BUSINESS LIVE: BHP misses forecasts with rate hike warning

BHP Group has seen its annual profits shrink by over a third amid weaker commodity prices and inflationary pressures.

The Australian natural resources giant revealed that its underlying attributable profit fell to $13.4billion for the year ending June, compared to the record $23.8billion made in the prior 12 months.

Just before close, the FTSE 100 was 0.19% up at 7,271.40.

Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was 0.73% higher at 18,030.47.

(PA) – Rapid grocery delivery firm Getir is to cut about 2,500 jobs globally as part of a major restructuring.

The company will axe more than a tenth of its 23,000 workforce in a bid to “significantly increase operational efficiency”.

It is unclear how many jobs across its UK operation will be impacted by the cuts.

The group stressed it will continue to operate across Turkey, its home market, as well as the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and the US.

Getir had already exited markets in Italy, Spain, France and Portugal in recent months.

It comes after reports by Sky last month that the company was racing to secure further funding amid questions over the financial future of its UK business.

The company also launched an auction to sell a raft of its scooters, crash helmets and food delivery boxes in London last month due to the closure of a delivery hub.

The whole instant delivery platform sector has come under pressure after pandemic restrictions eased back and more shoppers returned to physical supermarkets.

A spokesman for the company said: “Regrettably, Getir intends to reduce its team and, with a heavy heart, part ways with approximately 2,500 talented employees across its markets.

“Decisions like these are never taken lightly. However, Getir is determined to do right by all employees affected by the process in line with its values and in full compliance with local laws.

“Getir is very grateful to all colleagues for their hard work, dedication and significant contributions to the business.”

A major Hollywood studio has reintroduced Covid mask mandates amid fears about rising virus rates and a new highly mutated variant.

Lionsgate — best known for its horror franchise Saw and The Hunger Games — is asking staff to don face coverings again at its flagship office in Santa Monica, California, after several employees tested positive.

Knowing where to put your money at the moment isn’t easy.

Everything looks risky. The stock market is erratic, property prices are shaky and inflation has outpaced every single savings rate for almost two and half years.

Supermarkets are moving to kill off an initiative to reduce the number of plastic bottles and cans.

The deposit return scheme (DRS) involves shoppers paying a deposit on drinks containers of around 20p to be refunded when the empties are returned.

Elon Musk has admitted his controversial overhaul of X, formerly known as Twitter, ‘may fail’ in a post on the site.

Musk’s latest statement comes following the sweeping changes he has made to the social media platform since purchasing it for $44billion in October 2022.

Not many people will have heard of the 18-year property cycle – but some believe it can accurately predict the next house price crash.

Based on historical data going back centuries, it is the theory that there is a pattern of property price ups and downs that continually repeats itself – culminating in one major downturn every 18 years.

Government borrowing was lower than expected in July, according to official figures that will raise hopes of tax cuts before the next general election.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said public sector net borrowing, excluding state-owned banks, stood at £4.3 billion in July, £3.4 billion more than the same time a year ago.

Chip technology giant Arm has filed the paperwork ahead of its hotly anticipated initial public offering, which is expected to be the largest US listing this year.

Germany’s moribund economy faces another quarter of stagnation after crashing into recession at the end of last year, according to the country’s central bank.

The Bundesbank said Europe’s largest economy is ‘still lacklustre’ and ‘still experiencing a period of weakness’.

National Savings and Investments has launched a new issue of its Green Savings Bonds, paying a rate of 5.7 per cent over three years.

The boost is a massive hike from when the product first launched in October 2021, when it paid just 0.65 per cent. The last issue paid 4.2 per cent – so this is a 1.5 percentage point bump.

Monarch Airlines is set to stage a comeback six year after collapsing into £466million debts and leaving 110,000 holidaymakers stranded abroad.

The company claimed it will resurface as a ‘premium alternative to low-cost leisure carriers’ and fill a hole in capacity following the Covid pandemic.

Microsoft has restructured aspects of its $69billion (£54billion) takeover of Activision Blizzard in fresh efforts to get the green light from Britain’s competition watchdog.

The Competition and Markets Regulator will now mull the rejigged takeover, which will see Activision’s non-European streaming rights sold off to Ubisoft Entertainment.

John Wood Group has upgraded its annual profit guidance following major contract wins and strong growth within its projects business.

The FTSE 250 engineering services company told investors on Tuesday its adjusted core earnings for this year are now forecast to be ‘ahead of our previous expectations’.

A firm backed by actor Idris Elba that makes meal replacements for those who do not want to cook is building a factory as it expands.

Huel, which was founded in 2015 and sells drinks and bars stuffed full of protein, fibre, fats and other essential nutrients, will open the site in Milton Keynes in January.

The bosses of Britain’s biggest firms raked in an extra half a million in pay last year despite the cost of living squeeze.

The average salary for an FTSE 100 chief executive hit £3.91million in 2022, up 16 per cent, or £530,000, from the year before, according to figures from the High Pay Centre.

This was the biggest figure for annual pay since 2017 when bosses were taking home £3.97million on average, the think-tank said.

A spectacular mountainous region of the United States will this week provide the setting for central bankers to ponder decisions that will help shape the global economy over the coming months.

