagents or local supermarkets,

said it remains confident it can deliver

further progress this year.

Shares in RA International, a

construction and support services

provider focused on Africa and the

Middle East, declined after

disappointing with its full-year results.

The company said it had swung into a

$32.2 million loss last year and also

said it won’t be paying shareholders a

dividend, causing the shares to slump

by 2p, or 8.3 per cent, to 22p.

IAN GEORGESON/FEVERTREE

Help for households sends

investors to the high street

Jessica Newman Market report

I

nvestors threw some more retail

stocks into their baskets in hope

that a new £15 billion support

package for households

struggling to meet soaring

energy bills will encourage consumers

to loosen their purse strings.

The move, which will give each UK

household a £400 discount on their

energy bills this October, sparked a

rally among listed retail stocks.

Shares in Ocado, which has said

customers of its grocery delivery

business were starting to feel the

pinch from the cost-of-living crunch,

leapt to the top of the FTSE 100,

closing up 88¾p, or 11.5 per cent, at

858½p. B&M European Value Retail,

the discount retailer, jumped 31p, or

7.3 per cent, to 456p; Associated

British Foods, the owner of Primark,

rose 73p, or 4.4 per cent, to a one-

month high of £17.24; and high street

stalwart Marks and Spencer gained

11p, or 7.9 per cent, to 149¾p.

After a slow start, the government’s

fiscal measures boosted confidence,

with the FTSE 100 closing up 42.17

points, or 0.6 per cent, to 7,564.92

points, while the more domestically

focused FTSE 250 lifted 266.57 points,

or 1.3 per cent, to 20,200.61.

As they snapped up retail, investors

dumped their shares in some big

utility names. United Utilities, the

water company, was the biggest drag

on the Footsie, down 73½p, or 6.6 per

cent, to £10.39 as it said pre-tax profits

had fallen more than 20 per cent to

£439.9 million in the 12 months to the

end of March as a result of higher

costs. Its poor results soured sector

sentiment, with Severn Trent down

130p, or 4.2 per cent, at £29.41 and

Pennon Group falling 34p, or 3.2 per

cent, to £10.32.

While investors shrugged off the

government’s decision for a 25 per

cent windfall tax on the profits of oil

and gas companies including BP and

Shell, the lack of clarity on whether a

levy on electricity generators will be

imposed spooked the City.

As a result shares in SSE, the FTSE

100 group that owns wind farms and

gas plants, fell by 86p, or 4.6 per cent,

to £17.82. Centrica, the British Gas

owner that also co-owns nuclear

plants, lost 6¼p, or 7.2 per cent, to

close at 79¼p, while Drax, which

owns a biomass and coal power

station in North Yorkshire, as well as

hydroelectric plants, gave up 32½p, or

4.5 per cent, to end the day at 682½p.

Elsewhere, Serco climbed 15p, or

9.8 per cent, to reach 167¾p after the

outsourcer raised its profit outlook in

a surprise update. Bargain hunters

swooped on Aston Martin Lagonda,

lifting the carmarker’s shares from an

all-time low by 59½p, or 9.7 per cent,

to reach 673½p. PageGroup ticked up

18¾p, or 4.3 per cent, to 457½p after

analysts at Citigroup shifted “neutral”

recommendation on the recruiter’s

‘Negative drivers’ hit IntegraFin

banking and finance

A

gloomy outlook

from IntegraFin

knocked

investors’ confidence

yesterday, causing

shares in the FTSE

250 investment

platform provider to

crash to their lowest

since December 2018.

Bosses at

IntegraFin, which

provides funds and

investment products

to financial advisers

through its Transact

platform, warned that

high inflation and the

negative impact of

Russia’s invasion of

Ukraine will continue

to act as “negative

drivers” for revenue.

It said sharp falls in

equity markets had

hampered revenue

growth in funds under

direction, despite

record net inflows

which jumped 16 per

cent to £2.7 billion in

the six months to the

end of March.

“The general

economic outlook has

deteriorated from that

prevailing this time

last year,” Alex Scott,

the chief executive,

said, adding that the

company was faced

with “major global

uncertainty arising

from Russia’s invasion

of Ukraine and the

significant, resultant

effects. When added

to the existing

inflationary pressures,

these are negative

drivers for Transact

revenue, and for all

round expenses.”

With no immediate

signs that any of these

issues will be solved

any time soon, the

shares closed down by

65¼p, or 18.7 per cent,

at 284¼p.

Falls in equity markets

hurt revenue growth

despite record inflows

Wall Street report

Indices rose for a second day on

hopes that the Federal Reserve will

remain flexible on rate rises later in

the year after two further increases

in June and July. The Dow Jones

industrial average rose 516.91 points,

or 1.6 per cent, to 32,637.19.

Company Change

Ocado Boosted by government’s support package 11.5%

Serco Raises profit outlook 9.8%

Aston Martin Lagonda Bargain-hunting after shares hit record low 9.7%

Carnival Gains momentum after recent weakness 9.2%

Firstgroup Jumps on fresh takeover approach 8.7%

Drax Group Uncertainty over prospect of windfall tax -4.5%

SSE Sector out of favour with investors -4.6%

United Utilities Higher costs hit earnings -6.6%

Centrica Soured sentiment towards utility stocks -7.2%

IntegraFin Holdings Falls on downbeat outlook -18.7%

The day’s biggest movers

Mules (no longer

Moscow Mules), the

Edinburgh airport bar

sells beers, wine and

fizz as well as

breakfasts and small

plates including gin

and whisky-cured

smoked salmon and

chorizo cooked in

Fever-Tree ginger ale.

