MARKET REPORT: Inchcape hits buffers as fears over outlook loom

Shares in car dealer Inchcape tumbled as investors fretted about its prospects for the rest of the year.

The firm, which sells brands such as Audi, BMW and Jaguar, said revenue soared 18 per cent to £8.1billion in 2022.

But it made a loss of £6million having racked up profits of £122million the year before. And looking ahead, while it said trading so far has been in line with expectations, there was little else.

Losses: Car dealer Inchcape, which sells brands such as Audi, BMW and Jaguar, said revenue soared 18 per cent to £8.1bn in 2022

Analysts at JP Morgan warned that the lack of detail about the road ahead. Shares tumbled 12.6 per cent, or 109p, to 758p .

Earlier this week fellow car dealer Pendragon (up 1.5 per cent, or 0.25p, to 16.55p) warned there would be reduced levels of supply across new and used vehicles this year.

As the Bank of England raised interest rates to 4.25 per cent, the highest level since 2008, the FTSE 100 fell 0.9 per cent, or 67.24 points, to 7499.6 and the FTSE 250 dropped 0.2 per cent, or 27.83 points, to 18729.96.

The rate rise will push up mortgage costs for many, though fixed rate deals are still well below where they were in the wake of the mini-Budget in the Autumn.

And Crest Nicholson pointed towards signs of a recovery in house sales as demand returns, though it warned the failure to help more first-time buyers on to the property ladder was preventing further progress.

The housebuilder said it sold an average of 0.52 homes per outlet per week in the 11 weeks from the start of January.

This was an improvement on the 0.35 sales it reported in the 11 weeks from the start of November.

Stock Watch – Safestyle

Safestyle warned sales would be lower than hoped this year after racking up losses of £4.4million in 2022.

The window and door company said business in February and March has been ‘slower than anticipated’ as trading remained tough.

As a result, it warned revenue for 2023 would be ‘below current expectations’.

Safestyle had made a £7.6million profit just a year before its reported 2022 losses.

Shares slumped 15.3 per cent, or 4.45p, to 24.55p.

But it said that ‘those with lower levels of equity are unsurprisingly finding it harder to purchase their first home and making it on to the housing ladder’. Shares slid 0.4 per cent, or 0.8p, to 206.8p.

Drug firm Puretech Health has landed a lucrative royalties deal for a drug that is being developed to treat schizophrenia.

The group has sold some of its royalty in Karuna Therapeutics’ KarXT to the Nasdaq-listed company Royalty Pharma. Shares rose 10.8 per cent, or 22p, to 225p.

At Energean, the oil and gas group hailed a positive start to the year as it aimed to ramp up production at its Karish gas field off the coast of Israel. Shares soared 9.1 per cent, or 102p, to 1219p.

Private equity firm 3i pushed higher following a positive start to the year for the most successful company in its portfolio.

It said Action, a Netherlands-based discounter which provides household goods from bird tables to micro USB cables, reported sales of £1.85billion in the first three months of this year.

That presented a 37pc increase on the same period during 2022.

3i shares rose 0.9 per cent, or 14.5p, to 1583.5p. Meanwhile gambling software group Playtech warned of a challenging year ahead after difficult trading conditions in the UK.

Its British revenue fell 4pc last year due to a decline in revenue from Ladbrokes owner Entain and slowdown in the online business amid uncertainty over gambling regulations. Shares slid 1.6 per cent, or 9p, to 540p.

C&C said revenue looked to have increased by 18 per cent to £1.5billion for the year to February 28.

The Dublin-based drinks company behind Bulmers, Magners and Tennent’s added it expects to report a profit of £74million.

This would fall in line with the £74million to £78million range it gave in January. The group’s previous financial year was blighted by a weaker Christmas trading period and train strikes. Shares rose 3.6 per cent, or 5.4p, to 155.2p.

Inland Homes shares will be suspended from trading from April 3 after the housebuilder said it will miss the deadline to publish its results for 2022. Shares tumbled 13.8 per cent, or 1p, to 6.25p.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk