Gulf Keystone (GKP) received plenty of press last year thanks to its former employment of prime ministerial candidate and brief chancellor Nadhim Zahawi. And while journalists went looking for financial misdeeds from his time as chief strategy officer for Kurdistan-based Gulf Keystone, it was actually his treatment of shares in polling company YouGov (YOU) that knocked him off his eventual perch as chair of the Conservative Party.
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More cheer for Wetherspoons
Shares in J D Wetherspoon (JDW) bounced by 8 per cent by mid-morning as the pubs group reported improving sales and profits, with chairman Tim Martin saying he was “cautiously optimistic” for the rest of the financial year.
The company reported a 13 per cent increase in like-for-like sales for the six months to 29 January and a 15 per cent year-on-year gain over the past seven weeks.
It recorded an adjusted pre-tax profit for £4.6mn, which was ahead of the £25mn loss experienced in the same period last year but still 91 per cent below pre-pandemic levels. Its statutory pre-tax profit of £57mn was boosted by the sale of interest rate swaps, on which it made a £65mn gain. MF
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Smiths raises guidance as orders grow
Smiths Group (SMIN) raised its guidance for its 2023 financial year after reporting record growth in the half-year.
Revenue was up by a quarter to £1.5bn, while operating profits came in at £241mn, compared to £189mn twelve months earlier. Shareholders are in line for a 12.9p interim pay-out and forward prospects are set fair due to the growth in the order book, although the engineering firm did warn on potential supply chain issues. MR
Accsys chair steps in
Stephen Odell, the chairman of engineered wood firm Accsys Technologies (AXS), is temporarily stepping in to run the business while its hunt for a new chief executive continues.
Current chief executive Rob Harris announced in December that he would leave the business by the end of March. Accsys has also hired Steven Salo as its new chief financial officer. He previously held a similar role at Dubai-based fit-out contractor Depa (AE:DEPA).
Accsys and its partners have struggled to finish a new factory in Hull, leading it to take a €58mn (£51mn) impairment charge and put completion on hold until trading conditions improve. In January, it said net debt in the final three months of the year had been cut by €9mn to €52mn. MF
Fraser Group buys another mall
Retail brand group Frasers (FRAS) has snapped up a shopping centre in Dundee just one week after it bought one in Luton. The company confirmed its purchase the 400,000 square foot (sq ft) Overgate Shopping Centre for a reported £29.5mn a mere seven days after confirming its acquisition of The Mall in Luton for £58mn – a significant discount on the reported £81mn the asset was being marketed at last year.
The duo of deals means Frasers now owns 1.3mn sq ft of retail space across 200 retail units as part of its “ongoing investment and commitment to the long-term future of physical retail”. ML
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