Fever-Tree was

established in 2004 by

Tim Warrillow, its

chief executive, and

Charles Rolls to make

high-quality tonic for

the premium gin

market. It sells mixers

in more than 75

countries, with the US,

Canada, Australia and

Germany among its

biggest markets.

Fever-Tree’s

airport bar

takes off

Exchange rates

Bid Change

Australia $ 1.777

Canada $ 1.609

Denmark Kr 8.729 -0.01

Euro ¤ 1.173

Hong Kong $ 9.870 +0.02

Hungary 458.883 +3.32

Indonesia 18400.206 +41.78

Israel Shk 4.211 +0.02

Japan Yen 160.099 +0.33

New Zealand $ 1.946 +0.01

Norway Kr 12.018 -0.04

Poland 5.411 -0.01

Russia 81.260 +7.08

S Africa Rd 19.821 +0.07

Sweden Kr 12.412 +0.02

Switzerland Fr 1.208

Turkey Lira 20.511 -0.06

USA $ 1.257

Rates supplied by Morningstar

Dollar rates

Australia 1.4112-1.4114

Canada 1.2783-1.2784

Denmark 6.9412-6.9421

Euro 0.9329-0.9330

Hong Kong 7.8496-7.8499

Japan 127.36-127.36

Malaysia 4.3930-4.3970

Norway 9.5515-9.5574

Singapore 1.3738-1.3739

Sweden 9.8718-9.8750

Switzerland 0.9598-0.9599

Other Sterling

Argentina peso 150.15-150.15

Australia dollar 1.7747-1.7749

Bahrain dinar 0.4705-0.4775

Brazil real 6.0164-6.0202

Euro 1.1732-1.1733

Hong Kong dollar 9.8714-9.8724

India rupee 97.677-97.690

Indonesia rupiah 18368-18376

Kuwait dinar KD 0.3833-0.3857

Malaysia ringgit 5.5219-5.5270

New Zealand dollar 1.9451-1.9455

Singapore dollar 1.7276-1.7279

S Africa rand 19.819-19.830

U A E dirham 4.6166-4.6169

Money rates %

Base Rates Clearing Banks 1.00 ECB Refi -0.50 US Fed Fd 0.75-1.00

Halifax Mortgage Rate 3.59

Treasury Bills (Dis) Buy: 1 mth 0.872; 3 mth 0.870. Sell: 1 mth 0.775; 3 mth 0.800

1 mth 2 mth 3 mth 6 mth 12 mth

Interbank Rates 1.0680 0.0000 1.3470 1.7804 0.0000

Eurodollar Deps 1.06-1.31 1.45-1.85 1.55-1.80 1.94-2.19 2.65-2.72

Mkt Rates for Range Close 1 month 3 month

Copenhagen 8.7221-8.7676 8.7292-8.7305 126ds 406ds

Euro 1.1784-1.1725 1.1733-1.1732 12pr 38pr

Montreal 1.6057-1.6181 1.6075-1.6077 4pr 15pr

New York 1.2551-1.2620 1.2575-1.2576 1pr 8pr

Oslo 11.996-12.082 12.016-12.019 23ds 69ds

Stockholm 12.377-12.465 12.416-12.419 104ds 297ds

Tokyo 159.02-160.77 160.16-160.17 17ds 62ds

Zurich 1.2050-1.2120 1.2070-1.2072 18ds 60ds

Premium = pr Discount = ds

Sterling spot and forward rates

Gold/Precious

London Grain Futures metals (US dollars per ounce)

LIFFE Wheat (close £/t)

Jul unq Nov 322.00 Jan unq

Mar unq May 320.00 Volume: 892

London Metal Exchange

(Official)

Cash 3mth Dec 22

Copper Gde A ($/tonne)

9358.0-9359.0 9360.0-9365.0 9365.0-9375.0

Lead ($/tonne)

2104.0-2106.0 2108.5-2109.5 2085.0-2090.0

Zinc Spec Hi Gde ($/tonne)

3742.0-3744.0 3736.0-3736.5 3380.0-3385.0

Alum Hi Gde ($/tonne)

2825.0-2825.5 2856.0-2857.0 2813.0-2818.0

Nickel ($/tonne)

27525.0-27550.0 27400.0-27450.0 27695.0-27745.0

Tin ($/tonne) 15mth

33675.0-33725.0 33250.0-33300.0 32365.0-32415.0

European money

deposits %

Currency

1mth 3mth 6mth 12mth

Dollar

0.13 0.20 0.29 0.55

Sterling

1.07 1.35 1.78 0.81

Euro

0.10 0.15 0.20 0.50

Data as shown is

for information

purposes only. No offer is made by

Morningstar or this publication

Because of a technical issue, the gold fix

prices are from Wednesday.

Bullion: Open $1853.96

Close $1847.66-1847.78 High $1854.12

Low $1842.33

AM $1859.05 PM $1847.20

Krugerrand $1828.00-2926.00 (£1453.55-

2326.64)

Platinum $952.00 (£756.99)

Silver $21.95 (£17.45)

Palladium $2015.00 (£1602.25)