BUSINESS LIVE: Inflation holds at 4%; Bloomsbury ups profit expectations; Coca-Cola HBC scores record profits

A superstar commodities trader at Macquarie is set to quit the firm this month after raking in more pay than JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon and his own chief executive.

In a surprise announcement, the Australian investment bank said that Nick O’Kane would step down as head of its commodities and global markets (CGM) division on February 27.

Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter Investors:

‘Core inflation, excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, has been falling considerably slower than the headline rate, and progress here also appears to have stalled. It held steady at 5.1% in November and December, and once again refused to budge in January, driven in part by strong services inflation which rose from 6.4% to 6.5%.

‘That said, the month-on-month data is more encouraging, and so this is unlikely to sway the Bank of England from its recent suggestion that interest rates have peaked.

‘Yesterday’s UK labour market statistics revealed a further fall in wages, with annual growth in regular earnings (excluding bonuses) decreasing to 6.2% in October to December, down from 6.6% in the prior three-month period.

‘However, while on the face of it this seems high, annualising the pattern over the past three months indicates that this is now falling quite quickly, with the annualised nominal growth rate of regular earnings running at 2.2% – rapidly nearing the Bank of England’s target and providing a little reassurance that this inflationary pulse is weakening.

‘What’s more, tomorrow’s GDP data is widely anticipated to reveal the UK fell into a recession at the end of last year. Though Andrew Bailey has pushed back with an expectation that it will be both shallow and short lived, pressure on the Bank to cut rates sooner rather than later will no doubt continue, and today’s CPI data release will do very little to change that.’

Coca-Cola HBC expects profit to grow in 2024 after the bottler achieved record earnings for last year, helped by strong demand for its sparkling drinks, coffee, and energy drinks, as well as easing cost pressures.

The Switzerland-based company, in which US beverage giant Coca-Cola owns a stake of around 23 per cent, expects comparable operating profit to grow between 3 to 9 per cent in 2024.

It reported a 17.7 per cent rise in comparable operating profit for the year ended on 31 December to €1.08billion.

Boss Zoran Bogdanovic said:

‘While we expect the macroeconomic and geopolitical environment to remain challenging, we remain confident that we will continue to make progress against our medium-term growth targets.’

Yodel has been bought in a last-minute rescue by a consortium led by rival operator Shift.

The parcel delivery giant, which was owned by the Barclay family, was snapped up by YDLGP, a new group which includes Jacob Corlett, the founder of Shift, and investment bank Solano Pa

Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury Publishing has forecast annual profit and revenue ‘significantly ahead’ of market expectations, partly buoyed by robust sales of the latest science fiction and fantasy title by Sarah J. Maas.

Boss Nigel Newton said:

‘I am overjoyed to report an exceptionally strong period of trading, principally driven by the increasing demand for fantasy fiction.

‘Sarah J. Maas is a publishing phenomenon and we are very fortunate to have signed her up with her first book 13 years ago.

‘Her books have a huge audience which continues to grow backed by major Bloomsbury promotional campaigns, driving strong word of mouth recommendation, particularly through TikTok and Instagram channels.’

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor:

“UK CPI inflation hit 4% in January, unchanged versus December, and better than analysts’ expectations for a reading of 4.2%. Core CPI came in at 5.1% also below consensus estimates for 5.2%. Upward contributions from higher gas and electricity charges were offset by downward contributions from furniture, household goods, food and non-alcoholic drinks.

‘Gas and electricity prices rose at a higher rate than this time last year because of the effect of the energy price cap and second-hand cars went up for the first time since May. Meanwhile, furniture and furnishings price fell by 5.2% on the month, the largest monthly drop since January 2020.

‘Food and non-alcoholic drinks inflation fell from 8% in December to 7% in January, the lowest annual rate since April 2022, easing for the 10th straight month from a high of 19.2% in March 2023. Food prices fell on the month for the first time in over two years. Bread and cereals prices fell by 1.3% on the month, the largest monthly fall since May 2021. However food prices are still high versus two years ago.

‘Inflation has been steadily on the decline since the 40-year highs seen in October 2022. Although inflation ticked up very slightly last month, January’s reading remains unchanged month-on-month despite forecasts for another marginal increase, reflecting offsetting contributions from different goods and services.

‘No doubt the Bank of England will be pleased to have avoided a upside surprise in the inflation rate, particularly after US inflation came in hotter than expected just yesterday, prompting a sell-off on Wall Street.’

The price of bitcoin swung wildly as investors fretted about the outlook for interest rates in the United States.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency rose as high as $50,383 in early trading – a level last seen in December 2021 – taking gains in the past three weeks to almost 30 per cent.

Consumer price inflation was lower than expected in January, holding firm at 4 per cent for the month against forecasts of a rise to 4.2 per cent, fresh data from the Office for National Statistics shows.