BUSINESS LIVE: De La Rue cheers bank note demand; Superdry profit hit; Hipgnosis delays results

A senior Bank of England official has played down growing expectations of an interest rate cut – even as a report warned that the economy was just ‘limping along’.

Deputy governor Ben Broadbent said the central bank needs to see a ‘more protracted and clearer decline’ in wage growth but the job has been made harder by ‘muddy’ data.

That is despite growing market expectations that it will go for a rate cut as soon as May amid signs of inflation easing and the economy stuttering.

Struggling fashion retailer Superdry has flagged a hit to annual profits, hurt by challenging trading environment including warmer weather.

The company, the fashion line of which mostly includes sweatshirts, hoodies and jackets, said unseasonal weather through the early autumn had led to a delayed uptake of its autumn/winter range, hurting sales in the first-half of fiscal year ended 28 October.

Founder and CEO Julian Dunkerton said:

‘The unseasonal weather through the early autumn led to a delayed uptake of our Autumn/Winter range and this impacted sales in the first half of the year.

‘Whilst we have seen modest signs of improvement through the recent spell of colder weather, current trading has remained challenging, and this is reflected in the weaker than expected business performance.

‘The operational progress we have made in the first half has been more encouraging with the IP sale for the South Asian region and strong progress on our cost efficiency programme.’

Adobe has terminated its £16billion takeover of design platform Figma after clashing with regulators in Britain and Europe.

The companies said there was ‘no clear path’ to get approval from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the European Commission.

Photoshop-owner Adobe will pay Figma a termination fee of almost £800million.

A recovery in demand for currency notes has lifted De La Rue profits, with the banknote printer beating expectations of breakeven for the first half of the financial year with adjusted operating earnings of £7.9million.

The 200-year-old company still expects to post a full-year adjusted operating profit in the low £20million range.

Clive Vacher, CEO of De La Rue:

‘De La Rue’s robust performance in the first half reflects the important actions that we have taken since 2020 to make the company resilient to changing market conditions.

‘These actions have allowed us to navigate a downturn over the past 18 months, particularly in Currency, and I am pleased that the market is now showing signs of continuing recovery. We have doubled the Currency order book since September 2023 and are exhibiting a high win rate, with more opportunities in the pipeline.

‘Authentication continues on its path to £100m in revenue for the full financial year.  We have secured a significant multi-year contract extension, and we are in the late stages of securing another contract extension in GRS. Our Australian passport programme continues apace and is a significant driver of growth this year.’

A senior Bank of England official has played down growing expectations of an interest rate cut – even as a report warned that the economy was just ‘limping along’.

Deputy governor Ben Broadbent said the central bank needs to see a ‘more protracted and clearer decline’ in wage growth but the job has been made harder by ‘muddy’ data.

That is despite growing market expectations that it will go for a rate cut as soon as May amid signs of inflation easing and the economy stuttering.

Struggling fashion retailer Superdry has flagged a hit to annual profits, hurt by challenging trading environment including warmer weather.

The company, the fashion line of which mostly includes sweatshirts, hoodies and jackets, said unseasonal weather through the early autumn had led to a delayed uptake of its autumn/winter range, hurting sales in the first-half of fiscal year ended 28 October.

Founder and CEO Julian Dunkerton said:

‘The unseasonal weather through the early autumn led to a delayed uptake of our Autumn/Winter range and this impacted sales in the first half of the year.

‘Whilst we have seen modest signs of improvement through the recent spell of colder weather, current trading has remained challenging, and this is reflected in the weaker than expected business performance.

‘The operational progress we have made in the first half has been more encouraging with the IP sale for the South Asian region and strong progress on our cost efficiency programme.’

Adobe has terminated its £16billion takeover of design platform Figma after clashing with regulators in Britain and Europe.

The companies said there was ‘no clear path’ to get approval from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the European Commission.

Photoshop-owner Adobe will pay Figma a termination fee of almost £800million.

A recovery in demand for currency notes has lifted De La Rue profits, with the banknote printer beating expectations of breakeven for the first half of the financial year with adjusted operating earnings of £7.9million.

The 200-year-old company still expects to post a full-year adjusted operating profit in the low £20million range.

Clive Vacher, CEO of De La Rue:

‘De La Rue’s robust performance in the first half reflects the important actions that we have taken since 2020 to make the company resilient to changing market conditions.

‘These actions have allowed us to navigate a downturn over the past 18 months, particularly in Currency, and I am pleased that the market is now showing signs of continuing recovery. We have doubled the Currency order book since September 2023 and are exhibiting a high win rate, with more opportunities in the pipeline.

‘Authentication continues on its path to £100m in revenue for the full financial year.  We have secured a significant multi-year contract extension, and we are in the late stages of securing another contract extension in GRS. Our Australian passport programme continues apace and is a significant driver of growth this year.’