Officials from institutions including the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank (ECB) will gather for the annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Since the late days of the pandemic, the UK’s recruitment firms have experienced something of a golden age.

Labour shortages and fierce competition for talent led companies across the world to recruit aggressively, and offer bumper salary hikes to get staff on board.

Home REIT investors have waved through a dramatic change to its business model as it scrambles to keep itself afloat.

In a near-unanimous vote at a meeting at the offices of PR firm FTI in the City, shareholders approved a plan to remove the property landlord’s focus on owning housing only for vulnerable occupants such as the homeless.

Instead, the decision would allow it to invest in all kinds of residential property.

John Moore, senior investment manager at RBC Brewin Dolphin:

‘Despite the reorganisation and restructuring, Wood’s revenue on continuing operations is up on where it was this time last year and today’s results offer some potential for recovery and if executed, better times for shareholders.

‘The well-publicised bid by Apollo was arguably a costly and ultimately distracting exercise with the outcome heightening pressure on the board to lay out a vision for the years ahead.

‘Key tasks for the incoming CFO will be reducing debt further, improving cash generation and profit margins and the continued streamlining of the business. Positively Wood’s end markets remain robust, but growth will be hard to come by and as a result, self-help remains the main driver for shareholder returns.’

London-listed stocks are trading higher this morning, with the FTSE 100 lifting off six-week lows, powered by gains in beaten-down cyclical sectors.

The FTSE 100 could snap a seven-day losing streak, if gains last till the end of the trading session.

Gains aree driven by cyclical sectors, including construction and materials, precious metal miners and defence.

John Wood Group is up 2.6 per cent after the oilfield services and engineering firm raised its expectations for annual adjusted core profit.

Meanwhile, the defensive pharmaceutical and personal care sector indexes were among decliners in the early hours, indicating a risk-on move.

Supermarket sales growth slowed in August, reflecting lower inflation as well as a hit to demand from unsettled, unseasonably wet weather.

Market researcher NIQ data reveals supermarket sales on a value basis grew 7.2 per cent in the four weeks to 12 August – the lowest growth since January and down from 8.9 per cent in its July data set.

Sales on a volume basis fell 3.8 per cent.

Tesco saw sales increase 9.7 per cent over the 12 weeks to 12 August, with its market share nudging up to 26.8 per cent.

Discounters Aldi and Lidl, with sales up 22.2 and 16.5 per cent respectively, and Marks & Spencer, with sales up 11.5 per cent, were the only other grocers who gained market share in this period.

Last week, M&S upgraded its profit outlook.

Lookers, which has agreed to a £504.2million takeover by Global Auto Holdings, saw revenues inch higher in the first half amid macroeconomic challenges.

The dealership group, which sells new and used cars and vans and also offers after-sales services, saw revenue growth of 8 per cent to £2.42billion in the six months to 30 June as underlying pre-tax profit slipped 2.3 per cent to £46.1million.

John Wood Group has boosted annual adjusted core profit expectations after strong growth across the British oilfield services and engineering firm’s business units.

Separately, the company also announced that its finance chief David Kemp would retire but remain in the role until a successor is appointed.

Ken Gilmartin, CEO, said:

‘When we announced our growth strategy in November last year, we set out a plan for Wood to deliver on its significant potential, and I am delighted that our results show the clear progress we are making.

‘We have made a good start to the year, delivering growth in revenue, EBITDA, headcount and our pipeline, all while furthering our inspiring culture, as evidenced by our highest-ever employee net promoter score.

‘As we look ahead, we are confident that our actions, the business model we have implemented and the market growth opportunities to which we have aligned, support the momentum we are building in our business. As such, we are increasing our full year guidance for the year for revenue and EBITDA.’

Watchdogs have cleared the £54billion takeover of cloud storing business VMware by chipmaker Broadcom.

The Competition and Markets Authority said the merger of the two American companies would not damage the computer market in the UK. It is the biggest deal ever approved by the regulator.

The CMA said Broadcom would not be able to use the deal to harm rivals in the industry or use the merger to spy on competitors who use VMware software.

BHP Group profits missed forecasts in its last financial year and the London-listed mining giant has warned higher interest rates will continue to hamper demand in the developed world in the months ahead.

The Anglo-Australian firm’s underlying attributable profit for the year to 30 June fell to $13.42billion from $21.32 billion a year earlier, missing forecasts of $13.89billion.

BHP declared a final dividend of $0.80 per share, down from $1.75 per share a year ago, equivalent to a 59 per cent payout ratio and the third-largest full-year ordinary dividend in the company’s history. That was down from expectations by Macquarie analysts of a 65 per cent payout.

Chief executive Mike Henry said:

‘Commodity demand has remained relatively robust in China and India even as developed world economies have slowed substantially. In the near term, China’s trajectory is contingent on the effectiveness of recent policy measures.

‘We expect buoyant growth in India with strong construction activity underpinning an expansion in steelmaking capacity.

‘More broadly, there is increased recognition of the importance of critical minerals and strategies across the globe to incentivise investment in supply and demand, which provides opportunities and challenges.’