BUSINESS LIVE: BoE base rate decision looms; Shell ups dividend; BT earnings top £6bn

Stuart Lamont, investment manager at RBC Brewin Dolphin:

‘Shell had flagged much of the headline news ahead of today’s results, so the impact of impairment charges comes as no surprise.

‘Stronger liquefied natural gas trading and wider operational performance has offset this to a degree and helped the company beat expectations for the full year.

‘Debt ticking up will be a slight concern in the current environment, but this should be brought down by future divestments. Shell remains well-rated by analysts and another share buyback and increasing dividend are good news for shareholders.

‘Longer-term, there will be more questions about its plans to transition to net zero, which receive little mention in this latest update.’

BT is on track to post profits of more than £6.1billion for 2023 after Britain’s biggest broadband provider posted a better-than-expected 3 per cent rise in third-quarter revenue and a broadly in-line 1 per cent rise in core earnings.

Chief Executive Allison Kirkby, who replaced Philip Jansen last month, said BT had delivered another quarter of revenue and earnings growth, while rapidly building and upgrading customers to its full-fibre broadband and 5G networks.

‘As I assume the role of chief executive, we remain committed to our purpose and our strategic focus,’ she said.

Tata Steel bosses have been lambasted over their handling of the loss of 2,800 jobs at the Port Talbot steel plant.

Labour MP Stephen Kinnock, whose constituency includes the steelworks, accused it of ‘bluffing’ the Government with the closure of its site in South Wales to secure a better deal.

Shell has posted a 2023 profit of $28billion, down 30 per cent from the previous year’s record as oil and gas prices cooled, and increased its dividend by 4 per cent.

Shell’s fourth-quarter adjust earnings, its definition of net profit, reached $7.3billion, with strong liquefied natural gas trading results offsetting weaker refining and oil trading results.

The quarterly earnings, which exceeded analysts’ expectations of a $6billion profit, compared with record quarterly earning of $9.8billion a year earlier and $6.2billion in the third quarter of 2023.

The new boss of Morrisons has vowed to win back shoppers from Aldi after the floundering grocer’s private equity takeover.

Morrisons has lost customers to the discounter, and conceded its status as Britain’s fourth-biggest grocer to Aldi two years ago.

But Rami Baitieh said yesterday he would ‘start a new chapter’. In his first financial update since taking the reins in November, he said he was confident of a ‘bright future’.

Ben Laidler, global markets strategist at eToro:

‘The Bank of England (BoE) has been the most hawkish of major central banks and this has made Sterling one of the best recent currency performers.

‘With UK inflation still double its 2% target, economic growth has been better-than-feared, and the government set for more tax cuts at its March budget.

‘But enough inflation-fighting progress has been made for the BoE to begin opening the door to lower interest rates starting this summer, with four cuts likely in the second half.

‘This would lag behind the US Fed and Europe’s ECB but be welcome, and borrowers have already started to benefit from the fall in bond yields.’