BUSINESS LIVE: Shell margins squeezed; YouGov buys US firm; Trading platforms up profits

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown:

‘Wariness has returned at the start of the week, as investors assess the risks of geo-political conflict, amid fresh signs of global economic slowdown and uncertainty about the trajectory of inflation.

‘Such are the risks of the Israel-Gaza conflict widening, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has embarked on a whistlestop diplomatic tour, in an attempt to calm inflamed tensions. It comes after Israel’s defence minister described the hostilities the country is facing as an axis rather than a single enemy.

‘Concerns are rising that this could lead to fresh violence, particularly in Lebanon.’

Almost 120,000 retail workers lost their jobs last year as the High Street was hit by collapses of stores including Wilko.

The Centre for Retail Research revealed that a total 119,405 jobs were lost across the sector in 2023.

Their analysis also found that 10,494 stores shuttered. Wilko’s demise saw around 400 close.

YouGov has acquired US-based survey data management solutions firm KnowledgeHound for an undisclosed fee.

The move that further extends the capabilities of the YouGov Crunch survey analytics platform to handle the needs of large brands, the group said.

Alex McIntosh, YouGov’s chief financial officer, added:

‘YouGov’s acquisition of KnowledgeHound represents a significant shift in what the industry should expect from data analytics platforms.

‘By adding KnowledgeHound – a leading search-based survey data analysis solution – to YouGov Crunch – the ultimate tool for granular data analysis – we will make it easier than ever before to get fast, actionable, reliable insights all in one place.’

CMC Markets has raised its full-year operating income forecast, with the trading platform citing a strong third quarter driven by improved market conditions.

The company, which provides trading in more than 12,000 financial instruments, including shares, indexes, foreign currencies, commodities and treasuries, attributed the strong quarterly performance to resilient business-to-business and institutional investor demand.

It now expects net operating income between £290million and £310million for fiscal year 2024, up from its previous forecast of £250million to £280million.

Separately, rival Plus500 said it generated revenue of about $725million and core profit of around $340million for the year ended31 December, citing expansion into different regions such as Japan and the UAE.

High Street winners and losers will emerge this week as some of Britain’s biggest stores publish festive trading figures.

M&S is tipped to have had a stellar Christmas, as revealed by The Mail on Sunday, and will update investors on Thursday.

The supermarket giants are also expected to have performed strongly with Sainsbury’s and Tesco due to release figures on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.

Energy giant Shell expects refining profits to be squeezed in the fourth quarter, with margins falling from $16 per barrel to $10/bbl.

It has also flagged impairment charges of about $2.5billion to $4.5 billion for the fourth quarter, mainly related to the Singapore refining and chemicals hub the oil major is looking to sell.