Online retailer THG (THG) – formerly known as The Hut Group – has reported a £496mn operating loss, causing shares to tumble by 10 per cent in early trading. High distribution and administrative costs were largely to blame, together with a £275mn impairment, which management attributed to rising interest rates and “other macroeconomic pressures”.
This year has also got off to a tricky start, with sales falling in the first quarter of 2023. However, the group stressed that core commodity prices within its nutrition division had “already seen significant deflation”.
Yesterday, shares in THG surged after the retailer revealed that Apollo Global Management had made a “highly preliminary and non-binding indicative proposal”. JS
Read more about the private equity takeover bid here
EasyJet expects brighter summer
Low-cost airline easyJet (EZJ) expects to beat market expectations for the year to September after a more convincing first half and “strong” summer booking levels.
The number of seats sold rose by 35 per cent year-on-year, with ticket yields up 31 per cent on improved pricing and yields from ancillary products also rising by 16 per cent. Its first half loss is expected to narrow to around £405mn-£425mn, with group revenue up 80 per cent to £2.69bn.
Chief executive Johan Lundgren also highlighted “strong booking momentum into summer”. The airline will be back to pre-pandemic levels of capacity for the peak summer period and has staffed up accordingly. Its fledgling holidays arm has also sold around 80 per cent of its inventory.
EasyJet expects full-year pre-tax profit to be ahead of current market expectations of £260mn. The company’s shares rose by 4 per cent in early trading and are up 63 per cent since the start of the year. MF
Wise’s high value customers are transferring less
Revenue at currency transfer business Wise (WISE) dropped 1 per cent quarter-on-quarter while average volume per customers dropped 7 per cent year-on-year and 4 per cent quarter-on-quarter. Wise said this was down to high value customers spending less on international property and other investments.
Although volumes fell, the number of customers has risen. Wise now has 6.1mn active customers, up 6 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 33 per cent year-on-year. However, this wasn’t enough to appease investors with the share price down 12 per cent. When you trade on a forward price to earning ratio of 40 everything needs to go to plan. AS
Volex surges on profit upgrade
While there is turmoil in the electric vehicle market, suppliers to the sector are still growing nicely. Volex (VLX), which makes cables and other paraphernalia for industry, reported sales of at least $710mn (£571mn) for the 53 weeks ended 2 April, a 16 per cent increase on the previous year.
The company has also maintained its underlying operating profit margin at more than 9 per cent, taking the underlying operating profit to $66mn, a 17 per cent increase. Its shares were up 18 per cent on the update, to 248p. AH
